‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad, Sanchuelo, hijo de Almanzor y nieto de los reyes de Pamplona [‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad, Sanchuelo: son of Almanzor and grandson of the monarchs of Pamplona]

Abstract

The figure of Almanzor is widely known and much has been written about the period in which he held absolute power in Muslim Spain. Not so much is known, however, about events in the Court of Cordoba during the rules, also absolute, of his sons ‘Abd al-Malik al-Muzaffar and ‘Abd al-Rahman «Sanchuelo». This article fills readers in about their brief terms in power, particularly that of «Sanchuelo», so called because his mother was the daughter of King Sancho II Garcés of Pamplona. He was not an attractive figure for the Muslims of Cordoba, who overthrew and executed him only four months into his rule. The wider-reaching significance of his downfall was that power on the peninsula passed from the hands...