“Book-Burning in Islamic Cordoba” The burning of the multi-volume work of the eastern scholar al-Ghazali (d. 1111) titled Ihya `Ulum al-Din (The Revival of the Religious Sciences) in Cordoba in 1109 is cited in most modern accounts of Almoravid rule as evidence of how Almoravid rulers patronized Maliki jurists and judges and of how “rigid” and “doctrinaire” those scholars were in their interpretation of law. The paper situates the book-burning in more specific political context with reference to evidence from biographical dictionaries as well as chronicles to challenge assumptions about the ideological meaning of the act as an expression of Maliki hostility to al-Ghazali’s work, the Shafi`i “school” of law, and Sufism. Looking at the burning of Ihya `Ulum al-Din in light of book-burnings that took place in Cordoba in earlier decades further complicates our understanding of the symbolic meaning of the act and reveals continuities as well as changes in the practice of rule in the Islamic West and the manipulation of symbols. Three incidents of book-burning took place in Islamic Cordoba: one in 961, one between 1001 and 1002, and the third in 1109. Each book-burning took place at a significant turning point in the history of rule in al-Andalus and the books chosen for public burning were not the same in each case. The book-burnings were inspired by political interests that were more complicated than simple statements of a particular ruler’s religious legitimacy and had symbolic meaning beyond the demonstrated rejection of content. The paper will provide insight into the transitions from caliphal to Amirid to Almoravid rule in al-Andalus and between one ruler and another by considering book-burning as a political (as distinct from ideological) symbol, situating the book-burnings in the structuring of each regime's rule and the politics of the individuals involved as evident in biographical dictionaries. Analysis of the first two burnings will contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the third as an echo of previous enactments of legitimacy and as an act of power played out among and between individuals claiming religious and political authority.