Muhammad Ibn Abi Amir (Al-Mansur), an ambitious palace official, becomes the regent of 11-year-old Caliph Hisham II, son of al-Hakam. Al-Mansur leads a series of military campaigns against Christian fortresses and towns for two decades, relying on new Berber forces from North Africa. In 987, he attacks the pilgrimage town of Santiago de Compostela, enhancing his fearsome reputation among the Christian inhabitants in the north.