Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Ibn Zuhr

ابن زهر

Morocco

c. 1094 – 1162 (68 years old)

Pioneering physician known to the Western world as Avenzoar, who served the Almohad dynasty in Marrakesh, introduced animal testing and human tracheotomy, and authored the foundational Kitab al-Taysir.

Marrakesh, Morocco

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Peter Lombard

Petrus Lombardus

Italy

c. 1096 – 1160 (64 years old)

Bishop of Paris whose 'Four Books of Sentences' served as the universal university textbook of theology for four hundred years, commented upon by Aquinas, Bonaventure, and Luther.

Paris, France

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Politics

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Ibn al-Qalanisi

ابن القلانسي

Syria

c. 1070 – 27 March 1160 (90 years old)

Distinguished Mayor of Damascus whose 'Dhail Tarikh Dimashq' provided the primary contemporary Muslim eyewitness account of the First and Second Crusades.

Damascus, Syria

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Bernard of Clairvaux

Bernardus Claraevallensis

France

c. 1090 – 1153 (63 years old)

Cistercian abbot, mystic, and Doctor of the Church who sparked the massive expansion of the Cistercian Order, preached the Second Crusade, and wrote sublimely on the love of God.

Troyes, France

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Architecture

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Abbot Suger

Suger de Saint-Denis

France

c. 1081 – 1151 (70 years old)

Influential Abbot of Saint-Denis, royal counselor, and Regent of France who rebuilt the Abbey of Saint-Denis in 1144, inventing Gothic architecture through pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and stained glass.

Saint-Denis, France

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Suryavarman II of Khmer

ព្រះបាទសូរ្យវរ្ម័នទី២

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

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Al-Qadi Iyad

القاضي عياض بن موسى

Morocco

1083 – 1149 (65 years old)

Supreme Maliki traditionist and jurist of Ceuta whose devotional masterpiece Al-Shifa bi Ta'rif Huquq al-Mustafa is universally revered across the Islamic world, one of the Seven Saints of Marrakesh.

Marrakesh, Morocco

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Qadi Ayyad

القاضي عياض بن موسى اليحصبي

Morocco

1083 – 1149 (65 years old)

Supreme North African Maliki jurist, historian, and theologian whose masterwork 'Kitab ash-Shifa' is celebrated throughout the Muslim world, venerated as one of the Seven Saints of Marrakech.

Marrakech, Morocco

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Al-Qadi Ayyad

القاضي عياض بن موسى اليحصبي

spain

1083 – 1149 (65 years old)

Preeminent Maliki jurist, traditionist, and historian who served as Grand Qadi of Ceuta and Granada, authored the world-famous devotion 'Ash-Shifa', and is venerated among the Seven Saints of Marrakech.

Marrakech, Morocco

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Resistance & Human Rights

Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi

أبو بكر بن العربي

Spain

1076 – 1148 (72 years old)

Towering Maliki jurist and Grand Qadi of Seville who studied under Al-Ghazali in Baghdad, returned to North Africa, and authored monumental legal masterpieces including Ahkam al-Qur'an.

Fez, Morocco

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Princess Fannu bint Umar

فانو بنت عمر بن يحيى

Morocco

c. 1125 – 1147 (~22 years old)

Almoravid princess who donned male armor and sword to fight on the ramparts of Marrakech during the Almohad storming of the citadel in April 1147.

Marrakech, Morocco

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Ishaq ibn Ali

إسحاق بن علي بن يوسف

Morocco

c. 1130 – 1147 (~17 years old)

The final reigning Almoravid Sultan who led the desperate last stand within the stone fortress Ksar al-Hajar during the fall of Marrakech in April 1147.

Marrakech, Morocco

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Ibrahim ibn Tashfin

إبراهيم بن تاشفين

Morocco

c. 1131 – 1147 (~16 years old)

Youthful seventh Sultan of the Almoravid Empire who was proclaimed ruler in Marrakech following his father Tashfin's death in 1145.

Marrakech, Morocco

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Tashfin ibn Ali

تاشفين بن علي بن يوسف

Morocco

c. 1100 – 1145 (~45 years old)

Sixth Almoravid Sultan, brilliant victor over Castilian forces in Andalusia, who led a heroic five-year war to defend the empire against Almohad founder Abd al-Mu'min.

Marrakech (honored), Morocco

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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

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Military Leaders & Strategists

Peter Abelard

Petrus Abaelardus

France

c. 1079 – 1142 (63 years old)

Brilliant French scholastic philosopher and dialectician whose 'Sic et Non' pioneered scholastic methodology and who formulated the moral influence theory of the atonement.

Paris, France

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