Hisham III

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Hisham III (Arabic: هشام الثالث) was the last Umayyad ruler in the Al-Andalus (Moorish Iberia) (1026-1031), and the last person to hold the title Caliph of Cordoba.

Hisham III, the brother of Abd ar-Rahman IV, was chosen as Caliph after long negotiations between the governers of the border regions and the people of Cordoba. He could not enter Cordoba until 1029 as the city was occupied by the Berber armies of the Hammudids.

Although he tried to consolidate the Caliphate, the raising of taxes (to pay for mosques amongst other things) led to heavy opposition from the Muslim clerics. After the murder of his Visir al-Hakam by a conspiracy of Cordoban Patricians, Hisham was imprisoned. He managed to escape, but died in exile in 1036 in Lerida.

After the Caliphate fell with the overthrow of Hisham III in 1031 , the Caliphate's land holdings — already much diminished from its height in power just 100 years past — devolved into a number of militarily weak but culturally advanced taifas.

Banu Umayyad Cadet Branch of the Banu Quraish
Preceded by Muhammad III	Umayyad Leader 1026–1036	Title sent into exile
	Caliph of Cordoba 1026–1031	Title extinct