Wallada bint al-Mustakfi
Born on 1001
Died on 1091
Wallada bint al-Mustakfi;
(Arabic: ولادة بنت المستكفي) (born in Córdoba in 1001 – died March 26, 1091) was an Andalusian poet.
Wallada was the daughter of Muhammad III of Córdoba, one of the last Umayyad Cordoban caliphs, who came to power in 1024 after assassinating the previous caliph Abderraman V, and who was assassinated himself two years later in Uclés. Her early childhood was during the high period of the Caliphate of Córdoba, under the rule of Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir. Her adolescent years came during the tumultuous period following the eventual succession of Aamir’s son, Sanchuelo, who in his attempts to seize power from Hisham II, plunged the caliphate into civil war. As Muhammad III had no male heir, Wallada inherited his properties, and used them to open a palace and literary hall in Córdoba. There she offered instruction in poetry and the arts of love to women of all classes, from those of noble birth to slaves purchased by Wallada herself. Some of the great poets and intellectuals of the time also visited.
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