General Notes

Zaida became a widow when her first husband, Fath al-Ma'mum, son of the
Emirof Seville, died in 1091, trying to leave his Córdoba which was
being beseiged by a group of radical islamists led by Yusuf ibn Tasufin.
Zaida had been sent on before to the castle at Almodóvar del Río for
safety, and thus escaped.It's not clear why she went to the court of
King Alfonso VI in Toledo, but King Alfonso had veen was an ally of her
husband's father and family, and shewas accepted into his court. When
Zaida arrived at the court, King Alfonso VIwas already "mature" (age
51), married to a queen who was ill, and still lacking a male heir.
Given the customs of the times, an affair with Zaida or with any other
woman would not have been of enough historical interest to merit
attention except for the fact that Zaida bore him his only son, Sancho
Alfónsez.
Note:
Saiz Ordoño speculates that the fact that King Alfonso VI recognized his
illegitimate son Sancho as his direct descendant with rights to govern
Castille, León, Galicia/Portugal, etc. made the chroniclers hasten to
include Zaida among his legitimate married wives. However, he concludes
there is no proof that they were ever married. The arab historian
González Palencia(born in Cuenca, Spain) has described (in his Historia
de la España Musulmana) the court of Alfonso VI in Toledo as a muslim
court, in terms of dress andcustoms. Regarding the reported Catholic
baptism of Zaida and her baptismal name of Isabel, Saiz Ordoño cautions:
"not to be confused with the French Elizabeth", but doesn't discuss the
matter further.
Note:
Zaida's date of death is not known exactly, but Saiz Ordono says it was
well before the 1106 datewhen Alfonso VI formally repudiated his fourth
wife, as well as before the 1108 date when Alfonso VI married his 5th
wife. Zaida died in childbirth. SaizOrdoño believes it was at the
birth of Sancho (although others say it may have been a later child). The
inscription on her tombstone (erected several hundred years later) is
inexact as to the year of death, as well as inaccurate as to her
parentage. Alternate dates of death proposed by other historians:
Lévi-Provencal: 1093; Menéndez Pidal 1099; Fita 1101.