Sara al-Qutiyya

Sara al-Qutiyya (Arabic: سارة القوطية; Spanish: Sara la Goda) or Sara the Goth (fl. 8th century) was a Visigothic noblewoman, who was the grand-daughter of king Wittiza. After the death of her father she travelled to Damascus from al-Andalus and successfully petitioned the Umayyad caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik to restore lands to her family that had been appropriated by her uncle. The historian Ibn al-Qutiyya was her great-grandson.

Biography

Sara al-Qutiyya was born to a noble family; her father was Olmund [ca], a son of Wittizia the Visigothic king.[1] When he died, Sara, along with her two younger brothers inherited the family's lands around Seville. However, Olmund's brother, Artobas, who had inherited land-holdings in Cordoba, appropriated Sara and her brother's inheritance.[2]

In order to challenge the occupation of her inherited lands in the Seville region, Sara al-Qutiyya had a ship constructed and travelled with her brothers to Damascus to petition the caliph, Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik.[1] As a result of her petition, orders were sent to the governor of Al-Andalus, Abu'l-Khattar al-Husam ibn Darar al-Kalbi, to reinstate their Seville land-holdings to her and her brothers.[2]

Whilst at court, Sara met the future Abd al-Rahman I, who reportedly "gave her special treatment and innumerable attentions". During this time, the caliph Hisham also arranged for her to marry a man called Isā Ibn Muzāḥim,[2] with whom she had two sons: Ibrahim and Ishaq.[3] After Isā Ibn Muzāḥim died in 138H (755/756),[1] Abd al-Rahman I advised Sara to remarry, this time to Umayr ibn Sa'id, a member of the Lakhmid dynasty. They had a son called Habib, whose son, Ibrahim bin Hajjaj al-Lakhmi, later became governor of Seville.[2]

Legacy

Sara al-Qutiyya's sons established several significant dynasties in the generations after her death.[4] The historian Ibn al-Qutiyya was one of her descendants, writing a history of the Umayyad caliphate and including his great-grandmother's life in it.[5][6][7][8]

In 2018, the Spanish-language broadcaster RTVE recorded a documentary on her.[9]

Historiography

The story of Sara al-Qutiyya appears in the History of the Conquest of al-Andalus by Ibn al-Qutiyya and also in a biography of Ibn al-Qutiyya by Ibn Khallikan.[10] As Visigothic royalty, Sara al-Qutiyya would have been a Christian. Her marriages to Muslim men are seen by historians, such as Mary Elizabeth Perry, or Ilan Vit-Suzan, as emblematic of the Islamization of the Christian Visigothic elite of Al-Andalus.[11][12] However the medievalist Roger Collins regards Sara as a "mythical ancestor" rather than a historical individual.[13]

References
  1. Aparicio, Javier Iglesia (21 January 2019). "Sara al-Qutiyya, la Goda". Historia del Condado de Castilla (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  2. MARÍN-GUZMÁN, ROBERTO (1993). "SOCIAL AND ETHNIC TENSIONS IN AL-ANDALUS: CASES OF ISHBĪLIYAH (SEVILLA) 276/889—302/914 AND ILBĪRAH (ELVIRA) 276/889—284/897— THE ROLE OF 'UMAR IBN ḤAFṢŪN". Islamic Studies. 32 (3): 279–318. ISSN 0578-8072. JSTOR 20840132.
  3. Simonet, Francisco Javier (10 February 2005). 2T.HISTORIA DE LOS MOZARABES (in Spanish). Editorial MAXTOR. ISBN 978-84-9761-153-4.
  4. Guzmán, Roberto Marín (2006). Sociedad, política y protesta popular en la España musulmana (in Spanish). Editorial Universidad de Costa Rica. ISBN 978-9968-936-96-5.
  5. Córdoba, El Día de (29 August 2010). "El tataranieto de Sara La Goda, cronista y defensor de los omeyas". El Día de Córdoba (in European Spanish). Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  6. Pidal, Ramón Menéndez (2001). Islam y cristiandad: España entre las dos culturas (in Spanish). Universidad de Málaga. ISBN 978-84-95073-16-7.
  7. Ana, ECHEVARRÍA ARSUAGA; Iñaki, MARTÍN VISO (19 October 2020). La Península Ibérica en la Edad Media (700-1250) (in Spanish). Editorial UNED. ISBN 978-84-362-7634-3.
  8. Barkai, Ron (4 September 2020). Cristianos y musulmanes en la España medieval (in Spanish). Ediciones Rialp. ISBN 978-84-321-5269-6.
  9. "Sara al-Qutiyya (Sara la Goda) - Ángeles Caso - "Mujeres"". RTVE.es (in Spanish). 27 March 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  10. Christys, Ann Rosemary (11 January 2013). Christians in Al-Andalus 711-1000. Taylor & Francis. pp. 179–181. ISBN 9781136127380.
  11. Sánchez, Magdalena S.; Saint-Saens, Alain; Saint-Saëns, Alain (1996). Spanish Women in the Golden Age: Images and Realities. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-29481-5.
  12. Vit-Suzan, Ilan (15 April 2016). Architectural Heritage Revisited: A Holistic Engagement of its Tangible and Intangible Constituents. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-17950-4.
  13. Collins, Roger (7 May 2012). Caliphs and Kings: Spain, 796-1031. Wiley. pp. 5–6. ISBN 9780631181842.
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