View source for Yaqub al-Mansur

{{Short description|Ruler of the Almohad Caliphate from 1184 to 1199}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2009}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Yaqub Al-Mansur
| title        = [[Amir al-Mu'minin]]
| caption      = Yaʿqūb al-Manṣūr's unfinished mosque in Rabat
| succession   = Ruler of the [[Almohad Caliphate]]
| image        = Tour Hassan (6858227583).jpg
| reign        = 1184–1199
| full name    = Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb ibn Yūsuf ibn Abd al-Muʾmin al-Manṣūr
| predecessor  = [[Abu Yaqub Yusuf]]
| successor    = [[Muhammad al-Nasir]]
| dynasty      = [[Almohad dynasty|Almohad]]
| father       = [[Abu Yaqub Yusuf]]
| mother       =
| birth_date   =
| birth_place  =
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1199|1|23|1160|df=yes}}
| death_place  = [[Marrakesh]]
| date of burial =
| place of burial = [[Tinmal]]
| spouse       = Ammet Allah bint Abu Isaac<ref>{{Cite book |last1=al-Fāsī |first1=ʻAlī ibn ʻAbd Allāh Ibn Abī Zarʻ |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1eqtODKlq1cC&q=m%C3%A8re |title=Roudh el-Kartas: Histoire des souverains du Maghreb (Espagne et Maroc) et annales de la ville de Fès |last2=al-Gharnāṭī |first2=Ṣāliḥ ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥalīm |date=1860 |publisher=Impr. impériale |pages=326 |language=fr |quote=...had as mother a legitime wife (of his father) Ammet Allah (servant of God), daughter of the sid Abou Ishac ben Abd el-Moumen ben Aly}}</ref><br />Safiya bint Abu Abdallah ben Merdnych<ref>{{Cite book |last1=al-Fāsī |first1=ʻAlī ibn ʻAbd Allāh Ibn Abī Zarʻ |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1eqtODKlq1cC&q=m%C3%A8re |title=Roudh el-Kartas: Histoire des souverains du Maghreb (Espagne et Maroc) et annales de la ville de Fès |last2=al-Gharnāṭī |first2=Ṣāliḥ ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥalīm |date=1860 |publisher=Impr. impériale |pages=355 |language=fr |quote=His mother... Safya ... daughter of emir Abou Abd Allah ben Merdnych}}</ref>
| issue        = [[Muhammad al-Nasir]]<br />[[Idris al-Ma'mun]]
| religion     = [[Islam]]|
}}
'''Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb ibn Yūsuf ibn Abd al-Muʾmin al-Manṣūr''' ({{Langx|ar|أبو يوسف يعقوب بن يوسف بن عبد المؤمن المنصور}}; d. 23 January 1199), commonly known as '''Yaqub al-Mansur''' ({{Lang|ar|يعقوب المنصور}}) or '''Moulay Yacoub''' ({{Lang|ar|مولاي يعقوب}}), was the third [[Almohad Caliphate|Almohad]] [[Caliph]].<ref name="miranda">{{Cite encyclopedia|year=1986|title=Abū Yūsuf Yaʿḳūb b. Yūsuf b. ʿ Abd al-Muʾmin al-Manṣūr|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/abu-yusuf-yakub-b-yusuf-b-abd-al-mumin-al-mansur-SIM_0278|last=Huici Miranda|first=A.|orig-year=1960|publication-place=Leiden, Netherlands|edition=2nd|volume=I|page=165|isbn=9004081143|editor1-link=Peri Bearman|editor3-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth|editor5-link=Wolfhart Heinrichs|editor1-last=Bearman|editor1-first=P.|editor2-last=Bianquis|editor2-first=Th.|editor3-last=Bosworth|editor3-first=C.E.|editor4-last=van Donzel|editor4-first=E.|editor5-last=Heinrichs|editor5-first=W.P.}}</ref> Succeeding his father, al-Mansur reigned from 1184 to 1199. His reign was distinguished by the flourishing of trade, architecture, philosophy and the sciences, as well as by victorious military campaigns in which he was successful in repelling the tide of the ''[[Reconquista]]'' in the [[Iberian Peninsula]].
==Military actions==
Al-Mansur's father was killed in [[Portugal]] on 29 July 1184; upon reaching [[Seville]] with his father's body on 10 August, he was immediately proclaimed the new caliph.<ref name=miranda/> Al-Mansur vowed revenge for his father's death, but fighting with the [[Banu Ghaniya]] delayed him in Africa. After inflicting a new defeat on the Banu Ghaniya, he set off for the [[Iberian Peninsula]] to avenge his father's death.
His 13 July 1190 [[siege of Tomar]], center of the [[Order of Christ (Portugal)|Portuguese Templars]], failed to capture the fortress. However, further south he in 1191 recaptured a major fortress, [[Paderne Castle]] and the surrounding territory near Albufeira, in the [[Algarve]] – which had been controlled by the [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] army of [[Sancho I of Portugal|King Sancho I]] since 1182. Having inflicted other defeats on the Christians and captured major cities, he returned to the Maghreb with three thousand Christian captives.
Upon Al-Mansur's return to Africa, however, Christians in [[Iberian Peninsula]] resumed the offensive, capturing many of the Moorish cities, including [[Silves Municipality, Portugal|Silves]], [[Vera, Almería|Vera]], and [[Beja, Portugal|Beja]].
When Al-Mansur heard this news, he returned to the Iberian Peninsula, and defeated the Christians again. This time, many were taken in chained groups of fifty each, and later sold in Africa as slaves.
While Al-Mansur was away in Africa, the Christians mounted the largest army of that period, of over 300,000 men, to defeat Al-Mansur. However, immediately upon hearing this, Al-Mansur returned again to Iberia and defeated [[Kingdom of Castile|Castilian]] King [[Alfonso VIII of Castile|Alfonso VIII]] Alfonso's army in the [[Battle of Alarcos]], on 18 July 1195. It was said that Al-Mansur's forces killed 150,000 and took money, valuables and other goods "beyond calculation". It was after this victory that he took the title ''al-Mansur Billah'' ("Made Victorious by God").<ref name="miranda" />
==Internal policy==
[[File:Kasbah Oudayas exterior.jpg|thumb|[[Kasbah of the Udayas#Great Gate of the Kasbah (Bab Oudaya)|Bab Udaya]] was added to [[Kasbah of the Udayas|Qasbat al-Awdaya]] under al-Mansūr's reign.]]
=== Architectural patronage ===
During his reign, Al-Mansur undertook several major construction projects. He added a monumental gate to the [[Kasbah of the Udayas]] in [[Rabat]] and he may have been responsible for finishing the construction of the current [[Kutubiyya Mosque]] in [[Marrakesh]].  He also created a vast [[Kasbah of Marrakesh|royal citadel and palace complex]] in Marrakesh which subsequently remained the seat of government in the city for centuries afterward. This royal district included the [[Kasbah Mosque (Marrakech)|Kasbah Mosque]] (or El-Mansuriyya Mosque) in Marrakesh and was accessed via the monumental gate of Bab Agnaou, both dating from al-Mansur's time. He also embarked on the construction of an even bigger fortified capital in Rabat, where he attempted to build what would have been the world's [[List of largest mosques|largest mosque]]. However, construction on the mosque and on this new citadel stopped after his death. Only the beginnings of the mosque had been completed, including a large part of its massive minaret now known as the [[Hassan Tower]].
Some of Rabat's historic gates, most notably [[Bab er-Rouah]], also date from this time,<ref name=":22">{{Cite book|last=Deverdun|first=Gaston|title=Marrakech: Des origines à 1912|publisher=Éditions Techniques Nord-Africaines|year=1959|location=Rabat}}</ref><ref name=":14">{{Cite book|last=Salmon|first=Xavier|title=Maroc Almoravide et Almohade: Architecture et décors au temps des conquérants, 1055-1269|publisher=LienArt|year=2018|location=Paris}}</ref><ref name=":23">{{Cite book|last=Bennison|first=Amira K.|title=The Almoravid and Almohad Empires|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|year=2016}}</ref> one of Al-Mansur's famous works is the [[Bimaristan of Marrakesh]], the first hospital in Morocco to be ever built, Al-Mansur embellished it with luxurious ornaments and sculptures, it had gardens, water canals attached to it and it was Funded personally by Almohad's government, it is said that [[Averroes]] worked there for some time.<ref>[['Abd al-Wahid al-Marrakushi]], al-mujib fi talkhis akhbar ahl al-Maghrib, p. 287 [https://www.noor-book.com/%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%AC%D8%A8-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%AA%D9%84%D8%AE%D9%8A%D8%B5-%D8%A7%D8%AE%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%BA%D8%B1%D8%A8-%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AD%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%83%D8%B4%D9%8A-%D8%B7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%87-pdf]</ref><ref>Moussaoui، Driss؛ Glick، Ira D. (2015). "The Maristan "Sidi Fredj" in Fez, Morocco". The American Journal of Psychiatry. 172 (9): 838–839. [https://web.archive.org/web/20200506134705/https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp.2015.15010051#]</ref>
=== Philosophy and religion ===
[[File:The Disgrace of Averroes - Vies Des Savants Illustrés.jpg|thumb|"The Disgrace of Averroes": al-Mansur banishes Averroes from his court ([[Louis Figuier]], 1867 illustration)]]
Al-Mansur protected the philosopher [[Averroes]] and kept him as a favorite at court. Like many of the Almohad caliphs, Al-Mansur was religiously learned. He favored the [[Zahiri]]te or literalist [[Madhhab|school]] of Muslim [[Fiqh|jurisprudence]] per Almohad doctrine and possessed a relatively extensive education in the Muslim [[Sunnah|prophetic tradition]]; he even wrote his own book on the [[Hadith|recorded]] statements and actions of the [[Prophets in Islam|prophet]] [[Muhammad]].<ref>[[Kojiro Nakamura]], "Ibn Mada's Criticism of Arab Grammarians." ''Orient'', v. 10, pgs. 89-113. 1974</ref> Mansur's Zahirism was clear when he ordered his judges to [[Ijtihad|exercise judgment]] only according to the [[Qur'an]], said recorded statements and [[Ijma|absolute consensus]]. Mansur's father Abu Yaqub appointed Cordoban polymath [[Ibn Maḍāʾ]] as chief judge, and the two of them oversaw the banning of all non-Zahirite religious books during the [[Almohad reforms]];<ref>[[Kees Versteegh]], ''The Arabic Linguistic Tradition'', pg. 142. Part of Landmarks in Linguistic Thought series, vol. 3. [[New York City|New York]]: [[Routledge]], 1997. {{ISBN|9780415157575}}</ref> Mansur was not satisfied, and when he inherited the throne he ordered Ibn Maḍāʾ to actually undertake the burning of such books.<ref>[[Shawqi Daif]], Introduction to Ibn Mada's ''Refutation of the Grammarians'', pg. 6. Cairo, 1947.</ref>
==Death and legacy==
He died on 23 January 1199 in Marrakesh.<ref name="miranda2">{{Cite encyclopedia|year=1986|title=Abū Yūsuf Yaʿḳūb b. Yūsuf b. ʿ Abd al-Muʾmin al-Manṣūr|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/abu-yusuf-yakub-b-yusuf-b-abd-al-mumin-al-mansur-SIM_0278|last=Huici Miranda|first=A.|orig-year=1960|publication-place=Leiden, Netherlands|edition=2nd|volume=I|page=166|isbn=9004081143|editor1-link=Peri Bearman|editor3-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth|editor5-link=Wolfhart Heinrichs|editor1-last=Bearman|editor1-first=P.|editor2-last=Bianquis|editor2-first=Th.|editor3-last=Bosworth|editor3-first=C.E.|editor4-last=van Donzel|editor4-first=E.|editor5-last=Heinrichs|editor5-first=W.P.}}</ref> He was buried temporarily in his palace in Marrakesh before being taken to his final burial place in [[Tinmal]], where previous Almohad caliphs and [[Ibn Tumart]] were also buried.<ref name=":23" />{{Rp|page=109}}
His victory in [[Battle of Alarcos|Alarcos]] was remembered for centuries later, when the tide of war turned against the Muslim side. It is recounted by the historian [[Ibn Abi Zar]] in his 1326 ''[[Rawd al-Qirtas]]'' ("History of the Rulers of the Maghreb").<ref>French translation by A. Beaumier, 1860</ref>
The town of [[Moulay Yacoub]], outside of [[Fes|Fez]], Morocco, is named after Al-Mansur,{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}} and is best known for its therapeutic hot springs.
{{S-start}}
{{Succession box
| before = [[Abu Ya'qub Yusuf]]
| title = [[Almohad Caliphate|Almohad Caliph]]
| years = 1184&ndash;1199
| after = [[Muhammad al-Nasir]]
}}
{{S-end}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yaqub Al-Mansur}}
[[Category:1160s births]]
[[Category:1199 deaths]]
[[Category:12th-century caliphs]]
[[Category:12th-century monarchs in Africa]]
[[Category:Almohad caliphs]]
[[Category:12th-century Berber people]]
[[Category:People of the Reconquista]]