Onneca Fortúnez

Onneca / Iñiga
Infanta of Pamplona
Born	848/850
Died	aft. 890
Spouse	Abdullah of Córdoba (m. 862/863) Aznar Sánchez de Laron (m. 882/883)
Issue	Muhammad al-Baha' Fatima the Younger Sancho Toda, Queen of Pamplona Sancha, Queen of Pamplona
Full name Birth name: Onneca / Iñiga Arabic name: Durr (در)
House	House of Íñiguez
Father	Fortún Garcés of Pamplona
Mother	Auria

Onneca Fortúnez or Iñiga Fortúnez^[1][2] (c. 848 – after 890)^[3] was a Basque^[4] princess from the Kingdom of Pamplona, later known as the Kingdom of Navarre. She was the daughter of Fortún Garcés of Pamplona and his wife Auria. At the time of Onneca's birth, which occurred between 848 and 850, the Iberian Peninsula was largely under the domination of the Muslim Umayyad dynasty. Only the northern kingdoms of Asturias and Pamplona remained under Christian rule, perpetuating the Hispano-Roman Visigothic traditions. Onneca was a member of the Íñiguez dynasty, named after her great-grandfather Íñigo Arista, who founded the Kingdom of Pamplona.^[5]

Information about Onneca's life is sketchy. Biographical details about her come from two main sources: the Roda Codex and the accounts of Muslim Andalusi historians, who refer to Onneca by the Arabic name Durr (در), meaning "pearl". Onneca is primarily known for marrying into the Umayyad dynasty. Although matrimonial unions between Christian slave-concubines and Muslim rulers were common, Onneca's case is one of the few examples of a Christian princess marrying into Muslim royalty.^[1] Her marriage created family ties between the Christian and Muslim ruling families of the Iberian peninsula, initially leading to close collaboration between the Christian House of Íñiguez and the Muslim Umayyads.^[6] The political effects resulting from Onneca's marriages continued to be felt long after her death, which occurred at an unknown date.

Marriage to Emir Abdullah

The Iberian peninsula in the early 10th century:

  Emirate of Córdoba

  Kingdom of Asturias

  Kingdom of Pamplona

  Territories of the Banu Qasi

Onneca's father Fortún Garcés, the then heir to the throne of Pamplona, was captured in 860 in the town of Milagro during a punitive expedition led by Muhammad I, the Muslim emir of Córdoba, against the small Kingdom of Pamplona. The expedition resulted in the devastation of the Christian kingdom's territory and the seizure of three castles by the Muslim forces. Fortun Garcés, nicknamed al-Anqar (الأنقر) by the Muslims because he was one-eyed, was taken to Córdoba where he was detained for two decades in gilded captivity.^[7] Onneca accompanied or followed her father to Córdoba, where she was wedded to Muhammad I's son Abdullah around 862/863. It is not known when or how she came to Córdoba. She may have been captured with her father, or sent to join her father at the emir's court at a later date. Onneca was presumably still a teenager when she bore Abdullah a son named Muhammad in 864.^[3] As Abdullah's wife, Onneca became known as Durr.^[8] According to some sources, she converted to Islam.^[9][10]

In addition to Muhammad, Onneca bore Abdullah two daughters: al-Baha' and Fatima the Younger.^[11] Abdullah became emir in 888, and Onneca's son Muhammad was named heir to the throne. However, Muhammad was assassinated by his younger half-brother al-Mutarrif on 28 January 891. There is disagreement among historians as to whether al-Mutarrif acted on his own or at the instigation of his father Abdullah. Al-Mutarrif himself was beheaded in 895 under orders of his father. As a result, Muhammad's son Abd-ar-Rahman, who was born three weeks prior to his father's assassination, was the one who succeeded his grandfather Abdullah as emir of Córdoba. Known in the West as Abd-ar-Rahman III, he later elevated himself to the position of caliph.^[12]

Onneca was thus the paternal grandmother of Abd-ar-Rahman III, who inherited from her as well as from his mother Muzna hailing from the Pyrenees (probably a Basque) European facial features such as blue eyes and light reddish hair that he attempted to alter (notably through hair coloring) in order to look more typically Arab.^[2][4]

Marriage to Aznar Sánchez de Laron

In about 880, after two decades in Córdoba, Onneca abandoned her Muslim family,^[13] and returned with her father to Pamplona, to which he would shortly succeed. Shortly after her return, Onneca married her first cousin Aznar Sánchez de Laron. Together they had a son and two daughters, probably born between 880 and 890: Sancho, Toda and Sancha. Their son Sancho Aznar is only known from the Roda Codex genealogies and may have died young.^[3] Their daughters Toda and Sancha would both become queens consort of Pamplona by marrying into the Jiménez dynasty, which came to power in 905 after displacing Onneca's father Fortún Garcés from the throne. Toda married Sancho I Garcés, thus uniting the royal houses of Íñiguez and Jiménez.^[14] Toda's sister Sancha was wedded to Sancho I Garcés' brother and successor Jimeno Garcés, and was later killed in France by her son García Jiménez.^[15]

Alternative chronology

The Roda Codex, the sole source for Onneca's Christian marriage, places this union with her cousin Aznar Sánchez de Laron before her marriage, as a widow, to Abdullah of Córdoba. Based on this, French historian Évariste Lévi-Provençal developed a chronology for Onneca's life that placed her birth date around 835. Lévi-Provençal believed that Onneca did not accompany her father when he returned to Pamplona in 882, either because she had already died, or because she had converted to Islam and chose to remain in Abdullah's harem.^[10] However, such a chronology is problematic since it implies that Onneca's children by Aznar were born before or only shortly after her father's capture in 860, thus making Onneca's daughter Toda Aznárez a sexagenarian at the time of her son García Sánchez I's birth (which is known to have occurred in either 919 or 922^[16]), and nearly a centenarian at the time of her 958 visit to Cordoba. Therefore, most historians addressing the question have concluded that the Roda Codex was in error with regard to the order of Onneca's two marriages.

Legacy

Onneca's historical importance stems from the fact that she provided an important genealogical link between the Muslim caliphs of Córdoba and the Christian kings of Pamplona,^[6] as well as between the first two royal dynasties of Pamplona.^[17][18]

Family tree

The following family tree shows the relationship between Onneca and her immediate relatives. Solid lines indicate descent, while horizontal dashed lines indicate marriage. The names of the three dynasties to which Onneca was directly related are in big capital letters: the Íñiguez dynasty into which she was born and married, the Umayyad dynasty into which she married, and the Jiménez dynasty into which her two Christian daughters married.^[17][18][19]

Family tree of Onneca Fortúnez

ÍÑIGUEZ DYNASTY (PAMPLONA)                                 Íñigo Arista, 1st King of Pamplona (great-grandfather)                                                                         García Íñiguez, 2nd King of Pamplona (paternal grandfather) UMAYYAD DYNASTY (CÓRDOBA)                                                                 Muhammad I, Emir of Córdoba (father-in-law)           Auria (mother)   Fortún Garcés, 3rd King of Pamplona (father)           Sancho Garcés (paternal uncle & father-in-law)                                                         Abdullah, Emir of Córdoba (1st husband)               Onneca (Durr)               Aznar Sánchez de Laron (2nd husband & first cousin)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               JIMÉNEZ DYNASTY (PAMPLONA)                                                                                   García Jiménez, Co- or Sub-King in Pamplona                                                                                                                                 Muhammad (son)   al-Baha' (daughter)   Fatima the Younger (daughter)   Sancho (son)   Toda (daughter)           Sancho I Garcés, 4th King of Pamplona (son-in-law)   Jimeno Garcés, 5th King of Pamplona (son-in-law)           Sancha (daughter)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Abd-ar-Rahman III, Caliph of Córdoba (grandson)   Onneca (granddaughter)   Sancha (granddaughter)   Urraca (granddaughter)   Velasquita (granddaughter)   Orbita (granddaughter)   García Sánchez I, 6th King of Pamplona (grandson)   García (grandson)   Sancho (grandson)   Dadildis (granddaughter)

See also

• Kings of Navarre family tree
• List of Navarrese consorts
• List of Navarrese monarchs

References

1. Jayyusi 1992, p. 463
2. Fletcher 2006, p. 53
3. Stasser 1999, pp. 815–816
4. Barrucand & Bednorz 1999, p. 51
5. Salas Merino 2008, p. 90
6. Faro Carballa et al. 2007, p. 102
7. Lévi-Provençal 1999, p. 323
8. Hajji 1970, p. 58
9. Goyhenetche 1998, p. 169
10. Lévi-Provençal 1953, pp. 18–19
11. Vallvé Bermejo 1999, p. 47
12. Lévi-Provençal 1999, pp. 333–335
13. Suárez Fernández 1976, p. 225
14. Salas Merino 2008, p. 91
15. Traggia 1805, p. 46
16. Ubieto Arteta 1963, pp. 77–82
17. Stasser 1999, pp. 837–838
18. Martínez Díez 2005, p. 174
19. Salas Merino 2008, pp. 216–218

Further reading

• Azizur Rahman, Syed (2001). The Story of Islamic Spain. New Delhi: Goodword Books. ISBN 978-81-87570-57-8.
• Barrucand, Marianne; Bednorz, Achim (1999). Moorish Architecture. Architecture & Design Series. New York: Taschen. ISBN 978-3-8228-7634-3.
• Cantera Burgos, Francisco (1966). "Christian Spain". In Roth, Cecil. The World History of the Jewish People. 2nd series: Medieval Period. Vol. 2, The Dark Ages: Jews in Christian Europe, 711–1096. Tel Aviv: Massadah Publishing. pp. 357–381. OCLC 230268286.
• Collins, Roger (1999). "The Spanish kingdoms". In Reuter, Timothy. The New Cambridge Medieval History. Volume III: c. 900 – c. 1024. Cambridge University Press. pp. 670–691. ISBN 978-0-521-36447-8.
• Faro Carballa, José Antonio; García-Barberena Unzu, María; Unzu Urmeneta, Mercedes (2007). "La presencia islámica en Pamplona" [Islamic presence in Pamplona]. In Sénac, Philippe. Villes et campagnes de Tarraconaise et d'al-Andalus (VIe–XIe siècles): la transition [Cities and countryside in Tarraconensis and al-Andalus (6th–11th centuries): the transition]. Collection "Méridiennes" (in Spanish). Toulouse: CNRS – Université de Toulouse – Le Mirail. pp. 97–139. ISBN 978-2-912025-23-4.
• Fletcher, Richard (2006) [First published 1992]. Moorish Spain (2nd ed.). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-24840-3.
• Goyhenetche, Manex (1998). Histoire générale du Pays Basque [General History of the Basque Country] (in French). Tome I: Préhistoire, Époque romaine, Moyen Âge (2nd ed.). Donostia-San Sebastián: Elkarlanean. ISBN 978-84-8331-401-2.
• Guichard, Pierre (2008). "El apogeo del Islam andalusí (siglo X – inicios del siglo XIII)" [The apogee of Andalusian Islam (10th century – early 13th century)]. Las Españas medievales [The Medieval Spains]. Biblioteca de Bolsillo, v. 133 (in Spanish). Barcelona: Editorial Critica. pp. 85–127. ISBN 978-84-7423-812-9.
• Hajji, Abd al-Rahman Ali (1970). Andalusian Diplomatic Relations with Western Europe during the Umayyad Period (A.H. 138–366 / A.D. 755–976): An Historical Survey (1st ed.). Beirut: Dar al-Irshad. OCLC 3242315.
• Jayyusi, Salma Khadra, ed. (1992). The Legacy of Muslim Spain. Handbuch der Orientalistik. Part 1, Volume 12. Leiden: E.J. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-09599-1.
• Lane-Poole, Stanley (1894). The Mohammedan Dynasties: Chronological and Genealogical Tables with Historical Introductions. Westminster: Archibald Constable and Company. OCLC 1199708.
• Lévi-Provençal, Évariste (1953). "Du nouveau sur le royaume de Pampelune au IXe siècle" [New information about the Kingdom of Pamplona in the 9th century]. Bulletin Hispanique (in French) 55 (1): 5–22. doi:10.3406/hispa.1953.3340. ISSN 0007-4640. Retrieved 2010-09-07.
• Lévi-Provençal, Évariste (1999) [First published 1950]. Histoire de l'Espagne musulmane [History of Muslim Spain] (in French). Tome 1: La conquête et l'émirat hispano-umaiyade. Paris: Maisonneuve & Larose. ISBN 978-2-7068-1386-3.
• Martínez Díez, Gonzalo (2005). El Condado de Castilla (711–1038): la historia frente a la leyenda [The County of Castile (711–1038): History vs. Legend]. Estudios de historia (in Spanish). Volume I. Valladolid: Marcial Pons Historia. ISBN 978-84-95379-94-8.
• Nykl, Alois Richard (1974). Hispano-Arabic Poetry and Its Relations with the Old Provençal Troubadours. Geneva: Slatkine. OCLC 461778757.
• Pérez, Joseph (2005). Los judíos en España [The Jews in Spain]. Colección Biblioteca clásica (in Spanish). Madrid: Marcial Pons Historia. ISBN 978-84-96467-03-3.
• Salas Merino, Vicente (2008). La Genealogía de Los Reyes de España [The Genealogy of the Kings of Spain] (in Spanish) (4th ed.). Madrid: Editorial Visión Libros. ISBN 978-84-9821-767-4.
• Stasser, Thierry (November–December 1999). "Consanguinité et alliances dynastiques en Espagne au Haut Moyen Âge: La politique matrimoniale de la reine Tota de Navarre" [Consanguinity and dynastic alliances in Spain during the Early Middle Ages: The matrimonial policy of Toda of Navarre] (fee required). Revista Hidalguía (in French) (Madrid: Ediciones Hidalguía) (277): 811–840. ISSN 0018-1285. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
• Suárez Fernández, Luis (1976). Historia de España antigua y media [History of Ancient and Medieval Spain] (in Spanish). Madrid: Ediciones Rialp. ISBN 978-84-321-1882-1.
• Traggia, Joaquín (1805). "Discurso histórico sobre el orígen y succesion del reyno pirenaico hasta Don Sancho el Mayor" [Historical discourse on the origin and succession of the Pyrenean kingdom up to Sancho the Great]. In Real Academia de la Historia. Memorias de la Real Academia de la Historia (Discourse read on 1 February 1799 at a regular meeting of the Royal Academy of History) (in Spanish). Volume IV. Madrid: Imprenta de Sancha. OCLC 504416291.
• Ubieto Arteta, Antonio (1963). "Los reyes pamploneses entre 905 y 970" [The kings of Pamplona between 905 and 970]. Príncipe de Viana (in Spanish) (Pamplona: Departamento de Cultura y Turismo) 24 (90–91): 77–82. ISSN 0032-8472.
• Vallvé Bermejo, Joaquín (1992). El Califato de Córdoba [The Caliphate of Córdoba]. Colecciones MAPFRE 1492, v. 6 (in Spanish). Madrid: Editorial MAPFRE. ISBN 978-84-7100-406-2.
• Vallvé Bermejo, Joaquín (1999). Al-Andalus: sociedad e instituciones [Al-Andalus: Society and Institutions]. Volume 20 of Clave historial (in Spanish). Madrid: Real Academia de la Historia. ISBN 978-84-89512-16-0.