Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

0

🕯️ 0

Mai Dunama Dibbalemi

Dunama Dibbalemi

🌐 Kanem Empire

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

0 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

7

🕯️ 1,550

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

7 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

4

🕯️ 0

Philip II of France (Philippe Auguste)

Philippe II Auguste

Kingdom of 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

4 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

0

🕯️ 0

King Lalibela

ላሊበላ (ገብረ መስቀል)

🌐 Zagwe Kingdom

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

0 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

3

🕯️ 0

Emperor Gebre Mesqel Lalibela

ላሊበላ

Zagwe Kingdom (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

3 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

2

🕯️ 0

Eleanor of Aquitaine

Aliénor d'Aquitaine

Kingdom of 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

2 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

7

🕯️ 1,120

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

Richard Cœur de Lion

United Kingdom

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

7 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

2

🕯️ 0

Minamoto no Yoritomo

源 頼朝

Heian 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

2 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

6

🕯️ 0

Yaqub al-Mansur

أبو يوسف يعقوب المنصور

🌐 Morroco

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

6 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

7

🕯️ 1,490

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

7 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

3

🕯️ 0

Henry II of England

Henry Plantagenet

Kingdom of 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

3 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

2

🕯️ 0

Abu Yaqub Yusuf

أبو يعقوب يوسف بن عبد المؤمن

🌐 Morroco

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

2 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

4

🕯️ 0

Abd al-Mu'min

عبد المؤمن بن علي الكومي

Algeria

c. 1094 – 1163 (69 years old)

Zenata Berber military genius from Nedroma, Algeria, who succeeded Ibn Tumart, overthrew the Almoravid dynasty, and founded the Almohad Caliphate, uniting the entire Maghreb from Morocco to Tripoli for the first time in history.

Tinmel (High Atlas), Morocco

4 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

2

🕯️ 0

Suryavarman II of Khmer

ព្រះបាទសូរ្យវរ្ម័នទី២

Khmer Empire (Cambodia)

c. 1094 – c. 1150 (56 years old)

Mighty king of the Khmer Empire who reunified Cambodia and constructed Angkor Wat, the largest religious monument in the world.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

2 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

2

🕯️ 0

Ali ibn Yusuf

علي بن يوسف بن تاشفين

spain

1083 – 1143 (60 years old)

Almoravid Emir of Morocco and al-Andalus for thirty-seven years, who constructed the monumental sandstone walls of Marrakech, the Great Mosque of Algiers, and the Koubba Ba'adiyin.

Marrakech, Morocco

2 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

3

🕯️ 0

Alexios I Komnenos

Ἀλέξιος Αʹ Κομνηνός

Turkey

c. 1048 CE – 1118 (~70 years old)

Byzantine Emperor who founded the Komnenian dynasty, rescued the empire from near-collapse, and whose appeal to Rome sparked the First Crusade.

Constantinople (Istanbul), Turkey

3 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

2

🕯️ 0

Yusuf ibn Tashfin

يوسف بن تاشفين

🌐 Lamtuna Sanhaja

c. 1009 – 1106 (~97 years old)

Ascetic Sanhaja Berber leader who co-founded Marrakech in 1062, built the colossal Almoravid Empire from Senegal to the Pyrenees, and saved Islamic Spain from the Reconquista at the Battle of Sagrajas (Zallaqa) in 1086.

Marrakech, Morocco

2 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

24

🕯️ 1,150

William I of England (William the Conqueror / Guillaume le Conquérant)

Guillaume le Conquérant

France

c. 1028 CE – 9 September 1087 (~59 years old)

Duke of Normandy who launched the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, decisively winning the Battle of Hastings. Replaced the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy with Anglo-Norman feudalism, commissioned the Domesday Book, and built the Tower of London.

Rouen, France

24 Full Record →