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Textile Society of America Symposium
Proceedings Textile Society of America
9-2012
Embroidered Politics: A Case Study between al-Andalus and Embroidered Politics: A Case Study between al-Andalus and
Castilla Castilla
Miriam Ali-de-Unzaga
Institute of Ismaili Studies
, miriam.alideunzaga@sant.oxon.org
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Embroidered Politics: A Case Study between al-Andalus and Castilla
Miriam Ali-de-Unzaga1
miriam.alideunzaga@sant.oxon.org
Medieval documentary sources include numerous references of the superb quality and high quantity
of Andalusi textiles.2 Even though textiles were produced and mentioned about al-Andalus between
the 8th and the 16th centuries in the hundreds of thousands, today only a fraction survives –albeit in a
considerable number (my estimation is that there are approximately 700 pieces extant in Spain, no
official inventory exists). Most of them, made with silk and gold – with sophisticated techniques
displaying elaborated iconography: figural, animal, vegetal and geometrical as well as Arabic
calligraphy – have been superbly preserved within Spanish Christian treasuries thanks to their
function as funerary shrouds for royals and ecclesiastics and as saint-reliquaries.
The embroidery preserved in Oña is part of this historical legacy, one of the earlier and most
valuable extant Andalusi textiles, which nevertheless has not fully attracted the attention it deserves.
This paper is a travelogue that goes back to the 10th and 11th centuries, and moves between the
Andalusi and Castilian contexts in order to explore the biographical and political connections of this
embroidery. In so doing it presents a twofold outcome; on the one hand it introduces new data on the
identity of the figure represented in the embroidery as well as on the identity of the commissioner of
the embroidery. On the other hand, it attempts to illustrate that a detailed micro-study of the
materiality and the various biographies of a textile piece can yield significant and useful information
that complements and perhaps contradicts essentialist perceptions that may arise from documentary
sources and contemporary interpretations alike. As such, this paper proposes that in the midst of a
convulse and complex medieval history of the Iberian Peninsula thinking-through-textiles is a
necessary, worthwhile rewarding activity, which accounts for textiles as valuable and useful
historical sources that help us to better understand our common human past.
Sancho García (r. 995-1017) was the powerful third Count of Castilla who in 1011 founded the
Monastery San Salvador de Oña (60 Km from Burgos in todays Castilla and Leon), one of the
richest, most influential ecclesiastical institutions in the medieval period; Sancho bequeathed it to his
daughter Tigridia who was the appointed abbess.3 Sancho envisaged a family burial pantheon inside
the monastery4 through which several medieval objects have been preserved. One of them is an
embroidered tunic, which for the sake of clarity will be referred to here as the Oña Embroidery. The
few studies that have dealt with this piece did not consider some crucial iconographic features which
1 Thanks to the Institute of Ismaili Studies and to the Pasold Research I was able to attend and present my paper at the
2 Textiles produced in al-Andalus have previously been classified as Islamic, hispano-moresque, hispano-muslim.
Todays’ academic convention uses the adjective Andalusi.
3 J.L. Senra, “El Monasterio de Oña,” in Alfonso VIII y su época. Centro de Estudios del Románico Monasterio de Santa
María la Real de Aguilar de Campoo en Palencia (1992), pp. 339-354.
4 Royals buried in Oña: Sancho and his wife Urraca (d. 1025), their son García Sánchez (d. 1029), daughters Tigridia (d.
1029) and Muniadona (d. 1066); Muniadona’s husband King Sancho III of Navarra (d. 1035); Sancho II King of Castilla
(d. 1067); infant García (d. 1146) son of King Alfonso VII, and two sons of King Sancho IV of Castilla: Alfonso (d.
1291) and Enrique (d. 1299). Ibid.
2
can help establishing the identity of the embroidered figure.5 In addition, neither of them explored
how the embroidery reached the monastery. This paper begins illustrating the materiality of the Oña
embroidery to then reconsider the historical geopolitical context of the rulers of Castilla, their
interactions with their Muslim counterparts and their connections with Oña.
Materiality and Visual Repertory
The Oña embroidery displays a background linen fabric embroidered with silk and gold.6 Discovered
in 1968, its restoration (2003-2006) produced four fragments: fragment no. 1: 136 X 85 cm (figure
1a), fragment no. 2: 50 X 40 cm (figure 2a), fragment no. 3: 55 X 50 cm, (figure 3), fragment no. 4: 88
X 50 cm (figure 4).7 Organic traces from the fragments confirm that this garment had an ultimate use
as a funerary shroud. We have also evidence that the textile experienced several cuttings and
manipulations in different periods of time, which suggests that the tunic was adjusted for the use of
different body-sizes.8 The fabric has withstood the passing of time due to the high quality of its
materials and the dried conditions of the monastery. The metallic thread, rolled over a silk base, has a
composition of 89% gold and 11% silver.9
The ornamentation consists of double rounded medallions. The borders of each medallion elongate to
form a web of geometric figures: four-pointed and eight-pointed stars, which give visual continuation
to the whole fabric. While the spaces between geometric motifs are filled with a combination of
highly stylised opened lotus-flowers and branch-like-vegetable motifs, the geometrical figures
enclose a variety of animal representations that amounts to sixty-seven10: six cats, five birds/falcons
riding their respective horses, one incomplete griffin, one incomplete elephant, three pairs of
peacocks with necks interlinked, four single eagles, four eagles attacking their respective gazelles,
eighteen small birds, one sphinx, two single harpies with bird bodies, two harpies confronted resting
on a tree, one harpy with a fish-tale, ten hares, twelve peacocks, and five ducks or bigger birds.
Out of all its animal repertoire, only the ‘bird (or falcon)-riding-a-horse’ motif has been thought to be
exclusive of al-Andalus, but its meaning remains elusive (figure 1b).11 The rest of the animal motifs
partake from the repertory of antiquity. By now it is axiomatic that fabulous mythical animals such
as griffins, harpies, and sphinxes were part of the pre-Islamic – i.e. Sassanid and Egyptian –
aesthetics.12 Those animals together with eagles, elephants and gazelles attacked by eagles, as well as
5 M. Casamar and J. Zozaya “Apuntes sobre la Yuba Funeraria de la Colegiata de Oña,” in Boletín de Arqueología
Medieval 5 (1991), pp. 36-90; and S. Makariou “Quelques réflexions sur les objets au nom de ‘Abd al-Malik ibn al-
Mansûr,” in Archéologie Islamique 11 (2001), pp. 47-60. Casamar and Zozaya considered it as part of the booty obtained
by the first Castilian Count Fernán González from the first Umayyad Caliph ‘Abd al-Raḥmān III in 329/939. While
Makariou argued that the piece was commissioned by ‘Abd al-Malik al-Muẓaffar (r. 392/1002-399/1008), son of the
official founder of the ‘Āmirid dynasty known as al-Manṣūr (r. 366/976-392/1002).
6 It fits the classification known as ḳaṣab mud
̲h̲ahab –silk-linen and gold embroidered robes. R. B. Serjeant: “Islamic
Textiles. Materials for a History up to the Mongol Conquest,” in Ars Islamica (1951), pp. 77, 142.
7 A small fifth fragment was reused to cover the interior of the lid of an ivory box. A. Malo et al. Tejidos Medievales de
la Aljuba Hispanomusulmana del Conde don Sancho García, Centro de Conservación y Restauración de Bienes
Culturales de la Junta de Castilla y León CRBC JCYL, 2006, p. 21.
8 CCRBC JCYL, 2006, p. 18.
9 CCRBC JCYL, 2006, p. 82.
10 Casamar and Zozaya (1991, pp. 49-58) interpreted the meaning of each animal and considered that the bestiary
iconography in Oña’s embroidery represented a combination of political and funerary discourse.
11 The motif appears in two plates dated to the end of the 10th century (I thank Cristina Partearroyo for this information).
A related theme is found in a Fāṭimid ivory frame where a dismounted falconer seems to be about to place his falcon on
the horse’s rump. Trésors Fatimides du Caire, ed. M. Barrucand (Paris, 1998), cat. no. 81, p. 138.
12 J. Allgrove Mcdowell “The Sasanians AD 224-642,” in Cambridge History of Western Textiles (2003), pp. 153-157. E.
Baer Sphinxes and Harpies in Medieval Islamic art. An Iconographical Study (Jerusalem, 1965); J. Lerner, “A Note on
3
the ubiquitous peacocks, hares, cats, and birds were also employed in several medias produced under
different dynasties in medieval times, both Muslim and non-Muslim.13
Figure 1a, left. Fragment no. 1.
Figure 1b, right. Detail of fragment no. 1.
Fragment no. 2 includes an incomplete blue inscription placed above a human figure. Two red
inscriptions are found in fragments no. 1 (figure 1a, located at the middle section of the left-hand-
side) and no. 4 (figure 4, located at the middle section on the right-hand-side). The epigraphic bands
–which make it a ṭirāz textile (inscribed with calligraphy)– were transcribed, read and categorised as
10th century style in 1977.14 More than 30 years later we still can read in the blue kufic inscription:
[In the name of God the Compassionate] ‘the Merciful praise to God Lord of the Universe’; and in
the two red cursive inscriptions: ‘peace and prosperi[ty]’ and ‘…with peace and prosperity and
blessings and peace and …’
The first images of the embroidered tunic before restoration show that in tailoring the garment these
inscriptions were cut and folded while the royal figure was placed in one sleeve.15 Most probable, in
its Andalusi manufacture the inscriptions were not cut or folded; the textile could have a rectangular
shape as a mantel or cape of the type rida makruma. It should have been later, in the Castilian
context, when it was manipulated, cut, sewn and made into a narrow tunic with the sides opened in a
characteristic Castilian sartorial style.16
Sasanian Harpies,” in Iran vol. 13 (1975), pp. 166-171. It seems that during the Islamic period these unrelated motifs
came together, and the Oña embroidery exemplify this situation.
13 For fabulous animals see L’Etrange et le Merveilleux en Terres d’Islam, ed. M. Bernus-Taylor exhibition catalogue
(Musee du Louvre: Paris, 2001), and Trésors Fatimides du Caire, 1998. Combinations of fabulous animals and eagles,
birds, peacocks, horses and hares, with princely figures seated and drinking appear in objects produced under the
Fāṭimids (Baer 1965, pp. 107-124).
14 A. Fernández Puertas “Lápida del siglo XI e Inscripción del Tejido del siglo X del Monasterio de Oña,” in Miscelánea
de Estudios Árabes y Hebraicos 26 (1977), pp. 119-127.
15 The bad quality of the image prevent its inclusion here. A. Lázaro López, “Una Riquísima Tela, quizá de la Epoca
Fundacional de Castilla Encontrada en la Iglesia Parroquial de Oña,” in Boletín de la Institución Fernán González 165
(1969), pp. 48-53.
16 Al-Bakrī’s Kitāb al-Masālik, E. García Gómez: “Tejidos, Ropas y Tapicería en los Anales de al-Hakam II por `Isa al-
Razí,” in Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia 166 (1970), pp. 43-53.
4
Bellow the blue Kufic inscription we find a figure (figure 2b) in which every element conveys
sovereignty. A bearded man displayed on profile seated on a pearled throne, flanked by two vegetal
spikes on each side, is about to drink from a bottle.17 His vestments include an ample tunic decorated
with cruciform motifs, white gloves, an elaborated head covering a ring in his left hand.18 This
character displays three remarkable physical features that have not been noticed or mentioned before.
These are: a black beard shadowed by grey hairs, which implies an evident sign of age; a
conspicuous black mole on his check; and two plaits falling on his left side. On first sight, it could be
argued that the embroiderer or rather the commissioner of the embroidery had precise information in
order to portray a very specific character. Could this image characterize a real person, or it was rather
a common and standard representation of a ruler?
Figure 2a, left. Fragment no. 2.
Figure 2b, right. Detail of fragment no. 2.
New Data on the Identity of the Figure Displayed
Within early Arabic historiography it was common to include descriptions of the physical
characteristics of Muslim rulers. A recent study about the ‘word-portrays’ of the Andalusi Umayyad
dynasty has highlighted how the biographical entry of each ruler –besides data about family
genealogies, court entourage, and personality traits – included a description of his individual facial
and bodily features: his appearance (sifatu-hu).19 In this vein, Ibn ʿId
̲h̲ ārī’s al-Bayān noted that the
first independent Umayyad ‘Abd al-Raḥmān I (r. 138/756-172/788) could only see from one eye;
that he had a mole in his face, and two dafiratan – plaited hair that fall behind the ears on one or two
17 In pre-Islamic times, this motif was linked with eternal life and rebirth (M. Gelfer-Jørgensen, Medieval Islamic
Symbolism and the Paintings in the Cefalu Cathedral (Leiden: Brill, 1986), pp. 29, 58. From the 10th century, it was
understood as a symbol of royal power. B. Flood, “A Royal Drinking Scene from Alchi, Iranian Iconography in the
Western Himalayas,” in Image and Meaning in Islamic Art (London, 2005), pp. 73-98.
18 Casamar and Zozaya (1991, p. 57) saw him as Muʿāwiya I (r. 41/661-60/680) the first caliph of the Easter Umayyad
Dynasty.
19 M. Marín, “Una Galería de Retratos Reales: los Soberanos Omeyas de al-Andalus en la Cronística Arabe,” in Anuario
de Estudios Medievales 41/1 (2011), pp. 273-290, in p. 277.
5
sides of the head.20 The realisation of such matching correspondences between the figure made with
silk and gold and the portrait made with words is truly striking: the documentary description of ‘Abd
al-Raḥmān I ‘matches like a glove’ the figure in the Oña embroidery. Moreover, these precise three
features of ‘Abd al-Raḥmān I are not found repeated in the description of any of the other Umayyads.
This is an important aspect, because the figure of the Oña embroidery exemplifies in material and
visual terms what the written portraits did: reflecting “a physical reality known by the
contemporaries of those rulers which was later translated” and possibly transmitted to the Andalusi
collective imaginary.21 When was this embroidery commissioned and by whom?
Figure 3, left. Fragment no. 3.
Figure 4, right. Fragment no. 4.
Textiles and Politics in 10th Century al-Andalus : New Data on the Identity of the
Commissioner of the Embroidery
Documentary sources tell us that an Andalusi production of ṭirāz textiles was firstly introduced by
‘Abd al-Raḥmān II (r. 207/822–238/852) – the same ruler who established the first mint in al-
Andalus.22 According to this, a ṭirāz textile with the figure of Abd al-Raḥmān I – saviour of the
Umayyad dynasty from the Abbasids and founder of the independent Umayyad Andalusi power –
would have been produced after his time and employed as political propaganda by his successors.23
From all the Andalusi rulers who could have commissioned such an embroidery, the first Umayyad
caliph ‘Abd al-Raḥmān III (r. 300-350/912-961) has all the points in his favour. Initially, when ‘Abd
al-Raḥmān was appointed ‘āmir by his grandfather in 300/912, the Andalusi Umayyads were at the
20 He was also described as red haired, a feature shared by many Umayyads included ‘Abd al-Raḥmān III. From ‘Abd al-
Raḥmān II onwards the practice of black dying hair and beard was widely spread and considered as a mark of the ruler.
Marín 2011, p. 279.
21 Ibid.
22 Al-Suyūti’s cited by Serjeant “Islamic Textiles,” in Ars Islamica (1942), p. 165.
23 To the best of my knowledge there are not extant textiles before the period of the first Andalusi caliph.
6
worst moment of their history.24 He had to fight family discords, internal Berber and Muwallad
(convert) rebellions, war-campaigns against the Castilians and the rivalry of the neighbouring
Fāṭimid caliphate established in 296/909.25
At that time, most probably intentionally, numerous circumstances of Abd al-Raḥmān’s III public
persona were paralleled to those of ‘Abd al-Raḥmān I: both had the same name, used the kunia Abū-
l-Muṭarrif; both succeeded their grandfathers and not their fathers; their closest collaborator was
called Badr, and there were predictions about the greatness of the two ‘Abd al-Raḥmān as saviours of
the dynasty.26 The alleged connections between the two characters were clearly employed by ‘Abd
al-Raḥmān III as an instrumental part of a deliberated strategy in his bold claim to an Andalusi
caliphate in 316/928.27
During his caliphate, ‘Abd al-Raḥmān III not only kept gardens with domestic and exotic animals in
his palatial city, he also commissioned representations of fabulous animals, such as the twelve
fountain heads made of gold pearls and precious stones to adorn his audience hall in Madinat-Al-
Zahara.28 In fact, the bird-of-prey-motif –included in the Oña embroidery – is directly related to
‘Abd al-Raḥmān III; it seems that he was the first Andalusi to have introduced it in his banners;29 and
it also links him with ‘Abd Raḥmān I, known as ‘ṣakr Quraysh’ (falcon of the Quraysh).30 In addition
to the historical evidences, we have material evidence confirming the link between the first caliph
and the production of the embroidery: the quality of the gold used in this piece (89%) is exactly the
same as in the gold coins minted by ‘Abd al-Raḥmān III.31
All these reasons make utterly plausible that, once installed as the first independent caliph of al-
Andalus and perceived as the protector the Umayyads, ‘Abd al-Raḥmān III commissioned a
prestigious robe displaying the figure of ‘Abd al-Raḥmān I, as a visual and political reminder of his
strong connection with his ancestor, the first saviour of the dynasty.
One of the earliest and most visible signifiers of forging alliances, rewarding allies, soldiers and
courtiers, as well as distinguishing family members, was to distribute and bestow on them honorary
robes.32 Medieval chroniclers written in Arabic include numerous references of these prestigious
garments distributed among soldiers and political allies during the Andalusi caliphate. The term used
was k̲h̲il‘a (k̲hila‘ pl.), which can be translated literally as a castoff because k̲h̲il‘a comes from the
verb k̲h̲alaʿa denoting the action of removing one’s garment to dress someone else.33 In several
Muslim dynasties – the Andalusi Umayyad were not an exception – the practice of the caliph
24 M. Fierro “Porque ‘Abd al-Rahman sucedió a su abuelo el emir ‘Abd Allah,” in al-Qantara 26 (2005), pp. 357-370, in
p. 359.
25 Also, in the last years of the 9th century Umayyads, Astures and Fāṭimids were all occupied tracing their origins to
legitimise their present. Fierro 2005, p. 369.
26 Fierro 2005, pp. 360-364.
27 Ibid.
28 Ibn Khaldūn, quoting al-Maqqarī Nafḥ II, p. 112, in E. Lévi-Provençal, Historie de l’Espagne Musulmane vol. I
(Leiden: Brill, 1950), pp. 148-149.
29 Ibn Hayyān mentions it in his Muqtabis. Crónica del Califa ‘Abdarrahman an-Nasir entre los años 912 y 942. al-
Muqtabis V, eds., MJ. Viguera and F. Corriente (Zaragoza, 1981), pp. 250-251.
30 Ibn ʿId
̲h̲ ārī al-Bayān, Lévi-Provençal 1950, p. 133.
31 Such high percentage has been only found in Andalusi coins minted at the time of ‘Abd al- Raḥmān III. A. Cantó “de
los Contenidos Metálicos en la Moneda Hispano-Árabe de Época Omeya,” in Anaqueles de Estudios Árabes (1994), pp.
129-128, in p. 133.
32 S. Gordon, ed., Robes and Honor. The Medieval World of Investiture (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2001), pp.
225-239.
33 P. Sanders “Robes of Honor in Fatimid Egypt,” in Robes and Honor: The Medieval World of Investiture, ed. S.
Gordon (New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2001), pp. 225-239.
7
donating his own garments resulted in k̲h̲ilʿa becoming synonymous with investing authority.34
Therefore these esteemed robes of honour were carefully passed down through generations.35 In this
case, the Oña embroidery – such a valuable caliphal textile, with such prestigious Umayyad
connotations – would have been not only one of those objects highly esteemed and carefully kept as
a piece of Umayyad heirloom, but more importantly it would have become an inalienable
possession.36 But what made it possible the transfer from al-Andalus to Oña’s monastery?
Andalusi Textiles and Politics in 10th-11th Century Castilla
A detailed account of all the possible scenarios, hypothesis and trajectories that the textile may have
experienced between al-Andalus and Castilla are beyond the scope of this paper.37 Suffice to say here
that from the 320s/930s, Umayyad and Castilian relationships were spun around a continuous
struggle for power, moving between conflicts, tensions, intrigues and alliances. Thus, we read in the
medieval chroniclers about frequent battles and disputes but also about regular truces, treaties, pacts
and political deals.38 In this vein, even though the beginnings of independent Castilian power
initiated by Fernán González (320/932)39 were dominated by confrontations against Andalusi
forces,40 by 381/991 a new situation emerged: Sancho García, Fernán González’s grandson, rebelled
against his father and took refuge in Cordoba allying himself with al-Manṣūr the caliph’s chancellor.
During subsequent years, when Sancho García was the third Count of Castilla (r. 384/995-405/1017)
he alternated between clashes and settlements with the de-facto rulers of al-Andalus the Amirids al-
Manṣūr (r. 366/976-392/1002) and his son ‘Abd al-Malik (r. 392/1002-399/1008). This was recurrent
until the time the Cordovan court started to crumble after the turbulent times following the violent
deaths of al-Manṣūr sons. Then, Sancho García allied with and provided substantial support to
Sulayman b. al-Musta‘in one of the ‘candidates’ to restore the caliphate. Sancho García’s assistance
34 This custom took place under the Oriental Umayyads, but the term k̲h̲ilʿa f i r s t a p p e a r e d a t t h e t i m e o f t h e ʿAbbās i d s
and flourished under the Fāṭimids. Y. Stillman, Arab Dress: A Short History: from the Dawn of Islam to Modern Times
(Boston: Brill, 2000), p. 133. Eventually, due to the large numbers of costumes needed to distribute, the practice of
receiving a cloth previously worn by the caliph was replaced by receiving cloths with the name of the caliph on them,
produced in the caliphal ṭirāz factories. Sanders 2001, p. 226
35 Stillman 2000.
36 Inalienable things are those that become identified with the identity of the original owner, even after having given them
away. See Weiner, A.B, Inalienable Possessions: The Paradox of Keeping-While-Giving (Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1992).
37 M Ali-de-Unzaga “Rethinking the Role of Andalusi Textiles. The Case of Oña’s Embroidery,” in The Chasuble of
Thomas Beckett in the Cathedral of Fermo, ed. A. Shalem (Genoa: Bruschettini Foundation forthcoming).
38 This situation is equally applicable to Christian contexts –internal Castilian relations, or Castilian relations with other
Christian kingdoms– and to Andalusi-Muslim contexts. E. Manzano Moreno “Christian-Muslim frontier in al-Andalus:
idea and reality,” in The Arab influence in Medieval Europe. Folia Scholastica Mediterranea, eds. D. A. Agius and R.
Hitchcock (Reading: Ithaca Press, 1997), pp. 83-99; and Épocas Medievales. Historia de España dirigida por Josep
Fontana y Ramón Villares, vol. 2 (Crítica, 2010).
39 In 327/939 ‘Abd al-Raḥmān III was defeated at the battle of al-khandaq/Simancas against the first Castilian count
Fernán González (r. 932-970) and the kings of Leon and Pamplona. Chronicles tell us that ‘Abd al-Raḥmān lost his
personal regalia including his qur‘an and that the booty –including gold, silver and numerous precious garments– was
distributed amongst the victors; Muqtabis V, Viguera and F. Corriente 1981, p. 257; P. Chalmeta, “Simancas y
Alhándega,” in Revista Hispania (1976), pp. 359-446. Donating war booty to religious institutions was common practice.
Fernán González did so to the monasteries of San Millan de la Cogolla (Logroño) and Santo Domingo de Silos (Burgos),
where he bequeathed an ivory box with an inscription that it was made for ‘Abd al-Raḥmān III’s daughter. J.D. Doods
ed., al-Andalus. Las Artes Islamicas en España (New York, 1992), cat. no. 1, pp. 190-191. No tangible traces link him
with Andalusi textiles.
40 The second count of Castilla García Fernández attempted to siege Gormaz and finally conquered it from the Umayyads
in 371/978 obtaining a substantial booty. Immediately after this event he founded the monastery of Covarrubias (Burgos)
donating a considerable amount of Andalusi textiles to his daughter Urraca, appointed abbess of the monastery. L.
Serrano, Fuentes para la Historia de Castilla. Cartulario del Infantado de Covarrubias (Valladolid: Cuesta Editores,
1907), pp. 22 and 30.
8
enabled the victory of Sulayman, who became the fifth Umayyad caliph (r. 400/1009-401/1010).41
Subsequently, the third Count of Castilla entered the caliphal capital as a victorious force, receiving
money, jewels, splendid textiles and garments and other luxuries as his reward.42
But Andalusi-Castillian relationships were forged also through intermarriages, which developed
cross-cultural family ties. The story of Oneca Fortúnez (b. 848) and her daughter Toda are a case in
point.43 Through her two marriages, first in Cordoba and then in Pamplona, Oneca44 – daughter of
the king of Pamplona – became ‘Abd al-Raḥmān III’s grandmother and García Fernandez’s great-
grandmother. Her daughter Toda was ‘Abd al-Raḥmān III’s aunt and Sancho García’s great
grandmother.45 Sancho García was described as ibn Mama Duna – son of Toda – in Arabic
chronicles.46 In addition, al-Manṣūr, the powerful ‘Āmirid and regent of the caliph, allegedly married
Oneca, Sancho García’s sister, around 982.47
To sum up, the circulation and exchanges of precious textiles between al-Andalus and Castilla would
have been equally possible through the various and varied Castilian interactions either via Sancho
García or members of his family: his father, grandfather, great-grandmother Toda, or his sister Oneca
García – with either Umayyad or ʿĀmirid personae. Those interactions resulted and ranged from war
booty to diplomatic and family gifts. However, until now, the only explanation available on how the
embroidery was transferred to Castilian hands has been linked to antagonist relations between
Andalusi and Castillians and therefore as war-booty/spolia.48
The only absolute certainty and unquestionable tangible evidence we have is that the embroidery
found its final resting place at the monastery founded by Sancho García in 1011. The contention of
this paper is that the embroidery was brought to Oña by his founder. In this case, we face two
credible scenarios; one is that Sancho received the embroidery from his family, the other is that he
obtained it directly during his contacts with several rulers in Cordoba.49 Lack of family evidence
41 Ibn ʿId
̲h̲ ārī al-Bayān vol. 3, p. 86, cited by P.C. Scales, The Fall of the Caliphate of Córdoba: Berbers and Andalusis in
Conflict, (Leiden and New York: Brill, 1994), p. 188.
42 Ibn ʿId
̲h̲ ārī vol. 3 p. 91, in G. Martínez Díez El Condado de Castilla 711-1038 (Valladolid, 2005), v. II, pp. 614-615.
43 Oneca was the great-granddaughter of Iñigo Arista, King of Pamplona. Strong and close alliances existed between the
Arista dynasty and the muwallad (Muslims of Iberian descent) dynasty of the Banu Qasi. Both dynasties allied against
Cordoba in many occasions, until Fortún Garcés, grandson of Iñigo Arista and Oneca’s father was taken captive to
Cordoba. Lévi-Provençal 1950.
44 She was married to the seventh ‘āmir of Cordoba ‘Abd Allah ibn Muhammad (r. 275/888-300/912). When Oneca
widowed she married her cousin Aznar Sánchez. One of her daughters became the queen Toda Aznárez (876-970)
mother of Sancha, the first wife of Fernán González.
45 Toda was a powerful political force. When her second husband died in 925, she placed her territory under the
protection of her nephew ‘Abd al-Raḥmān III. Although she was involved with the coalition of Christian princes which
defeated him at Simancas in 939. Years later, Toda requested the assistance of her powerful nephew, in order to get
medical treatment for her grandson Sancho I of León. In 958 they both were invited to Cordoba, where they were
received with full honours. This event is considered a landmark in the history of medieval diplomacy. M. Fierro
Abdarramán III y el Califato Omeya de Córdoba (Nerea, 2011).
46 Ibn ʿId
̲h̲ ārī al-Bayān p. 86 and 103, cited by Scales 1994, p. 71.
47 It seems he first married first Urraca between 972-979, the daughter of Sancho II Garcés of Navarra; then he married
Oneca Garcia, but it remains elusive which one of the two mothered al-Manṣūr’s third son ‘Abd al-Raḥmān also known
as Sanchuelo (little Sancho). R. Dozy, Recherches sur l’Histoire et la Literature de l´Espagne Pendant le Moyen- Âge
(Leiden, 1859) vol I, pp. 209-210.
48 According to Casamar and Zozaya (1991, p. 58), ‘Abd al-Raḥmān III carried with him a funerary tunic in case he
would find death in battle, which was seized by Fernán González at the battle of Simancas 327/939. This argument
remains unsubstantiated see footnote 37. In addition, none of the tombs of any of the rulers of al-Andalus has been ever
discovered; on the excavations of several Muslim necropolises in the Iberian Peninsula no textiles have been found.
49 At this stage, it becomes less relevant to find out from which exact context Sancho received the embroidery, than to
explore what did he do with the piece in his Castilian context. Nevertheless, I would argue that the second option seems
the most convincing specially on the light of the information that in the aftermath of the Cordovan victory Suleiman, who
9
notwithstanding, we have documentary sources which did emphasise that Sancho García was known
for being dressed in Muslim cloths.50 Therefore, it is quite feasible that once in his hands the
Andalusi embroidery was tailored into a ceremonial tunic and used by the powerful third count of
Castilla. Through his intense contacts with Cordoba Sancho was familiar with the Andalusi visual
articulation of power and authority, tangibly reflected in the employment of precious textiles highly
decorated with figures of silk and gold. Thus, I would argue that, in reusing the Andalusi embroidery
in his Castilian context he was not merely reproducing a sartorial fashion; he was replicating an
understanding of what represented victorious power even if this understanding may have been
originated at the Andalusi context. In other words, the contention of this paper is that Sancho used
the embroidery to tailor his tunic because it previously belonged to a formidable Andalusi ruler.
Therefore, Sancho who was a powerful Castilian leader had to be dressed and seen with a sumptuous
garment appropriate for a ruler. On Sanchos’ death, it is most conceivable that he bequeathed the
prestigious tunic to his daughter Tigridia, the powerful abbess of Oña.
Concluding Remarks
Made of valuable silk and gold, displaying a royal figure, animals and inscriptions, this embroidery
should be valued and attributed to Andalusi Caliphal production. Its materiality (materials and
iconography) make of it a crucial piece to understand the formation of Andalusi Umayyad artistic
expression. But this textile is also a valuable carrier of information and tangible evidence of
Andalusi-Castillian political relations in the 10th-11th centuries. Moreover, such remarkable piece
could help rethinking the role of Andalusi prestigious textiles during Christian-Muslim encounters in
the Iberian Peninsula. The existence of an operating Andalusi cultural mode shared and put to use by
the ruling elite of a Christian ‘frontier’ is by far more complex than the image often presented by
medieval and modern historiography.51 Because Andalusi textiles acted as transcultural objects and
mediated political and diplomatic relationships between competing powers, they constitute the
materiality of the often-misinterpreted coexistence that took place between cultures and individuals
who might otherwise differed in terms of religious affiliation.
In addition to all those values, the embroidery also has an intrinsic, critical importance because in
representing the figure of ‘Abd al-Raḥmān I with his specific physical features it offers a key twist to
a generalised perception of what has been termed as the ‘simple naturalism’ of Islamic art:
“Portrayals of man are not a goal in Islamic art, which only rarely approach the artistic workmanship and
significance which is so central to European art, clearly because the goal of the former was not to characterise the
individual but to generalise.”52
It has been demonstrated here that the contemporaries of the first emir of al-Andalus as well as
posterior chroniclers and rulers were aware of his physical features, to the extent that those could be
not only recognised but also accurately used and purposely displayed such as the Oña embroidery
displays. We have seen that the embroidered figure corresponded specifically to a historical
character, and not to a standard stereotypical representation of a ruler as it has been previously
argued.53 The visual representation of specific Muslim rulers leads to a final critical point that it will
had previously promised Sancho lands, fortresses and castles had to content him instead with jewels, precious garments
and other luxuries.
50 Dozy 1859, pp. 109.
51 For a detailed critical analysis of contemporary historiography see Manzano Moreno 1997.
52 Gelfer-Jørgensen 1986, pp. 27, 112.
53 M.T. Pérez Higuera, Objetos e Imágenes de Al-Andalus, Instituto de Cooperación con el Mundo Árabe (Madrid-
Barcelona: Lunwerg, 1994), p. 38.
10
briefly be mentioned here: It contributes to reconsider textiles as tangible and key historical evidence
which can complement but also challenge what we read in documentary sources. In this particular
case, the representation of ‘Abd al-Raḥmān I’s image in the embroidery help us revisiting the notion
often quoted from Ibn Kh̲aldūn:
“The pre-Islamic Persian kings used to make their tirāz with the images and figures of kings, but the
Muslim rulers changed that and had instead their names inscribed together with other words of good
omen or praises of God.”54
54 The Muqaddimah. An Introduction to History, F. Rosenthal, trans., 3 vols (New York: Bollingen Series, 1958), pp. 65-7.
