Under Construction Journal Issue 6.1 UNDER CONSTRUCTION JOURNAL 6.1 | Page 88

III ordered the building of a minting factory, and those coins subsequently produced were engraved with
the following text: "The servant of God Abd al-Rahman III, commander of the faithful, who brings victory
to God’s religion" (Fierro 2012).
Abd al-Rahman III promised to surrender treaties (Ribera 1914). He signed peace treaties with
Christians in the island of Sardinia, starting a prosperous trade relationship and sending diplomatic
missions to the German king Otto. Diplomatic relations were opened with the Byzantines in 948, after a
century without relevant contacts, whilst the treaty with Southern France maintained trade without
interruptions (Fierro 2012).
Conclusion
Strictly speaking, peace in al-Andalus did not exist. The kingdom had continuous civil wars, raided Christian
realms and fought other Caliphates. Its society was divided between Arabs, Berbers, Muwallads,
Christians, Jew and slaves, all of which fought between themselves. Abd al-Rahman III internally pacified
the kingdom, but this peace was nevertheless grounded within the use of force. Another issue concerned
his assimilation policies towards Muwallads, Christians and Jews which helped remove reasons for conflict
but were themselves unstable. In summary, al-Andalus did not enjoy peace and was not an example of a
peaceful kingdom.
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