Count Cassius (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

8th century A.D.), also called "Count Casius" (; , "Qasīy Qūmis"), was a Hispano-Roman nobleman who founded the Banu Qasi

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

. His actual existence has been contested on the grounds that embellishing stories related to Gothic ancestry were rather popular during the

Caliphate of Cordoba A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of the enti ...

. The name is anachronistic, and no Banu Qasi is attested until Mutarrif ibn Musa during the 780s, but he is identified with just his father's name and not explicitly linked to Cassius or the Banu Qasi. Historians point out that the origins of the Banu Qasi, as recounted by Ibn al-Qutiyya, could be a product of the spurious antiquarianism of the later Umayyad period rather than reliable genealogy, satisfying the need for stories which bridged the conquest.Ann Christys, ''Christians in Al-Andalus, 711-1000'', p. 176. According to the 10th-century Gothic Muwallad historian Ibn al-Qūṭiyya, Count Cassius converted to Islam in 714, shortly after the

Umayyad conquest of Hispania The Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula (; 711–720s), also known as the Arab conquest of Spain, was the Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom, Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania in the early 8th century. The conquest re ...

, as a client (''

mawali ''Mawlā'' (, plural ''mawālī'' ), is a polysemous Arabic word, whose meaning varied in different periods and contexts.A.J. Wensinck, Encyclopedia of Islam 2nd ed, Brill. "Mawlā", vol. 6, p. 874. Before the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the te ...

'') of the Umayyads; his family came to be called the ''Banu Qasi'' (, the "sons of Cassius"). Cassius had converted at the hands of the

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

, Hassan ibn Yassar al-Hudhali,

qadi A qadi (; ) is the magistrate or judge of a Sharia court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and minors, and supervision and auditing of public works. History The term '' was in use from ...

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

at the time of Abd ar-Rahman's arrival in the peninsula,Cassius joined forces with Musa ibn Nusayr and Tariq ibn Ziyad, and is reported to have travelled to

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

to personally swear allegiance to the

caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

Al-Walid I Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (; – 23 February 715), commonly known as al-Walid I (), was the sixth Umayyad caliph, ruling from October 705 until his death in 715. He was the eldest son of his predecessor, Caliph Abd al-Malik (). As ...

. The 11th-century Arab historian

Ibn Hazm Ibn Hazm (; November 994 – 15 August 1064) was an Andalusian Muslim polymath, historian, traditionist, jurist, philosopher, and theologian, born in the Córdoban Caliphate, present-day Spain. Described as one of the strictest hadith interpre ...

attributed five sons to Cassius: Fortun, Abu Tawr, Abu Salama, Yunus and Yahya. The Banu Qasi dynasty descended from Fortun, the eldest son; the second son may have been the Abu Taur of Huesca who invited

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

in 778; and the '' Banu Salama'', a family that ruled

Huesca Huesca (; ) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon between 1096 and 1118. It is also the capital of the Spanish Huesca (province), ...

and Barbitanya ( Barbastro) in the late tenth century, may have descended from Abu Salama.Cañada Juste, ''Los Banu Qasi'', pp. 7-9. At the time of the Muslim arrival and after, Cassius ruled an area comprising Tudela,

Tarazona Tarazona is a town and municipality in the Tarazona y el Moncayo comarca, province of Zaragoza (province), Zaragoza, in Aragon, Spain. It is the capital of the Tarazona y el Moncayo Aragonese comarca. It is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Dio ...

, Borja and, probably, Ejea.

References

Bibliography

* Cañada Juste, Alberto (1977). "El posible solar originario de los Banu Qasi", in ''Homenaje a don José M.ª Lacarra...'', Zaragoza, I. * Cañada Juste, Alberto (1977)
"Los Banu Qasi (714-924)"
in ''Principe de Viana'', vol. 41, pp. 5-95 (1980). * * Collins, Roger (1994). ''The Arab Conquest of Spain, 710-797'' (Blackwell Publishing). * Christys, Ann (eds.) (2002) ''Christians in Al-Andalus, 711-1000'', Routledge. * Glick, Thomas F. (eds.) (2005) ''Islamic and Christian Spain in the Early Middle Ages'', BRILL.

External links

Banu KasiCasiusKasi
an
Qasi
in the Spanish-language ''

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''. Medieval history of the Basque Country People from Navarre Banu Qasi 8th-century people from al-Andalus Spanish Muslims Converts to Islam from Christianity 8th-century people from the Umayyad Caliphate Upper March 8th-century Visigothic people {{Al-Andalus-bio-stub