al-Mundir I.

This article deals with the first emir of Saragossa - for the sixth emir of Cordoba see al-Mundhir .

al-Mundir I. ( Arabic المنذر, DMG al-Munḏir ,المنذر بن يحي التجيبي, DMG al-Munḏir ibn Yaḥya at-Tujībī ; died 1021 ) was the first emir of the Taifa Kingdom of Zaragoza and founder of the Tujibid dynasty between 1013 and 1021 . He carried the laqab (nickname) al-Mansur (المنصور, DMG al-Manṣūr '“the victorious”').

biography

al-Mundir came from a well-off family that came from the Marca Superior Andalusia . In the army of Almansor he began his military career as a simple soldier and made it to general during the civil wars in the first years of the new millennium. In 1005 he was then entrusted with the government of Tudela , the capital of the Marca Superior, and from 1013 by the Caliph Sulaiman al-Musta'in with Saragossa. After the first deposition of Hisham II in 1009, he undertook several ventures to the south of Andalusia from the north to support Umayyad caliphs. So he moved in 1010 to Córdoba to Muhammad II. Al-Mahdi to come to the aid of a little later he supported Sulaiman al-Musta'in 1013-1016 and endorsed in 1018, together with Jayrán , the Taifa of Almeria , Abd ar-Rahman IV . as caliph.

Around 1013, al-Mundir I had been confirmed by the Caliphate of Cordoba as the Taifa of Saragossa . As the first Taifa king, he called himself Hayib (palace master, chamberlain) in 1018 and had coins minted in the Taifa for the first time in order to emphasize his independence. His successors in Saragossa were to retain the title of Hajjib.

From 1018 he focused on the affairs of his own emirate. He made Saragossa, where he held court, an important city. So he undertook public works and, for example, had the old mosque expanded a second time, which now functions as a cathedral . He also had new thermal baths built.

al-Mundir loved poetry and therefore surrounded himself with poets such as Ibn Darrach al-Qastalli , who had fled Córdoba, and Said al-Baghdadi .

He had no arguments with the governor of the neighboring Taifa of Lérida , Sulaiman ben Hud al-Musta'in, as he respected his position of power. The latter would become an emir himself in Saragossa twenty years later and establish the Hudid dynasty there. His greatest adversary was Sancho III. with whom he constantly quarreled and who even snatched some fortified places from him and occupied the valley of the Cinca . In order to maintain peace in his territory, al-Mundir allied with the Christian rulers of Barcelona and Castile . In 1016 he even succeeded in staging the engagement of Berengar Raimund I of Barcelona to Sancha, the daughter of Sancho I García of Castile, with great pomp in Saragossa. The actual marriage did not take place until 1021. His marriage brokerage between these two Christian counties brought him from this side the peace that he urgently needed to Sancho III. better to meet. The reign of al-Mundir in Saragossa was generally peaceful with Barcelona and Castile, in contrast to Navarre.

al-Mundir was considered to be a skilled politician, a great diplomat, an intelligent strategist and a good fighter. During his emirate, Zaragoza flourished and the state borders remained relatively stable due to its alliances with the Christian counts of the Pyrenees.

al-Mundir died in 1021 (but possibly not until 1022 or 1023). He had a son, Yahya al-Muzaffar , who succeeded him as Emir of Zaragoza in 1022.

literature

• Andú Resano, Fernando: La Taifa de Zaragoza . In: El esplendor de la poesía en la Taifa de Zaragoza . Mira, Saragossa 2007, ISBN 978-84-8465-253-3 , p. 163-178 .
• Cervera Fras, Maria José: El reino de Saraqusta . CAI, Saragossa 1999, ISBN 84-88305-93-1 .
• Corral, José Luis: Historia de Zaragoza. Zaragoza musulmana (714-1118) . Ayto. de Zaragoza and CAI, Saragossa 1998, ISBN 84-8069-155-7 .
• Montaner Frutos, Alberto: Introducción histórica to chapter El palacio musulmán . Ed .: Bernabé Cabañero Subiza et al., La Aljafería. Vol. I. Cortes de Aragón, Saragossa 1998, ISBN 84-86794-97-8 , pp. 35-65 .
• Viguera Molins, Maria Jesús: Aragón musulmán . Mira editores, Saragossa 1988, ISBN 84-86778-06-9 .
• Viguera Molins, Maria Jesús: El islam en Aragón . CAI, (Col. "Mariano de Pano y Ruata", nº 9), Saragossa 1995, ISBN 84-88305-27-3 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Martínez Díez, Gonzalo: Sancho III el Mayor Rey de Pamplona, ​​Rex Ibericus . Marcial Pons Historia, Madrid 2007, ISBN 978-84-96467-47-7 , pp. 95 .
2. ↑ Martínez Díez, 2007, pp. 98–99
3. ↑ Martínez Díez, 2007, pp. 96, 99
4. ↑ Martínez Díez, 2007, p. 99

predecessor	Office	successor
	Emir of Saragossa 1013-1021	Yahya al-Muzaffar