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EncyclopediaHakam II, al-Hakam II, al- (äl-häkäm') [key], 914–76, Umayyad caliph of Córdoba (961–76), son and successor of Abd ar-Rahman III. In the early part of his reign he successfully waged war against the Christian kings, Sancho I of León and Castile and García of Navarre. His naval forces defeated Norman sea raiders and seized (976) Tangier from the Idrisids, thereby annexing Morocco to Moorish Spain. A scholar and patron of the arts and sciences, al-Hakam II made Córdoba a preeminent center of learning. He amassed a library of approximately 400,000 volumes, established numerous schools, sponsored scholars and attracted to the university founded by his father Christians and Muslims not only from Spain but from other parts of Western Europe and from Asia and Africa. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. More on al- Hakam II from Infoplease:
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