Misplaced Pages

#819180

97-809: Fernando García may refer to: Fernando García de Hita (fl. 1097–1125), medieval Castilian nobleman Fernando García Roel (1921–2009), Mexican chemical engineer Fernando Luis García (1929–1952), United States Marine and Medal of Honor recipient Fernando García (composer) (born 1930), Chilean composer Fernando Gabriel García (born 1981), Argentine handball goalkeeper Fernando García (footballer) (born 1987), Peruvian footballer Fernando García (fencer) , Spanish Olympic fencer Fernando García (sailor) (born 1952), Argentine Olympic sailor Fernando Garcia (sportsperson) (born 1935), Filipino judoka and wrestler Fernando Fernández García (born 1954), Mexican politician Fernando Soto-Hay y García , member of

194-484: A "son of Count García" ( Iben al-Zand Garsís ) held the towns of Guadalajara and Hita. Were Fernando legitimate son of Count García by his first wife, the royal princess Urraca Garcés of Navarre, he would likewise be a cousin of Queen Urraca. In twelfth-century León and Castile , it was uncommon for the lords of the southern frontier—whose primary responsibility was defence against the Almoravids —to frequently attend

291-478: A careful leash, forging a more productive partnership between them. Invoking stories of the early life of Muhammad, Ibn Yasin preached that conquest was a necessary addendum to Islamicization, that it was not enough to merely adhere to God's law, but necessary to also destroy opposition to it. In Ibn Yasin's ideology, anything and everything outside of Islamic law could be characterized as "opposition". He identified tribalism, in particular, as an obstacle. He believed it

388-633: A chieftain of the Gudala (and brother-in-law of the late Tarsina), went on pilgrimage to Mecca . On his return, he stopped by Kairouan in Ifriqiya , where he met Abu Imran al-Fasi , a native of Fez and a jurist and scholar of the Sunni Maliki school. At this time, Ifriqiya was in ferment. The Zirid ruler, al-Mu'izz ibn Badis , was openly contemplating breaking with his Shi'ite Fatimid overlords in Cairo, and

485-638: A long siege of the city , completely surrounding it, burning nearby villages, and confiscating the crops of the surrounding countryside. Ibn Jahhaf agreed at one point to pay tribute to El Cid in order to end the siege, which resulted in the Almoravids in the city being escorted out by El Cid's men. For reasons that remain unclear, an Almoravid relief army led by Ibn Tashfin's nephew, Abu Bakr ibn Ibrahim, approached Valencia in September 1093 but then retreated without engaging El Cid. Ibn Jahhaf continued negotiations. In

582-408: A meeting with his neighbours, al-Mutawwakil of Badajoz and Abdallah ibn Buluggin of Granada , where they agreed to send an embassy to Ibn Tashfin to appeal for his assistance. The Taifa kings were aware of the risks that came with an Almoravid intervention but considered it the best choice among their bad options. Al-Mu'tamid is said to have remarked bitterly: "Better to pasture camels than to be

679-690: A member of the Ansúrez family. She died before her husband, leaving him two sons: Gutierre Fernández de Castro and Rodrigo Fernández de Castro . Fernando married his second wife, Stephanie (Estefanía), daughter of Count Ermengol V of Urgell , probably in early 1119, while she was still quite young. On 12 November 1119 Fernando had a grant of bridewealth ( carta de arras ) drawn up for his second wife. He bestowed on her his half of properties at Castrojeriz and Cerrato , which he had acquired with his first wife and which had been divided between him and his children by Tegridia at her death. He also granted Stephanie

776-537: A noble and wealthy Berber woman, Zaynab an-Nafzawiyyah , who would become very influential in the development of the dynasty. Zaynab was the daughter of a wealthy merchant from Kairouan who had settled in Aghmat. She had been previously married to Laqut ibn Yusuf ibn Ali al-Maghrawi, the ruler of Aghmat, until the latter was killed during the Almoravid conquest of the city. It was around this time that Abu Bakr ibn Umar founded

873-510: A peace treaty with the Hammadids. Algiers became their easternmost outpost. By the 1080s, local Muslim rulers in al-Andalus (the Iberian Peninsula ) were requesting Ibn Tashfin's help against the encroaching Christian kingdoms to the north. Ibn Tashfin made the capture of Ceuta his primary objective before making any attempt to intervene there. Ceuta, controlled by Zenata forces under

970-558: A place north of Badajoz, called Zallaqa in Arabic sources and Sagrajas in Christian sources. In the Battle of Sagrajas (or Battle of Zallaqa), on 23 October 1086, Alfonso was soundly defeated and forced to retreat north in disorder. Al-Mu'tamid recommended that they press their advantage, but Ibn Tashfin did not pursue the Christian army further, returning instead to Seville and then to North Africa. It

1067-418: A renewed alliance between Alfonso and Urraca after the latter distanced herself from Count Henry. The Historia Compostellana also refers to the aid a certain "Count Fernando" gave his relative, Queen Urraca, at this time, but historians are divided as to whether this is a reference to Fernando García de Hita, since there is no other evidence that he ever received the title of "count". Fernando's first wife

SECTION 10

#1732852003820

1164-624: A scholar named Waggag ibn Zallu . Ibn Zallu sent his student Abdallah ibn Yasin to preach Malikite Islam to the Sanhaja Berbers of the Adrar (present-day Mauritania ). Hence, the name of the Almoravids comes from the followers of the Dar al-Murabitin, "the house of those who were bound together in the cause of God." It is uncertain exactly when or why the Almoravids acquired that appellation. Al-Bakri , writing in 1068, before their apex, already calls them

1261-517: A second expedition to recapture it, but the Guddala refused to join him and returned instead to their homelands in the desert regions along the Atlantic coast. Historian Amira Bennison suggests that some Almoravids, including the Guddala, were unwilling to be dragged into a conflict with the powerful Zanata tribes of the north and this created tension with those, like Ibn Yasin, who saw northern expansion as

1358-524: A siege of the city by the veteran Almoravid commander, Mazdali, in the early spring of 1102. In April–May, Jimena and the Christians who wished to leave the city were evacuated with the help of Alfonso VI. The Almoravids occupied the city after them. That same year, with the capture of Valencia counting as another triumph, Yusuf Ibn Tashfin celebrated and arranged for his son, Ali ibn Yusuf , to be publicly recognized as his heir. The Taifa king of Zaragoza,

1455-450: A swineherd"—meaning that it was better to submit to another Muslim ruler than to end up as subjects of a Christian king. As a condition for his assistance, Ibn Tashfin demanded that Algeciras (a city on the northern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar, across from Ceuta) be surrendered to him so he could use it as a base for his troops. Al-Mu'tamid agreed. Ibn Tashfin, wary of the hesitation of

1552-501: Is a conventional name. Contemporary documents only record Fernando with his patronymic , which may also be spelled "Garcés" or "Garciaz" and indicates that his father's name was García. In one charter, Queen Urraca refers to Fernando as "our cousin, Sir Fernando García" ( uobis annaia don Ferrando Garciez ). In another, she refers to Fernando's second wife as "my cousin" ( mea cogermana ). The ancestries of both Urraca and Fernando's second wife are well known and they were not blood relations,

1649-499: Is often neglected in histories of the Maghreb and al-Andalus. This has also encouraged a division in modern studies about the Almoravids, with archeology playing a greater role in the study of the southern wing, in the absence of more textual sources. The exact nature and impact of the Almoravid presence in the Sahel is a strongly debated topic among Africanists . According to Arab tradition,

1746-453: Is possible he was unwilling to be away from his home base for too long or that the death of his eldest son, Sir, encouraged him to return. After Ibn Tashfin's departure, Alfonso VI quickly resumed his pressure on the Taifa kings and forced them to send tribute payments again. He captured the fortress of Aledo , cutting off eastern al-Andalus from the other Muslim kingdoms. Meanwhile, Ibn Rashiq,

1843-474: Is tying" but figuratively means "one who is ready for battle at a fortress". The term is related to the notion of ribat رِباط , a North African frontier monastery-fortress, through the root r-b-t ( ربط " rabat ": to tie, to unite or رابط " raabat ": to encamp ). The name "Almoravid" was tied to a school of Malikite law called "Dar al-Murabitin" founded in Sus al-Aksa , modern day Morocco , by

1940-508: The Taifas . These states constantly fought with each other but were unable to raise large armies of their own, so they became reliant instead on the Christian kingdoms of the north for military support. This support was secured through the regular payment of parias (tributes) to the Christian kings, but the payments became a fiscal burden that drained the treasuries of these local rulers. In turn,

2037-724: The Abbasids caliphs in Baghdad as overlords. While the Abbasids themselves had little direct political power by this time, the symbolism of this act was important and enhanced Ibn Tashfin's legitimacy. According to Ibn Idhari, it was at the same time as this that Ibn Tashfin also took the title of amīr al-muslimīn ('Commander of the Muslims'). Ibn Idhari dates this to 1073–74, but some authors, including modern historian Évariste Lévi-Provençal , have dated this political decision to later, most likely when

SECTION 20

#1732852003820

2134-667: The Barghawata , a Berber tribal confederation who followed an Islamic "heresy" preached by Salih ibn Tarif three centuries earlier. The Barghawata occupied the region northwest of Aghmat and along the Atlantic coast. They resisted the Almoravids fiercely and the campaign against them was bloody. Abdullah ibn Yasin was killed in battle with them in 1058 or 1059, at a place called Kurīfalalt or Kurifala. By 1060, however, they were conquered by Abu Bakr ibn Umar and were forced to convert to orthodox Islam. Shortly after this, Abu Bakr had reached as far as Meknes . Towards 1068, Abu Bakr married

2231-835: The Ghana Empire ; and the trans-Saharan routes were taken over by the Zenata Maghrawa of Sijilmasa . The Maghrawa also exploited this disunion to dislodge the Sanhaja Gazzula and Lamta out of their pasturelands in the Sous and Draa valleys. Around 1035, the Lamtuna chieftain Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Tifat (alias Tarsina), tried to reunite the Sanhaja desert tribes, but his reign lasted less than three years. Around 1040, Yahya ibn Ibrahim ,

2328-646: The Sosso , a neighboring people of the Sudan. Traditions in Mali related that the Sosso attacked and took over Mali as well, and the ruler of the Sosso, Sumaouro Kanté, took over the land. However, criticism from Conrad and Fisher (1982) argued that the notion of any Almoravid military conquest at its core is merely perpetuated folklore, derived from a misinterpretation or naive reliance on Arabic sources. According to Professor Timothy Insoll,

2425-494: The Sous valley of southern Morocco, to seek out a Maliki teacher for his people. Waggag assigned him one of his residents, Abdallah ibn Yasin . Abdallah ibn Yasin was a Gazzula Berber, and probably a convert rather than a born Muslim. His name can be read as "son of Ya-Sin " (the title of the 36th surah of the Quran ), suggesting he had obliterated his family past and was "re-born" of

2522-841: The Taifa kings and now intended to take direct control of the region. The Almoravid cause benefited from the support of the Maliki fuqahā ( Islamic jurists ) in Al-Andalus, who extolled the Almoravid devotion to jihad while criticizing the Taifa kings as impious, self-indulgent, and thus illegitimate. In September 1090, Ibn Tashfin forced Granada to surrender to him and sent Abdallah ibn Buluggin into exile in Aghmat. He then returned to North Africa again, but this time he left his nephew, Sir ibn Abu Bakr, in charge of Almoravid forces in al-Andalus. Al-Mu'tamid, seeking to salvage his position, resorted to striking an alliance with Alfonso VI, which further undermined his own popular support. In early 1091,

2619-561: The Taifa kings, immediately sent an advance force of 500 troops across the strait to take control of Algeciras. They did so in July 1086 without encountering resistance. The rest of the Almoravid army, numbering around 12,000, soon followed. Ibn Tashfin and his army then marched to Seville, where they met up with the forces of al-Mu'tamid, al-Mutawwakil, and Abdallah ibn Buluggin. Alfonso VI, hearing of this development, lifted his siege of Zaragoza and marched south to confront them. The two sides met at

2716-449: The Taifa rulers burdened their subjects with increased taxation, including taxes and tariffs that were not considered legal under Islamic law. As the payments of tribute began to falter, the Christian kingdoms resorted to punitive raids and eventually to conquest. The Taifa kings were unwilling or unable to unite to counter this threat, and even the most powerful Taifa kingdom, Seville , was unable to resist Christian advances. After

2813-598: The Western Sahara , traversing the territory between the Draa , the Niger , and the Senegal rivers. During their expansion into the Maghreb, they founded the city of Marrakesh as a capital, c.  1070 . Shortly after this, the empire was divided into two branches: a northern one centered in the Maghreb, led by Yusuf ibn Tashfin and his descendants, and a southern one based in

2910-419: The al-Murabitin (Almoravids)—set out on a campaign to bring their neighbors over to their cause. In the early 1050s, a kind of triumvirate emerged in leading the Almoravid movement, including Abdallah Ibn Yasin, Yahya Ibn Umar and his brother Abu Bakr Ibn Umar . The movement was now dominated by the Lamtuna rather than the Guddala. During the 1050s, the Almoravids began their expansion and their conquest of

3007-540: The al-Murabitun , but does not clarify the reasons for it. Writing three centuries later, Ibn Abi Zar suggested it was chosen early on by Abdallah ibn Yasin because, upon finding resistance among the Gudala Berbers of Adrar (Mauritania) to his teaching, he took a handful of followers to erect a makeshift ribat (monastery-fortress) on an offshore island (possibly Tidra island, in the Bay of Arguin ). Ibn 'Idhari wrote that

Fernando García - Misplaced Pages Continue

3104-496: The ribat of Waggag ibn Zallu in the village of Aglu (near present-day Tiznit ), where the future Almoravid spiritual leader Abdallah ibn Yasin got his initial training. The 13th-century Moroccan biographer Ibn al-Zayyat al-Tadili , and Qadi Ayyad before him in the 12th century, note that Waggag's learning center was called Dar al-Murabitin (The house of the Almoravids), and that might have inspired Ibn Yasin's choice of name for

3201-508: The ribats ' ) was a Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco . It established an empire that stretched over the western Maghreb and Al-Andalus , starting in the 1050s and lasting until its fall to the Almohads in 1147. The Almoravids emerged from a coalition of the Lamtuna , Gudala , and Massufa, nomadic Berber tribes living in what is now Mauritania and

3298-475: The "first capital" of the Almoravids. Yahya ibn Umar was subsequently killed in battle against the Guddala in 1055 or 1056, or later in 1057. Meanwhile, in the north, Ibn Yasin had ordered Abu Bakr to take command of the Almoravid army and they soon recaptured Sijilmasa. By 1056, they had conquered Taroudant and the Sous Valley , continuing to impose Maliki Islamic law over the communities they conquered. When

3395-484: The 9th century. They were subsequently united in the 10th century and, with the zeal of new converts, launched several campaigns against the " Sudanese " (pagan peoples of sub-Saharan Africa ). Under their king Tinbarutan ibn Usfayshar, the Sanhaja Lamtuna erected (or captured) the citadel of Awdaghust, a critical stop on the trans-Saharan trade route. After the collapse of the Sanhaja union, Awdaghust passed over to

3492-417: The Almoravid capture of Ceuta (1083) on the southern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar, the way was now open for Ibn Tashfin to intervene in al-Andalus. It was in this same year that Alfonso VI , king of Castile and León , led a military campaign into southern al-Andalus to punish al-Mu'tamid of Seville for failing to pay him tribute. His expedition penetrated all the way to Tarifa , the southernmost point of

3589-473: The Almoravid troops, while he personally led another force from a different city gate and attacked their undefended camp. This inflicted the first major defeat on the Almoravids on the Iberian Peninsula. After his victory, El Cid executed Ibn Jahhaf by burning him alive in public, perhaps in retaliation for treachery. El Cid fortified his new kingdom by building fortresses along the southern approaches to

3686-630: The Almoravids in the Sahara. Following this, the Almoravid Empire was divided into two distinct but co-dependent parts: one led by Ibn Tashfin in the north, and another led by Abu Bakr in the south. Abu Bakr continued to be formally acknowledged as the supreme leader of the Almoravids until his death in 1087. Historical sources give no indication that the two leaders treated each other as enemies and Ibn Tashfin continued to mint coins in Abu Bakr's name until

3783-517: The Almoravids into the first major Berber-led Islamic empire in the western Mediterranean. Their rulers never claimed the title of caliph and instead took on the title of Amir al-Muslimīn ("Prince of the Muslims") while formally acknowledging the overlordship of the Abbasid Caliphs in Baghdad . The Almoravid period also contributed significantly to the Islamization of the Sahara region and to

3880-412: The Almoravids took control of Cordoba and turned towards Seville, defeating a Castilian force led Alvar Fañez that came to help al-Mu'tamid. In September 1091, al-Mu'tamid surrendered Seville to the Almoravids and was exiled to Aghmat. In late 1091, the Almoravids captured Almería. In late 1091 or January 1092, Ibn Aisha, one of Ibn Tashfin's sons, seized control of Murcia. The capture of Murcia brought

3977-513: The Almoravids under Abu Bakr's leadership conquered the Ghana Empire , founded by the Soninke, sometime around 1076–77. An example of this tradition is the record of historian Ibn Khaldun , who cited Shaykh Uthman, the faqih of Ghana, writing in 1394. According to this source, the Almoravids weakened Ghana and collected tribute from the Sudan, to the extent that the authority of the rulers of Ghana dwindled away, and they were subjugated and absorbed by

Fernando García - Misplaced Pages Continue

4074-520: The Almoravids were in the process of securing control of al-Andalus. According to Amira Bennison, the recognition of the Abbasid caliph must have been established by the 1090s at latest. When Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi visited Baghdad between 1096 and 1098, possibly as part of an Almoravid embassy to Caliph al-Mustazhir , he claimed that the Friday prayers were already being given in the Abbasid caliph's name across

4171-527: The Almoravids within reach of Valencia , which was officially under the control of al-Qadir , the former Taifa ruler of Toledo. He had been installed here in 1086 by the Castilians after they took control of Toledo. Al-Qadir's unpopular rule in Valencia was supported by a Castilian garrison headed by Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar , a Castilian noble and mercenary better known today as El Cid. In October 1092, when El Cid

4268-812: The Banu Ya'la in battle near the valley of the Moulaya River and executed their commander, Mali Ibn Ya'la, the son of Tlemcen's ruler. However, Ibn Tilankan did not push to Tlemcen right away as the city of Oujda , occupied by the Bani Iznasan, was too strong to capture. Instead, Ibn Tashfin himself returned with an army in 1081 that captured Oujda and then conquered Tlemcen, massacring the Maghrawa forces there and their leader, al-Abbas Ibn Bakhti al-Maghrawi. He pressed on and by 1082 he had captured Algiers . Ibn Tashfin subsequently treated Tlemcen as his eastern base. At that time,

4365-546: The Christians in a narrow pass located between the mountains and the sea, but El Cid managed to rally his troops and repel the Almoravids yet again. In 1097, the Almoravid governor of Xativa, Ali ibn al-Hajj, led another incursion into Valencian territory but was quickly defeated and pursued to Almenara , which El Cid then captured after a three-month siege. In 1097, Yusuf Ibn Tashfin himself led another army into al-Andalus. Setting out from Cordoba with Muhammad ibn al-Hajj as his field commander, he marched against Alfonso VI, who

4462-729: The Holy Book. Ibn Yasin certainly had the ardor of a puritan zealot; his creed was mainly characterized by a rigid formalism and a strict adherence to the dictates of the Quran, and the Orthodox tradition . (Chroniclers such as al-Bakri allege Ibn Yasin's learning was superficial.) Ibn Yasin's initial meetings with the Guddala people went poorly. As he had more ardor than depth, Ibn Yasin's arguments were disputed by his audience. He responded to questioning with charges of apostasy and handed out harsh punishments for

4559-472: The Iberian Peninsula. A couple of years later, in May 1085, he seized control of Toledo , previously one of the most powerful city-states in al-Andalus. Soon after, he also began a siege of Zaragoza . These dramatic events forced the Taifa kings to finally consider seeking an external intervention by the Almoravids. According to the most detailed Arabic source, it was al-Mu'tamid, the ruler of Seville, who convened

4656-509: The National Court of Honor of the Asociación de Scouts de México Fernando Garcia (speedway rider) (born 1994), Argentine speedway rider Fernando Garcia (soccer, born 1999) , American soccer player [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change

4753-431: The Sahara in order to suppress a rebellion by the Guddala and their allies which threatened the desert trade routes, in either 1060 or 1071. His wife Zaynab appears to have been unwilling to follow him south and he granted her a divorce. Apparently on Abu Bakr's instructions, she was then married to Yusuf Ibn Tashfin. Before leaving, Abu Bakr appointed Ibn Tashfin as his deputy in charge of the new Almoravid territories in

4850-503: The Sahara, led by Abu Bakr ibn Umar and his descendants. The Almoravids expanded their control to al-Andalus (the Muslim territories in Iberia ) and were crucial in temporarily halting the advance of the Christian kingdoms in this region, with the Battle of Sagrajas in 1086 among their signature victories. This united the Maghreb and al-Andalus politically for the first time and transformed

4947-507: The Saharan tribes. Their first major targets were two strategic cities located at the northern and southern edges of the desert: Sijilmasa in the north and Awdaghust in the south. Control of these two cities would allow the Almoravids to effectively control the trans-Saharan trade routes. Sijilmasa was controlled by the Maghrawa , a part of the northern Zenata Berber confederation, while Awdaghust

SECTION 50

#1732852003820

5044-399: The advice of Zaynab. Abu Bakr recognized that he was unable to force the issue and was unwilling to fight a battle over control of Marrakesh, so he decided to voluntarily recognize Ibn Tashfin's leadership in the Maghreb. The two men met on neutral ground between Aghmat and Marrakesh to confirm the arrangement. After a short stay in Aghmat, Abu Bakr returned south to continue his leadership of

5141-494: The archaeology of ancient Ghana simply does not show the signs of rapid change and destruction that would be associated with any Almoravid-era military conquests. Dierke Lange agreed with the original military incursion theory but argues that this doesn't preclude Almoravid political agitation, claiming that the main factor of the demise of the Ghana Empire owed much to the latter. According to Lange, Almoravid religious influence

5238-455: The campaign concluded that year, they retired to Sijilmasa and established their base there. It was around this time that Abu Bakr appointed his cousin, Yusuf ibn Tashfin , to command the garrison of the city. In 1058, they crossed the High Atlas and conquered Aghmat , a prosperous commercial town near the foothills of the mountains, and made it their capital. They then came in contact with

5335-421: The charters can only refer to a blood relation between Urraca and Fernando, simplest to explain by viewing Fernando as the son of Urraca's uncle, King García II of Galicia . Were this the case, Fernando would probably have been born to a mistress while García was in captivity. Other evidence points to Fernando being the son of Count García Ordóñez de Nájera . The Muslim historian Ibn Abi Zar recorded that

5432-430: The city and then turned south to capture Awdaghust, which they accomplished that same year. Although the town was mainly Muslim, the Almoravids pillaged the city and treated the population harshly on the basis that they recognized the pagan king of Ghana . Not long after the main Almoravid army left Sijilmasa, the city rebelled and the Maghrawa returned, slaughtering the Lamtuna garrison. Ibn Yasin responded by organizing

5529-551: The city had consisted of an older settlement called Agadir, but Ibn Tashfin founded a new city next to it called Takrart, which later merged with Agadir in the Almohad period to become the present city. The Almoravids subsequently clashed with the Hammadids to the east multiple times, but they did not make a sustained effort to conquer the central Maghrib and instead focused their efforts on other fronts. Eventually, in 1104, they signed

5626-422: The city to defend against future Almoravid attacks. In late 1096, Ibn Aisha led an army of 30,000 men to besiege the strongest of these fortresses, Peña Cadiella (just south of Xativa ). El Cid confronted them and called on Aragon for reinforcements. When the reinforcements approached, the Almoravids lifted the siege, but laid a trap for El Cid's forces as they marched back to Valencia. They successfully ambushed

5723-727: The command of Diya al-Dawla Yahya, was the last major city on the African side of the Strait of Gibraltar that still held out against him. In return for a promise to help him, Ibn Tashfin demanded that al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad , the ruler of Seville , provide assistance in besieging the city. Al-Mu'tamid obliged and sent a fleet to blockade the city by sea, while Ibn Tashfin's son Tamim led the siege by land. The city finally surrendered in June–July 1083 or in August 1084. Ibn Tashfin also made efforts to organize

5820-462: The date of the final conquest of Fez as 1069 (461 AH). Historian Ronald Messier gives the date more specifically as 18 March 1070 (462 AH). Other historians date this conquest to 1074 or 1075. In 1079, Ibn Tashfin sent an army 20,000 strong from Marrakesh to push towards what is now Tlemcen to attack the Banu Ya'la, the Zenata tribe occupying the area. Led by Mazdali Ibn Tilankan, the army defeated

5917-496: The end, he refused to pay El Cid's tribute and the siege continued. By April 1094, the city was starving and he decided to surrender it shortly after. El Cid re-entered Valencia on 15 June 1094, after 20 months of siege. Rather than ruling through a puppet again, he now took direct control as king. Meanwhile, also in 1094, the Almoravids seized control of the entire Taifa kingdom of Badajoz after its ruler, al-Mutawwakil, sought his own alliance with Castile. The Almoravid expedition

SECTION 60

#1732852003820

6014-415: The field, the Almoravids did not capture any major new towns or fortresses. El Cid attempted to Christianize Valencia, converting its main mosque into a church and establishing a bishopric , but ultimately failed to attract many new Christian settlers to the city. He died on 10 July 1099, leaving his wife, Jimena, in charge of the kingdom. She was unable to hold off Almoravid pressures, which culminated in

6111-438: The gold that came from Ghana in the south, but in practice it remained dependent on the spoils of new conquests. The majority of the Almoravid army continued to be composed of Sanhaja recruits, but Ibn Tashfin also began recruiting slaves to form a personal guard ( ḥashm ), including 5000 black soldiers ( 'abid ) and 500 white soldiers ( uluj , likely of European origin). At some point, Yusuf Ibn Tashfin moved to acknowledge

6208-780: The half he claimed of some properties at Cevico and Uceda , which he and Stephanie had previously acquired together. Earlier that year, in April or May, Queen Urraca had granted those lands at Uceda and some others at Hita to the betrothed or recently married couple. On 30 June she granted the lands at Cevico to Stephanie to be held independently of her husband or his existing children. Fernando disregarded this royal charter, placing greater stock in aristocratic custom based on Visigothic law , by which he acquired one half of all his wife's acquisitions during their marriage. Fernando and Stephanie had two daughters: Urraca Fernández and Sancha Fernández. Urraca, probably conceived shortly after their marriage,

6305-450: The historic region of the Sudan . After the death of Abu Bakr (1087), the confederation of Berber tribes in the Sahara was divided between the descendants of Abu Bakr and his brother Yahya, and would have lost control of Ghana. Sheryl Burkhalter suggests that Abu Bakr's son Yahya was the leader of the Almoravid expedition that conquered Ghana in 1076, and that the Almoravids would have survived

6402-477: The intention of reclaiming his father's position in the Maghreb. Another Almoravid commander, Mazdali ibn Tilankan , who was related to both men, defused the situation and convinced Ibrahim to join his father in the south rather than start a civil war. Ibn Tashfin had in the meantime helped to bring the large area of what is now Morocco , Western Sahara , and Mauritania under Almoravid control. He spent at least several years capturing each fort and settlement in

6499-548: The itinerant royal court. Fernando seems to have done both. He was given charge of several frontier fiefs ( tenencias ) and still managed to witness to twelve royal charters during the reign of Urraca. He was the royal official ( alcalde ) in charge of Guadalajara and Medinaceli in 1107. According to the Anonymous Chronicles of Sahagún , in 1111 Fernando convinced Count Henry of Portugal to break his alliance with King Alfonso I of Aragon and Navarre , and then negotiated

6596-425: The jurists of Kairouan were agitating for him to do so. Within this heady atmosphere, Yahya and Abu Imran fell into conversation on the state of the faith in their western homelands, and Yahya expressed his disappointment at the lack of religious education and negligence of Islamic law among his southern Sanhaja people. With Abu Imran's recommendation, Yahya ibn Ibrahim made his way to the ribat of Waggag ibn Zelu in

6693-468: The latter's death. Following Abu Bakr's departure, Ibn Tashfin was largely responsible for building the Almoravid state in the Maghreb over the next two decades. One of Abu Bakr's sons, Ibrahim, who served as the Almoravid leader in Sijilmasa between 1071 and 1076 (according to the coinage minted there), did develop a rivalry with Ibn Tashfin and attempted to confront him toward 1076. He marched to Aghmat with

6790-422: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fernando_García&oldid=1234884124 " Category : Human name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Fernando Garc%C3%ADa de Hita "Fernando García de Hita"

6887-601: The loss of Ghana and the defeat in the Maghreb by the Almohads, and would have ruled the Sahara until the end of the 12th century. Initially, it appears Ibn Tashfin had little interest in involving the Almoravids in the politics of al-Andalus (the Muslim territories on the Iberian Peninsula). After the collapse of the Caliphate of Córdoba in the early 11th century, al-Andalus had split into small kingdoms or city-states known as

6984-490: The movement. The Almoravids, sometimes called "al-mulathamun" ("the veiled ones", from litham , Arabic for " veil ".) trace their origins back to several Saharan Sanhaja nomadic tribes, dwelling in an area that stretches between the Senegal River in the south and the Draa river in the north. The first and main Almoravid founding tribe was the Lamtuna . It occupied the region around Awdaghust (Aoudaghost) in

7081-438: The name was suggested by Ibn Yasin in the "persevering in the fight" sense, to boost morale after a particularly hard-fought battle in the Draa valley c.  1054 , in which they had taken many losses. Whichever explanation is true, it seems certain the appellation was chosen by the Almoravids for themselves, partly with the conscious goal of forestalling any tribal or ethnic identifications. The name might be related to

7178-690: The nature of the "conquest" in the south of the Sahara, the influence and success of the Almoravid movement in securing west African gold and circulating it widely necessitated a high degree of political control. The Arab geographer Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri wrote that the Almoravids ended Ibadi Islam in Tadmekka in 1084 and that Abu Bakr "arrived at the mountain of gold" in the deep south. Abu Bakr finally died in Tagant in November 1087 following an injury in battle—according to oral tradition, from an arrow —while fighting in

7275-464: The new Almoravid realm. Under his rule, the western Maghreb was divided into well-defined administrative provinces for the first time—prior to this, it had been mostly tribal territory. A developing central government was established in Marrakesh, while he entrusted key provinces to important allies and relatives. The nascent Almoravid state was funded in part by the taxes allowed under Islamic law and by

7372-408: The new capital of Marrakesh. Historical sources cite a variety of dates for this event ranging from 1062, given by Ibn Abi Zar and Ibn Khaldun , to 1078 (470 AH), given by Muhammad al-Idrisi . The year 1070, given by Ibn Idhari , is more commonly used by modern historians, although 1062 is still cited by some writers. Shortly after founding the new city, Abu Bakr was compelled to return south to

7469-606: The next step in their fortunes. While Ibn Yasin went north, Yahya Ibn Umar remained in the south in the Adrar, the heartland of the Lamtuna, in a defensible and well-provisioned place called Jabal Lamtuna, about 10 kilometres northwest of modern Atar . His stronghold there was a fortress called Azuggi (also rendered variably as Azougui or Azukki), which had been built earlier by his brother Yannu ibn Umar al-Hajj. Some scholars, including Attilio Gaudio, Christiane Vanacker, and Brigitte Himpan and Diane Himpan-Sabatier describe Azuggi as

7566-545: The north. According to Ibn Idhari, Zaynab became his most important political advisor. A year later, after suppressing the revolt in the south, Abu Bakr returned north toward Marrakesh, expecting to resume his control of the city and of the Almoravid forces in North Africa. Ibn Tashfin, however, was now unwilling to give up his own position of leadership. While Abu Bakr was still camped near Aghmat, Ibn Tashfin sent him lavish gifts but refused to obey his summons, reportedly on

7663-479: The only other Muslim power left in the peninsula, sent an ambassador on this occasion and signed a treaty with the Almoravids. By the time Ibn Tashfin died in 1106, the Almoravids were thus in control of all of al-Andalus except for Zaragoza. In general, they had not reconquered any of the lands lost to the Christian kingdoms in the previous century. Ali Ibn Yusuf ( r.  1106–1143 ) was born in Ceuta and educated in

7760-405: The region around Fez and in northern Morocco. After most of the surrounding region was under his control, he was finally able to conquer Fez definitively. However, there is some contradiction and uncertainty among historical sources regarding the exact chronology of these conquests, with some sources dating the main conquests to the 1060s and others dating them to the 1070s. Some modern authors cite

7857-506: The ruler of Murcia , was embroiled in a rivalry with al-Mu'tamid of Seville. As a result, this time it was the elites or notables ( wujūh ) of al-Andalus who now called for help from the Almoravids, rather than the kings. In May–June 1088, Ibn Tashfin landed at Algeciras with another army, soon joined by al-Mu'tamid of Seville, by Abdallah ibn Buluggin of Granada, and by other troops sent by Ibn Sumadih of Almería and Ibn Rashiq of Murcia. They then set out to retake Aledo. The siege, however,

7954-522: The slightest deviations. The Guddala soon had enough and expelled him almost immediately after the death of his protector, Yahya ibn Ibrahim, sometime in the 1040s. Ibn Yasin, however, found a more favorable reception among the neighboring Lamtuna people. Probably sensing the useful organizing power of Ibn Yasin's pious fervor, the Lamtuna chieftain Yahya ibn Umar al-Lamtuni invited the man to preach to his people. The Lamtuna leaders, however, kept Ibn Yasin on

8051-487: The southern Sahara according to contemporary Arab chroniclers such as al-Ya'qubi , al-Bakri and Ibn Hawqal . According to French historian Charles-André Julien : "The original cell of the Almoravid empire was a powerful Sanhaja tribe of the Sahara, the Lamtuna, whose place of origin was in the Adrar in Mauritania ." The Tuareg people are believed to be their descendants. These nomads had been converted to Islam in

8148-429: The territories ruled by Yusuf Ibn Tashfin. After leaving Yusuf Ibn Tashfin in the north and returning south, Abu Bakr Ibn Umar reportedly made Azuggi his base. The town acted as the capital of the southern Almoravids under him and his successors. Despite the importance of the Saharan trade routes to the Almoravids, the history of the southern wing of the empire is not well documented in Arabic historical sources and

8245-415: The traditions of al-Andalus, unlike his predecessors, who were from the Sahara. According to some scholars, Ali ibn Yusuf represented a new generation of leadership that had forgotten the desert life for the comforts of the city. His long reign of 37 years is historically overshadowed by the defeats and deteriorating circumstances that characterized the later years, but the first decade or so, prior to 1118,

8342-466: The urbanization of the western Maghreb, while cultural developments were spurred by increased contact between Al-Andalus and Africa. After a short apogee, Almoravid power in al-Andalus began to decline after the loss of Zaragoza in 1118. The final cause of their downfall was the Masmuda -led Almohad rebellion initiated in the Maghreb by Ibn Tumart in the 1120s. The last Almoravid ruler, Ishaq ibn Ali ,

8439-500: Was Tegridia. Based on her son being called sobrinus of Count Rodrigo Martínez , historian Pascual Martínez Sopena concluded she was Tegridia Martínez, a sister of Count Rodrigo and daughter of Count Martín Flaínez and his wife Sancha Fernández, while Jaime de Salazar y Acha concluded she was Tegridia Fernández, sister of Sancha and aunt of Count Rodrigo. Either would make her cousin of Eilo Alfonso, wife of powerful count Pedro Ansúrez . José María Canal Sánchez-Pagín simply calls her

8536-585: Was away from the city, there was an insurrection and coup d'état led by the qadi (judge) Abu Ahmad Ja'far Ibn Jahhaf. The latter called for help from the Almoravids in Murcia, who sent a small group of warriors to the city. The Castilian garrison was forced to leave and al-Qadir was captured and executed. However, the Almoravids did not send enough forces to oppose El Cid's return and Ibn Jahhaf undermined his popular support by proceeding to install himself as ruler, acting like yet another Taifa king. El Cid began

8633-619: Was betrothed to Count Rodrigo Martínez , who granted her a bridewealth on 29 November 1129, when she was probably only ten years old. Stephanie also bore Fernando two sons: Pedro Fernández de Castro , who became the first Grand Master of the Order of Santiago , and Martín Fernández de Castro. Fernando died about 1125. Stephanie, ten years a widow and still young, married Count Rodrigo González de Lara in 1135. Almoravids The Almoravid dynasty ( Arabic : المرابطون , romanized :  Al-Murābiṭūn , lit.   'those from

8730-479: Was characterized by continuing military successes, enabled in large part by skilled generals. While the Almoravids remained dominant in field battles, military shortcomings were becoming apparent in their relative inability to sustain and win long sieges. In these early years, the Almoravid state was also wealthy, minting more gold than ever before, and Ali ibn Yusuf embarked on ambitious building projects, especially in Marrakesh. Upon his enthronement, Ali ibn Yusuf

8827-463: Was controlled by the Soninke . Both cities were captured in 1054 or 1055. Sijilmasa was captured first and its leader, Mas'ud Ibn Wannudin, was killed, along with other Maghrawa leaders. According to historical sources, the Almoravid army rode on camels and numbered 30,000, though this number may be an exaggeration. Strengthened with the spoils of their victory, they left a garrison of Lamtuna tribesmen in

8924-487: Was gradual, rather than the result of military action; there the Almoravids gained power by marrying among the nation's nobility. Lange attributes the decline of ancient Ghana to numerous unrelated factors, one of which is likely attributable to internal dynastic struggles instigated by Almoravid influence and Islamic pressures, but devoid of military conquest. This interpretation of events has been disputed by later scholars like Sheryl L. Burkhalter, who argued that, whatever

9021-461: Was in Toledo at the time. The Castilians were routed at the Battle of Consuegra . El Cid was not involved, but his son, Diego, was killed in the battle. Soon after, Alvar Fañez was also defeated near Cuenca in another battle with the Almoravids, led by Ibn Aisha. The latter followed up this victory by ravaging the lands around Valencia and defeated another army sent by El Cid. Despite these victories in

9118-595: Was killed when the Almohads captured Marrakesh in 1147 and established themselves as the new dominant power in both North Africa and Al-Andalus. The term "Almoravid" comes from the Arabic " al-Murabit " ( المرابط ), through the Spanish : almorávide . The transformation of the b in " al-Murabit " to the v in almorávide is an example of betacism in Spanish. In Arabic, " al-Murabit " literally means "one who

9215-487: Was led by Sir ibn Abu Bakr, who had been appointed as governor of Seville. The Almoravids then returned their attention to Valencia, where another of Ibn Tashfin's nephews, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim, was ordered to take the city. He arrived outside its walls in October 1094 and began attacks on the city. The siege ended when El Cid launched a two-sided attack: he sent a sortie from one city gate that posed as his main force, occupying

9312-515: Was not enough to urge his audiences to put aside their blood loyalties and ethnic differences, and embrace the equality of all Muslims under the Sacred Law, it was necessary to make them do so. For the Lamtuna leadership, this new ideology dovetailed with their long desire to refound the Sanhaja union and recover their lost dominions. In the early 1050s, the Lamtuna, under the joint leadership of Yahya ibn Umar and Abdallah ibn Yasin—soon calling themselves

9409-644: Was undermined by rivalries and disunity among the Taifa kings. News eventually reached the Muslims that Alfonso VI was bringing an army to help the Castilian garrison. In November 1088, Ibn Tashfin lifted the siege and returned to North Africa again, having achieved nothing. Alfonso VI sent his trusted commander, Alvar Fañez , to pressure the Taifa kings again. He succeeded in forcing Abdallah ibn Buluggin to resume tribute payments and began to pressure al-Mu'tamid in turn. In 1090, Ibn Tashfin returned to al-Andalus yet again, but by this point he seemed to have given up on

#819180