Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Literature & Poetry

34

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Chrétien de Troyes

Chrétien de Troyes

France

c. 1160 – c. 1191 (31 years old)

Great French medieval trouvère and poet who originated the Arthurian courtly romance, inventing the Holy Grail quest and the tragic romance of Lancelot and Guinevere.

Troyes, France

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

34

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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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Military Leaders & Strategists

37

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Minamoto no Yoshitsune

源義経

Japan

1 – 1189 (30 years old)

Brilliant samurai commander of the Genpei War who led the Minamoto clan to total victory over the Taira at Ichi-no-Tani, Yashima, and Dan-no-ura.

Hiraizumi (Iwate), Japan

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Literature & Poetry

10

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Usama ibn Munqidh

أسامة بن منقذ

Syria

4 July 1095 – 17 November 1188 (93 years old)

Syrian warrior-diplomat from Shayzar Castle whose delightful autobiography 'Kitab al-I'tibar' offers vivid eyewitness accounts of Crusader customs.

Damascus, Syria

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Humanities

11

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Abu al-Qasim Abd al-Rahman al-Suhayli

أبو القاسم عبد الرحمن السهيلي

Spain

1114 – 1185 (71 years old)

Blind Andalusian-Moroccan polymath, master grammarian, and author of Al-Rawd al-Unuf who was summoned to Marrakech by Caliph Abu Yaqub Yusuf and is celebrated as one of the Seven Saints of Marrakech.

Marrakech, Morocco

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Philosophy & Thought

39

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Ibn Tufail

أبو بكر محمد بن عبد الملك بن طفيل القيسي الأندلسي

Spain

c. 1105 CE – c. 1185 CE (80 years old)

Andalusian Muslim philosopher and physician who authored the philosophical novel Hayy ibn Yaqdhan (The Self-Taught Philosopher), which inspired John Locke's tabula rasa and Defoe's Robinson Crusoe.

Marrakesh, Morocco

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Sciences & Discovery

39

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Bhaskara II (Bhaskaracharya)

भास्कराचार्य

India

1114 CE – 1185 CE (71 years old)

Preeminent medieval Indian mathematician who authored the Siddhanta Shiromani and Lilavati, solving Pell's equation (Chakravala method) and discovering differential calculus principles.

Chalisgaon (Maharashtra), India

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

15

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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

42

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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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Military

9

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Abu Yahya ibn Abi Sinan al-Masmudi

أبو يحيى بن أبي سنان المصمودي

Morocco

c. 1125 – 1184 (~59 years old)

Supreme Almohad naval commander and master shipbuilder who developed the imperial dockyards of Salé and Ceuta, securing dominance over the Atlantic and Mediterranean sealanes.

Salé, Morocco

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Religious Figures & Theologians

40

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Ahmad ibn Ali al-Rifa'i

أحمد بن علي الرفاعي

Iraq

c. 1118 – 1182 (64 years old)

Venerated Iraqi Sufi master, jurist, and founder of the Rifa'iyya order who taught radical humility, service to animals and the afflicted, and legendary devotion to the Prophet.

Wasit, Iraq

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Monarchy

8

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Louis VII the Younger

Louis VII le Jeune

France

1120 – 1180 (60 years old)

Capetian King of the Franks whose eventful reign included leading the Second Crusade, the annulment of his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine, and the laying of the foundation stone of Notre-Dame de Paris in 1163.

Saint-Denis, France

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Arts & Music

49

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Saint Hildegard of Bingen

Hildegard von Bingen

Germany

1098 CE – 17 September 1179 (~81 years old)

Benedictine abbess, mystic, polymath, and composer whose luminous liturgical chants in Symphonia armoniae celestium revelationum and allegorical morality play Ordo Virtutum mark the summit of medieval sacred music.

Bingen am Rhein, Germany

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Religious Figures & Theologians

42

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Hildegard of Bingen (Sibyl of the Rhine)

Hildegard von Bingen

Germany

c. 1098 CE – 17 September 1179 (~81 years old)

Twelfth-century visionary abbess, composer, naturalist, and Doctor of the Church. Authored Scivias detailing luminous cosmic revelations, composed transcendent liturgical music, and articulated the theology of Viriditas (divine greening power).

Bingen am Rhein, Germany

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Literature & Poetry

10

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Nashwan al-Himyari

نشوان الحميري

Yemen

c. 1100 – 1178 (78 years old)

Eminent 12th-century Yemeni scholar, judge, and poet whose monumental multi-volume dictionary 'Shams al-Ulum' preserved South Arabian linguistics.

Sana'a, Yemen

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Literature & Poetry

10

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Ibn Asakir

ابن عساكر

Syria

13 September 1105 – 25 January 1176 (70 years old)

Monumental 12th-century Damascene historian whose eighty-volume Tarikh Dimashq is the most comprehensive biographical history of Syria.

Damascus, Syria

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Military

9

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Umar al-Hantati

أبو حفص عمر الهنتاتي

Morocco

c. 1100 – 1176 (~76 years old)

Foremost Berber tribal chieftain of the Hintata confederation in the High Atlas, closest lieutenant to Ibn Tumart and Abd al-Mu'min, and founding ancestor of the Hafsid Dynasty of Ifriqiya.

Tinmel, Morocco

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Sciences & Discovery

10

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Abu Ya'qub Yusuf al-Warglani

أبو يعقوب يوسف بن إبراهيم الوارجلاني

Algeria

c. 1105 – 1175 (~70 years old)

Towering 12th-century philosopher, logician, and legal theorist from Ouargla, author of 'Al-Dalil wa-l-Burhan' which integrated Aristotelian logic with Islamic theology.

Ouargla, Algeria

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