Dive right in with us as we cover the life and rule of Spain’s first Muslim governor: Musa ibn Nusayr! Hear about Mua’s humble origins, breaking the chain of command, and a mysterious table in Musa’s episode!
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Conquistadores
Musa acquits himself well as governor of Ifrikiya; according to al-Hakam, he advances so far and takes so many captives, which he sends on to Abd al-Aziz, and then on to Abd al-Malik, that the caliph was considerably less peeved with him.
Then, in 705, both the caliph Abd al-Malik and his brother Abd al-Aziz die, and Musa suddenly finds himself with a lot more independence. Abd al-Malik’s son al-Walid is his heir, and al-Walid is very supportive of further attempts at expansion. According to the Chronicle of 754, “[al-Walid] crushed the forces of almost all neighboring peoples. He weakened Romania [meaning the Byzantines] with constant raiding, nearly destroyed the islands, he raided and subdued the territory of India, he brought cities to utter destitution, he besieged fortresses, and, from the twisted paths of Libya, subjugated all of Mauretania.” Musa’s successes in North Africa mean that he is finally held in high esteem by a caliph.
By this point, Musa is about 65 years old, which means that he has adult sons that can help him out. His oldest is called Abd Allah, the second is called Marwan, and the youngest is named after his patron, Abd al-Aziz. In the year 708, Musa conquers Tangiers with the help of Marwan, bringing the caliphate to its furthest western extent up to that time. He leaves his subordinate Tarik ibn Ziyad in charge in Tangiers and returns to Kairowan.
During the conquest of Spain, Musa leaves the governorship of Ifrikiya with his oldest son Abd Allah, and takes his youngest son Abd al-Aziz with him, although with a MUCH larger contingent of soldiers, and crosses over to Spain himself in mid-712.
Musa doesn’t take the same route as Tarik had. He crosses over at Cádiz, then goes up the river and heads for Seville. He doesn’t have the element of surprise that Tarik had, though, because Seville is ready and it takes Musa three months until the city finally capitulates. He then turns west and heads for the former province of Lusitania, which is modern day Portugal. Mérida had always been a Gothic and Catholic stronghold; remember Masona and Witteric? That siege took 5 months, and when the city had finally fallen, Musa leaves his son Abd al-Aziz there to continue pacifying the region while he heads back east to Córdoba.
After meeting up with Tarik in Córdoba, Musa straight-up ignores the caliph’s messenger and continues northward with Tarik. Tarik goes to the northwest and takes León and Astorga, while Musa heads northeast and takes Zaragoza. Now, most of what I have described so far has been war: sieges, purging of former nobles, etc. But Musa also conquered territories by persuasion and diplomacy as well. The taking of Zaragoza is a good illustration of this, because we know of a local noble in the area named Count Cassius who, with his son Fortún, converted to Islam and retained some of his power and influence, not to mention his life. Now, Fortún’s conversion probably wasn’t his choice, as he was a child at the time – we know this because Fortún goes on to have brothers named Abu-Thawr, Abu-Salama, Yunus, and Yahya, who were all clearly born after Cassius’s conversion. But the family remains Muslim and develops into a powerful ally of Musa. Cassius is even one of the men who accompanies Musa back to Damascus to meet up with the caliph.
Score
Peter: 8
Sarah: 9
Total: 17
No Me Digas
He ruined beautiful cities, burning them with fire; condemned lords and powerful men to the cross; and butchered youths and infants with swords. While he terrorized everyone in this way, some of the cities that remained sued for peace under duress and, after persuading and mocking them with a certain craftiness, the Saracens granted their requests without delay. When the citizens subsequently rejected what they had been forced to accept out of fear and terror, they tried to flee to the mountains where they risked hunger and various forms of death. The Saracens set up their savage kingdom in Spain, specifically in Córdoba, formerly a patrician see and always the most opulent of cities, a city accustomed to giving its first fruits to the kingdom of the Visigoths. 55. Who can relate such perils? Who can enumerate such grievous disasters? Even if every limb were transformed into a tongue, it would be beyond human capability to express the ruin of Spain and its many and great evils. (754)
The Arabs, after oppressing the region along with the kingdom, killed many with the sword and subjugated the rest to themselves by mollifying them with a covenant of peace. The city of Toledo, victor over all peoples, succumbed, vanquished by the victories of the Ishmaelites; subjected, it served them. They placed prefects throughout all the provinces of Spain and paid tribute to the Babylonian king26 for many years until they elected their own king and established for themselves a kingdom in the patrician city of Córdoba. (Alfonso III)
Score
Peter: 7
Sarah: 6
Total: 13
Ortodoxia
Score
Peter: 5
Sarah: 5
Total: 10
El Rey-sto
Children: 3, including 2 governors
Length of Reign: 2.5 years
Death: Of old age on a forced pilgrimage
Score
Peter: 5
Sarah: 5
Total: 10
¿Fuero o Fuera?
Sources
Primary
The Chronicle of 754. As translated in Wolf, Kenneth Baxter (1999). Conquerors and Chroniclers of Early Medieval Spain.
The Chronicle of Alfonso III. As translated in Wolf, Kenneth Baxter (1999). Conquerors and Chroniclers of Early Medieval Spain.
The History of the Conquest of Spain, al-Hakam. As translated in Jones, John Harris (1858). History of the Conquest of Spain.
Book of the Conquest of Countries, al-Baladhuri. As translated in Hitti, Phillip K. (1916). The Origins of the Islamic State.
Secondary
Collins, Roger (1989). The Arab Conquest of Spain: 710-797.
O’Callaghan, Joseph F. (1975). A History of Medieval Spain.
The Spanish ArPodA 