172 EARLY MEDIEVAL SPAINSeveral of the Umayyads were themselves highly cultivated men.
Al-l;Iakam I and 'Abd al-RaQrnan II were noted poets, but the most
outstanding of them all was the caliph Al-l;Iakam II (961-976): 'He
preferred the pleasures of perusing his books to all the enjoyment
which royalty can afford; by which means he considerably increased
his learning, doubled his information and improved his taste. In the
knowledge of history, biography and genealogy he was surpassed by
no living author of his days. He wrote a voluminous history of Andalus,
filled with precious information; and so sound was the criticism which
he displayed in it, that whatever he related might confidently be
believed to be a fact.' Although the figure of four hundred thousand
volumes given for the size of his personal library should not be taken
literally, the story reflects something of his reputation as a book col-
lector and patron of literature. He kept agents in most of the major
cities of the Islamic world to buy books for him, and even bribe
authors to delay publication of their works until an advance copy had
been sent to him. The philosophical, scientific and astronomical
collections were sand to have been burnt publicly during a period of
reaction in the reign of his son in order to please orthodox opinion,
and the rest of the library was sold during the period of the collapse
of the caliphate in the early eleventh century.58
The amirs and caliphs of the Umayyad line, despite occasional
conflicts with public opinion, generally took care to present them-
selves as the upholders of Islamic virtues and as models of Muslim
rulership. Although of genuine Arab descent and from Mecca, most
of these Umayyads had mothers, wives and slavegirls of indigenous
Spanish origin. Some of these were of high standing, such as the wife
of the amir 'Abd-Allah and grandmother of 'Abd al-RaQrnan III who
was the daughter of King Fortun Garces of Pamplona, sent to Cor-
doba as a pledge of loyalty. This had its effects on the appearance of
the rulers. Hisham I is described as being of fair complexion, with
blue eyes, whilst his son by a slave, Al-l;Iakam I, was very dark. 'Abd
al-Raqman III, like many of his line, h~d blue eyes and red hair,
which he was reported to have dyed black (the better to fit the Arab
racial stereotype). Details of such intermarriages and their effects
only survive for the ruling dynasty. Although political advantages made
such ties as those between the Umayyads and the kings of Pamplona
a necessary part of the family's history, they were probably not alone
in crossing racial divisions in marriage.