Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

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Shajar al-Durr

شجر الدر

Mongolia

c. 1215 CE – April 28, 1257 CE (~42 years old)

Formidable Sultana of Egypt who held the realm together following the death of Sultan As-Salih Ayyub, orchestrating the crushing defeat of King Louis IX's Seventh Crusade at the Battle of Fariskur, and serving as the first monarch of the Mamluk era.

Cairo, Egypt

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

8

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Abu Zakariya Yahya I

أبو زكرياء يحيى الأول الحفصي

Morocco

1203 – 1249 (46 years old)

Founder of the independent Hafsid dynasty in 1229, who declared independence from the Almohads, established Tunis as an imperial capital, and built the Kasbah Mosque.

Tunis, Tunisia

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

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Abu Zakariya Yahya

أبو زكرياء يحيى الحفصي

Tunisia

1203 – 1249 (46 years old)

Almohad governor who declared independence in Tunis in 1229, founding the Hafsid Dynasty that ruled Tunisia and eastern Algeria for three and a half centuries.

Tunis, Tunisia

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

29

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Mai Dunama Dibbalemi

Dunama Dibbalemi

🌐 Chad

c. 1210 CE – c. 1248 CE (38 years old)

Thirteenth-century Mai of the Kanem Empire who expanded Kanem to its greatest extent from Fezzan in Libya to the Niger River, fielding an army of 40,000 armored horsemen.

Kanem Region, Chad

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

27

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Al-Kamil

الكامل محمد بن العادل

Egypt

1177 CE – March 6, 1238 CE (61 years old)

Astute Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt and nephew of Saladin who successfully defeated the Fifth Crusade at Damietta, negotiated the historic 1229 Treaty of Jaffa with Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, and hosted Saint Francis of Assisi in dialogue.

Damascus, Syria

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

31

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Genghis Khan (Temüjin Borjigin)

Чингис хаан (Universal Ruler)

Mongolia

c. 1162 CE – 18 August 1227 (~65 years old)

Visionary military strategist and founder of the Mongol Empire—the largest contiguous land empire in world history. United the nomadic steppe tribes, instituted absolute religious freedom, created the postal relay network (Yam), and codified the Yassa law.

Yinchuan (Western Xia), China

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

9

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Abu Yaqub Yusuf II

أبو يعقوب يوسف المستنصر

Morocco

c. 1197 – 1224 (~27 years old)

Fifth Almohad Caliph (1213–1224) whose eleven-year reign preserved peace, civic tranquility, and scholarly patronage across Morocco and southern Spain.

Tinmel, Morocco

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

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Philip II of France (Philippe Auguste)

Philippe II Auguste

France

1165 – 1223 (57 years old)

First monarch to officially use the title 'King of France', who defeated the Anglo-German coalition at Bouvines and built the medieval Louvre.

Saint-Denis, Paris, France

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

30

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King Lalibela

ላሊበላ (ገብረ መስቀል)

Ethiopia

c. 1162 CE – c. 1221 CE (59 years old)

King of Ethiopia of the Zagwe Dynasty who carved the eleven monolithic rock-hewn churches of Lalibela out of volcanic basalt, creating a 'New Jerusalem' in the Ethiopian highlands.

Lalibela, Ethiopia

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

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Emperor Gebre Mesqel Lalibela

ላሊበላ

Ethiopia

c. 1162 – c. 1221 (59 years old)

Zagwe Emperor of Ethiopia venerated as an Ethiopian Orthodox saint, who carved the world-famous rock-hewn monolithic churches of Lalibela as a 'New Jerusalem'.

Lalibela, Ethiopia

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

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Eleanor of Aquitaine

Aliénor d'Aquitaine

France

c. 1122 CE – 1204 (~82 years old)

One of the wealthiest and most powerful women of the High Middle Ages, successively Queen of France and Queen of England.

Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, Anjou, France

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

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Richard I of England (Richard the Lionheart / Cœur de Lion)

Richard Cœur de Lion

Great Britain

8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199 (41 years old)

King of England and paramount chivalric commander of medieval Europe. Led the Third Crusade, capturing Acre and defeating Saladin at Arsuf and Jaffa, becoming an enduring literary archetype of knightly valor and courage.

Châlus (Limousin), France

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

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Minamoto no Yoritomo

源 頼朝

Japan

1147 – 1199 (51 years old)

Founder and first Shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate, who defeated the Taira clan in the Genpei War and established warrior (bushi) feudal military rule in Japan for seven centuries.

Kamakura (Kanagawa), Japan

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

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Yaqub al-Mansur

أبو يوسف يعقوب المنصور

Morocco

1160 – 1199 (39 years old)

Almohad Caliph known as 'Al-Mansur' (The Victorious), who crushed King Alfonso VIII of Castile at the epic Battle of Alarcos in 1195 and completed the architectural masterpieces of the Koutoubia, the Giralda, and the Hassan Tower.

Tinmel (High Atlas), Morocco

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

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Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub (Sultan Saladin)

صلاح الدين يوسف بن أيوب

Iraq

c. 1137 CE – 4 March 1193 CE (~56 years old)

First Sultan of Egypt and Syria and founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Recaptured Jerusalem from the Crusaders following the Battle of Hattin (1187) and won universal admiration in both the Muslim world and Christian Europe for his legendary chivalry, mercy, and justice.

Damascus, Syria

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

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Henry II of England

Henry Plantagenet

France

1133 – 1189 (56 years old)

First Plantagenet King of England who established the English Common Law, the jury system, and the vast Angevin Empire.

Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, Anjou, France

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

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Abu Yaqub Yusuf I

أبو يعقوب يوسف بن عبد المؤمن

Morocco

1135 – 1184 (49 years old)

Cultured second Almohad Caliph (1163–1184) who constructed the monumental Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakesh and the Great Mosque of Seville (Giralda), personally commissioning Averroës to comment on Aristotle.

Tinmel, Morocco

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

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Abu Yaqub Yusuf

أبو يعقوب يوسف بن عبد المؤمن

Morocco

1135 – 1184 (49 years old)

Second Almohad Caliph, distinguished philosopher-monarch who commissioned the Giralda in Seville, assembled the greatest imperial library in the Mediterranean, and personally sponsored philosopher Averroes.

Tinmel (High Atlas), Morocco

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