The rise of Hišam III
On a day like today, 997 years ago, in Alpont (part of the Andalusian district of Al-Xarq and currently in the Valencian region of Los Serranos), Hišām, son of Muhammad and younger brother of the deceased caliph Abd-al-Rahman IV, was proclaimed caliph of al-Andalus. Hišām III, great-grandson of Abd-al-Rahman III, became the highest political, military and religious authority in al-Andalus, with Córdoba as its capital.
At that time, the caliphate covered two thirds of the Iberian Peninsula, from Balaguer, Huesca and Tudela to the extreme south, and included all the large cities of the peninsular territory, such as Zaragoza, Lleida, Tortosa, València, Murcia, Almería, Granada, Seville, Badajoz, Lisbon and Córdoba itself.
The crisis of the caliphate of al-Andalus
However, the Andalusian caliphate was mired in a deep political crisis at that time. Rivalries between the different parties of the caliphal court had caused internal tensions. Since the death of Almanzor, the Córdoba general and chancellor who had led the caliphate with an iron fist, Andalusian power had been in constant dispute between the powerful eunuchs and the Berber and Muladí tribes.
Hisham III represented the legitimist option, supported by the high officials and powerful merchants of Arab origin who had accompanied the Umayyads in their exile from Damascus to Córdoba and in the proclamation of Andalusian independence. However, his political position was always weak and, just four years later, he was overthrown in a coup d’état that marked the end of the caliphate.
Hisham III had to flee from Córdoba and the territory of al-Andalus was fragmented into several independent taifas. The last Andalusian caliph took refuge in Lleida, where he had previously lived and had supporters who supported him. There, Hisham III would spend the last years of his life, until his death in 1036.
