Almanzor
Arab Andalusian military leader and statesman (c.938-1002) · Spain · On the map · Politicians · Died at 63
The man who ran Islamic Spain without being caliph. Almanzor built absolute power from a court administrator's desk, reduced the actual ruler to a puppet, and led dozens of raids into Christian territory - all while claiming every move was in the caliph's name.
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Scrivener, in a nineteenth-century representation. After completing his studies as a faqīh, the young Almanzor had to adopt this profession due to the poor economic situation of his family after the death of his father.
Harem scene. Shortly after joining the caliphal Administration, Ibn Abi ʿĀmir forged a lasting alliance with the mother of the heir to the throne, the favorite Subh, which was only broken in 996 by Ibn Abi ʿĀmir's ambitions, which Subh considered a threat to her son Hisham.![Soldiers outside the mosque according to a nineteenth-century representation. Almanzor soon gained control of the army of the capital, which settled in his new fortified residence in Medina Alzahira [es], built in 979.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/Weeks_Edwin_Entering_The_Mosque_1885.jpg/500px-Weeks_Edwin_Entering_The_Mosque_1885.jpg)
Soldiers outside the mosque according to a nineteenth-century representation. Almanzor soon gained control of the army of the capital, which settled in his new fortified residence in Medina Alzahira [es], built in 979.
A Spanish postage stamp commemorating the 1000th anniversary of the death of Almanzor (Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir), issued in 2002.
Interior of Medina Azahara, the fortified residence built by Abd al-Rahman III, where Almanzor luxuriously locked Caliph Hisham II after the failed attempt at rebellion by the Caliph's mother Subh, after long years of alliance between them.
Almanzor's troops, as represented in the Cantigas de Santa María. The chamberlain carried out wide-ranging military reforms.
Praying in the mosque. Among the gestures that Almanzor made in service of his image as Defender of the Faith was the expansion of Córdoba's mosque.About this person
Born around 938 to a Yemeni Arab family in Turrush, he arrived in Córdoba as a young law student with modest prospects. A few administrative posts led to a connection with Subh, mother of Caliph Al-Hakam II's children, and her patronage opened the gates: director of the mint in 967, army quartermaster by 973. When Al-Hakam died in 976, the boy-caliph Hisham II took the throne and Almanzor took everything else. As chamberlain from 978, he consolidated control over the Umayyad state while Hisham became a ceremonial figure. He framed his authority as defense of jihad, launched waves of campaigns across Iberia and the Maghreb, and his raids into Christian kingdoms were noted for their destruction. His sons inherited his grip on power after his death in 1002, holding it until 1009.
