Muhammad III of Granada

Just before his death, Muhammad II oversaw a successful campaign against Castile, taking advantage of Castile's concurrent war against Aragon and the minority of the Castilian king, Ferdinand IV. He routed the Castilian army at the Battle of Iznalloz in 1295 and conquered some border towns, including Quesada in 1295 and Alcaudete in 1299.[13] In September 1301, Muhammad secured an agreement with Aragon which planned a joint offensive and recognised Granada's rights to Tarifa, an important port on the Straits of Gibraltar taken by Castile in 1292.[14] This agreement was ratified in January 1302, but Muhammad II died before the campaign materialised.[14]

Muhammad III took the throne at the age of around 45, when his father died on 8 April 1302 (8 Shaban 701 AH) after 29 years of rule.[1] There were allegations, cited by Ibn al-Khatib, that Muhammad III, perhaps impatient to assume power, killed his father by poison, although this rumour was never confirmed.[15][16][lower-alpha 1] An anecdote says that during his accession ceremony, when a poet recited:

For whom are the banners today unfurled? For whom do the troops 'neath their standards march?

He responded with a joke: "For this fool you can see before you all."[17]

Initially, Muhammad III continued his father's war against Castile, the alliance with Aragon and the Marinids, and support for Alfonso de la Cerda, a pretender to the Castilian throne.[18][19] He sent an embassy to the Marinid Sultan led by his Vizier Abu Sultan Aziz ibn al-Mun'im al-Dani, and lent the Sultan—then besieging the Zayyanids at Tlemcen—a contingent of Granadan archers who were familiar with siege warfare.[20] On 11 April, he wrote to James II informing the Aragonese king of his father's death and affirming his friendship with James II and Alfonso de la Cerda.[21] On the Castilian front, Granadan troops under Hammu ibn Abd al-Haqq ibn Rahhu took Bedmar, near Jaén, as well as neighbouring castles two weeks after Muhammad III's accession.[22] After the conquest, he sent the wife of the town's alcaide, María Jiménez, to the Marinid Sultan.[18] On 7 February 1303, Granada and Aragon concluded a treaty of one year.[23] In the same year, he faced a rebellion from his relative Abu al-Hajjaj ibn Nasr, the governor of Guadix.[24] He swiftly suppressed the rebellion and ordered Abu al-Hajjaj to be executed by another relative, chosen probably to send a message.[1]

Muhammad III then started peace negotiations with Castile. In 1303, Castile sent a delegation led by the royal chancellor Fernando Gómez de Toledo to Granada. Castile offered to meet nearly all Granada's demands, including ceding Bedmar, Alcaudete, and Quesada. Tarifa, one of Granada's main goals, was to be kept by Castile. In exchange, Muhammad would agree to become Ferdinand's vassal and pay the parias (tribute), a typical peace arrangement between the two kingdoms.[22] The treaty was concluded at Córdoba in August 1303 and was to last three years.[18] In 1304, Aragon also concluded its war with Castile (by the Treaty of Torrellas) and assented to the Granada–Castile treaty, therefore creating peace between the three kingdoms, and leaving the Marinids isolated.[22]

Ferdinand IV of Castile, Muhammad's contemporary, and at different times his enemy, ally, and overlord

The agreement, and the resulting alliance with Castile and Aragon, gave Granada peace and a dominant position in the Straits of Gibraltar. However, it created its own problems. Domestically, many were not happy with the alliance with the Christians, especially the Volunteers of the Faith, a military group who came from North Africa to Granada to fight a holy war.[22] Muhammad III subsequently dismissed 6,000 of his North African troops.[16] The Marinid state was offended by the tripartite alliance isolating it.[25] Aragon, while part of the alliance, was worried that strong Castile-Granada relations would mean the bloc could establish a choke-hold on the Strait and devastate Aragonese trade. The Aragonese king James II sent an envoy, Bernat de Sarrià to the Marinid Sultan Abu Yaqub Yusuf, for negotiations—although ultimately these were unsuccessful.[26]

Taking advantage of the peace with the Christian powers, Granada attempted an expansion to Ceuta, on the North African side of the Straits of Gibraltar.[27] The struggle for the control of the Straits, which controlled passage between the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa, was a recurring theme in Granada's foreign affairs—involving Castile and the Marinids—until the mid-fourteenth century.[28] In 1304, the inhabitants of Ceuta declared independence from the Marinids, led by their lords from the Banu al-Azafi family. Granadan agents such as Abu Said Faraj, the governor of Málaga and Muhammad's brother-in-law, had been encouraging the rebellion.[29] Abu Yaqub was occupied in a war against his eastern neighbour, the Zayyanid Kingdom of Tlemcen, and was therefore unable to take any strong action. In May 1306, Granada sent a fleet to capture Ceuta, sending their Azafid leaders to Granada and declaring Muhammad III the city's overlord.[27][29] Their forces also landed in the Marinid ports of Ksar es-Seghir, Larache, and Asilah and occupied those Atlantic ports.[27] Concurrently, a dissident Marinid prince, Uthman ibn Abi al-Ula, declared a rebellion, conquered a mountainous area in northern Morocco and allied himself with Granada.[30] Abu Yaqub was murdered on 10 May 1307 and was succeeded by his grandson Abu Thabit Amir. Uthman responded by declaring himself sultan in May or June 1307,[30] while Abu Thabit ended his grandfather's siege of Tlemcen and returned to Morocco with his troops.[27]

Abu Thabit retook Ksar es-Seghir and Asilah from Granada and Tangiers from Uthman after defeating him in a battle.[31] Uthman had to take refuge in Granada, where he became commander of the Volunteers of the Faith.[27] Abu Thabit sent envoys to Muhammad III demanding the return of Ceuta and prepared a siege of the town.[30] However, he died at Tangiers on 28 July 1308 and was succeeded by his brother Abu al-Rabi Sulayman.[27][30] Abu al-Rabi agreed to a truce with Granada, leaving Ceuta under Muhammad's control.[27] The conquest of Ceuta, together with control of Gibraltar and Algeciras, gave Granada a strong control of the Straits, but alarmed its neighbours the Marinids, Castile, and Aragon, who started considering a coalition against Granada.[32]

During Muhammad III's reign, his Vizier Abu Abdallah ibn al-Hakim al-Rundi grew in power and eventually became the most powerful man in the realm, eclipsing the Sultan himself. It is unclear exactly when or how he assumed absolute power, but it was due partly to the Sultan's blindness (or poor eyesight)[lower-alpha 2] that excluded him from many of his duties.[1][25][33] Originally from Ronda and descended from a branch of the former Abbadid dynasty, he had entered the court as a katib (secretary) in 1287 during the reign of Muhammad II and then had risen to the highest rank in the chancery.[34][35] Muhammad III kept his services and appointed him as the co-vizier serving with Al-Dani, his father's vizier.[36] The old Vizier wanted the Atiq ibn al-Mawl, a qa'id (military chief) whose family was related to the Nasrids, to succeed him as the sole vizier on his death.[1][36] However, after Al-Dani's death in 1303, Muhammad III named Ibn al-Hakim as vizier anyway. Because he controlled the two powerful posts of vizier and katib, he received the title dhu al-wizaratayn ("holder of the two vizierates").[36] He was the one who signed the 1303 treaty with Castile at Córdoba in the name of Muhammad III, and the one who visited Ceuta after its conquest by Granada instead of the Sultan.[37] As his power grew, the court poets began to dedicate their verses to him rather than the Sultan, and he lived a luxurious lifestyle in his palace.[38]

Despite efforts to allay its fears by the Granadan Vizier Al-Dani, Aragon continued diplomatic efforts against Granada.[39] These culminated on 19 December 1308, when Aragon and Castile concluded the Treaty of Alcalá de Henares.[32] The Christian kingdoms agreed to attack Granada, not sign a separate peace, and divide its territories between them. Aragon would gain one-sixth of the kingdom, and Castile would gain the rest.[39] James II also made a pact with Sultan Abu al-Rabi, offering galleys and knights for the Marinid conquest of Ceuta in return for fixed payments, as well as for receiving all movable goods gained in the conquest.[40]

The three powers—"a devastating line-up of enemies", according to historian L. P. Harvey[41]—prepared for war against Granada and the two Christian kingdoms—without mentioning the Marinid collaboration—asked the Pope Clement V to grant a crusading bull and financial support from the church.[42] These were granted in March and April 1309.[43] Aragon's naval preparation was noticed by Granada, and at the end of February 1309, Muhammad III queried James II about the target of the operation. James II responded on 17 March, assuring Granada that it was for his conquest of Sardinia.[44] Meanwhile, the Master of Calatrava already attacked Granadan territory, and the Bishop of Cartagena captured Lubrín on 13 March.[40] The Nasrid governor of Almería responded by arresting Catalan merchants based in his city and confiscating their goods, while the Granadan fleet prepared for war.[24][40]

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