Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

34

🕯️ 0

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

34 Full Record →

Religious Figures & Theologians

33

🕯️ 0

Muwaffaq al-Din Ibn Qudamah

ابن قدامة المقدسي

Palestine

c. 1147 – 1223 (76 years old)

Supreme Hanbali jurist, ascetic, and theologian whose ten-volume 'Al-Mughni' is the definitive masterpiece of comparative Islamic jurisprudence, highly praised by Saladin.

Damascus, Syria

33 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

34

🕯️ 0

Jebe

Зэв (Jebe Noyan)

Mongolia

c. 1180 CE – c. 1223 CE (43 years old)

Legendary Mongol general and one of Genghis Khan's 'Four Dogs of War', who earned his name 'The Arrow' by shooting Genghis Khan's horse in battle and went on to conquer the Qara Khitai.

Southern Steppes, Russia

34 Full Record →

Religious Figures & Theologians

30

🕯️ 0

Abu Hamid bin Abu Bakr Ibrahim

فريد الدين عطار

🌐 Seljuk Empire

c. 1145 – c. 1221 (76 years old)

Persian mystical poet, apothecary, and hagiographer whose allegorical masterpiece 'The Conference of the Birds' and 'Memorial of the Saints' deeply inspired Rumi.

Nishapur, Iran

30 Full Record →

Statesmanship & Statesmen

4

🕯️ 0

Abu Muhammad Abd al-Wahid ibn Abi Hafs

أبو محمد عبد الواحد بن أبي حفص

Morocco

c. 1160 AD – 1221 AD (~61 years old)

Grandson of Umar al-Hantati appointed governor of Ifriqiya in 1207 by Caliph Muhammad al-Nasir, who pacified Tunisia, suppressed the Banu Ghaniya, and established the governing foundation of the Hafsid Dynasty.

Tunis, Tunisia

4 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

32

🕯️ 0

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

32 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

33

🕯️ 0

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

33 Full Record →

Humanities

4

🕯️ 0

Abu Muhammad Abdallah ibn Humayd

عبد الله بن حميد الكاتب

Morocco

c. 1155 – 1220 (~65 years old)

Head of the Almohad imperial chancery (Diwan al-Insha) under Caliph Yaqub al-Mansur and Muhammad al-Nasir, master of Maghrebi epistolary prose and diplomatic protocol.

Marrakech, Morocco

4 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

36

🕯️ 0

Wolfram von Eschenbach

Wolfram von Eschenbach

Germany

c. 1170 – c. 1220 (50 years old)

Greatest Middle High German epic poet and knight whose masterpiece Parzival redefined the Arthurian Grail quest as a spiritual journey of empathy and faith.

Wolframs-Eschenbach, Germany

36 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

34

🕯️ 0

William Marshal (1st Earl of Pembroke)

William Marshal / Guillaume le Maréchal

Great Britain

1 – 1219 (73 years old)

1st Earl of Pembroke celebrated as 'The Greatest Knight That Ever Lived', who served five English kings, negotiated the Magna Carta, and won the Battle of Lincoln at age 70.

London, United Kingdom

34 Full Record →

Exploration

4

🕯️ 0

Abu al-Husayn Muhammad ibn Ahmad Ibn Jubayr

ابن جبير الكناني

Morocco

September 1145 – 1217 (72 years old)

Pioneering travel writer and Almohad civil servant whose Rihla established the classical Arabic travelogue genre, chronicling the Mediterranean world, Mecca, and North Africa.

Alexandria, Egypt

4 Full Record →

Statesmanship & Statesmen

5

🕯️ 0

Abd al-Haqq I ibn Mihyu

عبد الحق بن محيو المريني

Morocco

c. 1150 – 1217 (~67 years old)

Founding chieftain of the Zenata Berber Marinid Dynasty who led his nomadic confederacy from eastern pasturelands into northern Morocco, initiating the overthrow of Almohad power.

Taza, Morocco

5 Full Record →

Religion

4

🕯️ 0

Abu Abdallah Muhammad al-Miknasi

أبو عبد الله محمد المكناسي

Morocco

c. 1140 – 1215 (~75 years old)

Pious 12th-century judge and ascetic scholar of Meknes who mediated between imperial Almohad governors and municipal guilds with strict legal impartiality.

Meknes, Morocco

4 Full Record →

Religious Figures & Theologians

35

🕯️ 0

Honen

法然

Japan

1133 – 1212 (78 years old)

Founder of Jodo-shu (Pure Land Buddhism) in Japan who democratized spirituality during the Kamakura era by teaching that exclusive recitation of the Nembutsu guarantees salvation for all.

Kyoto, Japan

35 Full Record →

Politics

5

🕯️ 0

Abu al-Rabi Sulayman ibn Abd al-Mu'min

أبو الربيع سليمان بن عبد المؤمن

Morocco

c. 1145 – 1210 (~65 years old)

Son of Caliph Abd al-Mu'min who served as governor of Ceuta and northern Morocco, overseeing maritime defenses and trade across the Strait of Gibraltar.

Fez, Morocco

5 Full Record →

Statesmanship & Statesmen

14

🕯️ 0

Al-As'ad ibn Mammati

الأسعد بن مماتي

Egypt

1149 – 1209 (60 years old)

Pioneering 12th-century Egyptian administrative reformer, poet, and financial supervisor under Saladin whose masterwork Qawanin al-Dawawin provides the definitive fiscal and agricultural atlas of Ayyubid Egypt.

Aleppo, Syria

14 Full Record →

Religious Figures & Theologians

33

🕯️ 0

Muhammad ibn Umar al-Razi

فخر الدين الرازي

🌐 Seljuk Empire

1149 – 1209 (60 years old)

Towering Persian Islamic philosopher, theologian, and polymath whose 32-volume exegesis 'Mafatih al-Ghayb' (The Great Commentary) synthesized rationalism and orthodox theology.

Herat, Afghanistan

33 Full Record →

Sciences & Discovery

43

🕯️ 890

Ismail al-Jazari

بديع الزمان أبو العز بن إسماعيل الرزاز الجزري

Turkey

1136 CE – 1206 CE (70 years old)

Chief engineer of the Artuqid palace who invented the crankshaft, camshaft, suction pumps, programmable musical automata, and the monumental Elephant Water Clock.

Cizre (Şırnak), Turkey

43 Full Record →