ABSTRACT
This extract is taken from the work of a historian, Ibn al-Qutrya (d. 977),who was not a christian but the descendant of a christian convert to Islam. The title History if the Conquest if al-Andalus which appea rs in the manuscript of his work is misleading. It begins with a fairly detailed account of the first years of islamic rule in Hispania, followed by an account of the problems of maintaining order in the peninsula until the arrival of 'Abd al-Rahman I in 756. The rest of the work is a series of eulogies of the Umayyads, made up of anecdotes about the reign of H isham (788-96), the revolts against al-Hakam I (796-822) and brief accounts of the reigns of 'Abd al-Rahman II (822-52), Muhammad (852-86), al-Mundir (886-88) and 'Abd Allah (888-912). It was probably compiled after the death of'Abd al-Rahman III in 961, since, although his reign is not covered, he is referred to with the formula 'May God be pleased with him ', which implies that he had died. In many respects it is the sort of propaganda that the Umayyad caliphs would have been happ y to read. Yet, unlike oth er historians of al-Andalus, Ibn al-Qunya also remembered the role which the christians had played in the conquest and in the development of Andalusi society. Ibn al-Q ntrya's account of the islam ic settlement is based on a number of stories about the descend ants of Witiza , the penultimate Visigothi c king. They includ e the story of his granddaughter Sara, from whom Ibn al-Qutlya may have taken his title, or nickname 'son of the Gothic woman '. The house of Witiza played a leading role in several accounts of the islamic conquest, both in Arabi c and in Latin . Ibn al-Qjitlya said that the sons of Witiza were the first christians to make their peace with the invaders. Histor ians writing in Latin took a more jaundiced view. According to the Chronicle if 754, Witiza's br other betrayed Toledo to the invaders," and, from the Chronicle if Alfonso III onwards, Witiza and his sons shared with Rodrigo the responsibility for the 'ruin of Spain' . T he Chronicle ifAlfonso III noted that 'the Saracens entered Hispania on account of the treachery of the sons of Witiza' .3 The stories became ever more elaborate (and discouraging to historians) in the Arabic histories. It is generally assumed that such legends have no explana tory value. Yet the fact that the stories are contradictory and sometimes frankly incredible does not invalidate them as historical sources. It is possible to examine their contemporary meaning, regardl ess of their truth content. This chapter discusses some of the problems of the History ifthe Conquest if al-Andalus, before focussing on Ibn al-Qunya's stories about the house of Witiza as a source of information about the way in which christians may have interpreted their transition from Visigothic to islamic nobility.
