Siege of Córdoba (1013)

The city of Córdoba in al-Andalus, under the rule of Umayyad Caliph Hisham II al-Hakam, was besieged, attacked, and finally conquered by forces under rival Umayyad claimant Sulayman ibn al-Hakam twice: from 1009 to 1010 and from 1010 to 1013. Sulayman's victory, and the massacres and sacking that followed have been linked to the decline and end of Umayyad rule.^[1]

Sulayman briefly ruled the city in 1010, but was expelled. Caliph Hisham II al-Hakam was restored with Catalan assistance. From 1011 to 1013, Suleiman's troops engaged in raids on the countryside as well as maintaining a blockade of Córdoba from a base at the Madinat az-Zahra.^[2]

In April or May 1013, Córdoba surrendered and was conquered. Historian Richard Fletcher reports that, "Sulayman's Berber followers, who had already wrecked the palace at Madinat az-Zahra, sacked and plundered the city."^[3] During the fall of the city, Sulayman's troops looted Córdoba and massacred citizens of the city, including many Jews.^[3][4][5] Prominent Jews in Córdoba, such as Samuel ibn Naghrela were forced to flee to the city in 1013.^[6]

See also

• Timeline of Jewish History
• List of massacres in Spain
• Timeline of antisemitism
• Timeline of the Muslim presence in the Iberian peninsula

References

1. ↑ "By 1013 the power of Córdoba was broken and the Umayyad pretenders who struggled for the title of caliph from 1013 to 1031 had neither the military backing nor the resources to extend their transient power." Luscombe, David (1995). The new Cambridge medieval history. Cambridge University Press. p. 601. ISBN 978-0-521-41410-4. 
2. ↑ They took control of the Madinat az-Zahra and "established a base for [Sulayman's] Berber troops. From there he blockaded the city for the next two and a half years." (Fletcher, Richard (2006-05-05). Moorish Spain. University of California Press. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-520-24840-3. )
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 (Fletcher, Richard (2006-05-05). Moorish Spain. University of California Press. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-520-24840-3. )
4. ↑ Kantor, Máttis (2005-11-01). Codex Judaica: Chronological index of Jewish history, covering 5,764 years of Biblical, Talmudic & post-Talmudic history. Zichron Press. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-9670378-3-7. 
5. ↑ Benny Morris cites the killing of approximately two thousands Jews Morris, Benny (1999). Righteous victims: a history of the Zionist-Arab conflict, 1881-2001. Random House, Inc. p. 184. ISBN 978-0-679-42120-7. 
6. ↑ Brann, Ross (2009-12-21). Power in the Portrayal: Representations of Jews and Muslims in Eleventh- and Twelfth-Century Islamic Spain. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-14673-7.