Medieval Societies, Religions, and Cultures

The Banu Hud and the Struggle for Andalusi Political Legitimacy

Anthony H. Minnema

• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Year: 2024
• ISBN:
  9781501774911
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: European Medieval History
• Index: History

In The Last Ta'ifa, Anthony H. Minnema shows how the Banu Hud, an Arab dynasty from Zaragoza, created and recreated their vision of an autonomous city-state ( ta'ifa ) in ways that reveal changes to legitimating strategies in al-Andalus and across the Mediterranean. In 1110, the Banu Hud lost control of their emirate in the north of Iberia and entered exile, ending their century-long rule. But far from accepting their fate, the dynasty adapted by serving Christian kings, nurturing rebellions, and carving out a new state in Murcia to recover, maintain, and grow their power. By tracing the Banu Hud across chronicles, charters, and coinage, Minnema shows how dynastic leaders borrowed their rivals' claims and symbols and engaged in similar types of military campaigns and complex alliances in an effort to cultivate authority.

Drawing on Arabic, Latin, and vernacular sources, The Last Ta'ifa uses the history of the Banu Hud to connect the pursuit of legitimacy in al-Andalus to the politics of other emerging kingdoms and emirates. The actions of Hudid leaders, Minnema shows, echoed across the region as other kings, rebels, and adventurers employed parallel methods to gain power and resist the forces of centralization, highlighting the constructed nature of legitimacy in al-Andalus and the Mediterranean.

Table of contents

• Acknowledgments
• List of Abbreviations
• Note on Names, Transliteration, and Dates
• Introduction: An Andalusi Dynasty’s Second Act
• 1. The Once and Future King: Sayf al-Dawla and the Survival of the Banū Hūd
• 2. Al-Andalus Regained: The Hūdid Emirate of al-Mutawakkil
• 3. The Nameless Coin: Bahāʾ al-Dawla and the Castilian Protectorate
• 4. King of Fortune: Al-Wāthiq and the Mudéjar Uprising
• 5. Between Castile and Aragon: The Moor Kings of Arrixaca and the Lords of Crevillente
• Conclusion: The Western Mediterranean in an Age of Ṭāʾifas
• Appendix: Family Tree of the Banū Hūd
• Bibliography
• Index