Muhammad I. al-Mustansir

Abu Abdallah Muhammad I al-Mustansir ( Arabic أبو عبد الله محمد المستنصر, DMG Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad al-Mustanṣir ; † 1277 ) was from 1249 to 1277 caliph of the Hafsids in Ifrīqiya .

Life

Caliphate of Tunis

Muhammad I was the son of Abu Zakariya Yahya I and succeeded him after his death in 1249 as ruler of the Hafsids. He continued the consolidation of the empire. In order to revive the economy, he had more Muslim refugees from Andalusia settle in Ifriqiya. Since Muhammad I also claimed that the Hafsids were the only legitimate successors of the Almohads , he was proclaimed caliph . In 1259 he achieved the great diplomatic success that his caliphate was recognized by the Sherif in Mecca and the Mamluks in Egypt , even if only temporarily.

Conflict with Sicily

In terms of foreign policy, he came into conflict with the new Sicilian King Charles of Anjou from 1266 , as Muhammad supported the Hohenstaufen ( Ghibellines ) against the Guelphs around him. This also had an economic component: Muhammad had once paid the Emperor Frederick II import duties for the importation of Sicilian grain into his empire and stopped these payments after the end of King Manfred's rule . Karl von Anjou, however, regarded himself as the legitimate successor of Manfred and the sultan's relationship to Sicily as dependent on tribute and demanded that payments be resumed as well as subsequent payments for the missing years. While Muhammad agreed to the former, he refused the additional payments.

He wanted to evade the threat posed by Charles of Anjou by targeting his older brother King Louis IX. of France (the saint) tried to play off. Muhammad sent a diplomatic mission to Charles' court in Naples in August 1269 . After having had little success, as expected, she moved on to Paris . As with Karl, it was announced to Ludwig that Muhammad was ready to convert to Christianity, but only with a strong army as a protective force behind him in order to be able to defend himself against a possible reaction by the Mameluke sultan Baibars I. Instead of a religious intention, he probably had the protection and legitimation of his empire against Charles of Anjou in mind.

Seventh crusade

Louis IX however, at that time I was preparing for a new crusade, with which the crusader states in Palestine and Syria should be relieved against the Egyptian Mamluks. Motivated by the idea that Muhammad was ready to convert to Christianity, Ludwig allowed himself to be persuaded by Karl to stop at Tunis with his crusader army on the way to the Holy Land. There he either wanted to force Muhammad to convert and form an alliance, or else to conquer the caliphate and use it as a base for another attack on Egypt. The attempt of King Jacob I of Aragon , who had trade relations with North Africa, to influence the course of the crusade by advocating Syria as a target, remained ineffective.

Philip III of France (left) makes peace with al-Mustansir. Miniature from the Grandes Chroniques de France , 15th century. (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France )

In August 1270, Louis IX landed. with the army of the Seventh Crusade on the coast of Tunisia and effortlessly occupied the ruins of Carthage , where he set up his field camp while Muhammad barricaded himself in Tunis . Even before major fighting broke out, Ludwig died of an illness in the camp and the just arrived Karl von Anjou was killed as the uncle of the young heir to the throne, Philip III. the command of the crusader army itself. Since illness was rampant in the Crusader camp, Karl began negotiations with Muhammad. This agreed to pay the crusaders a heavy tribute and to allow Christian priests access to Tunis, whereupon the crusaders left his country. The trade with the Christian naval powers Aragón , Venice , Pisa and Genoa , which was interrupted by the crusade but was important for the Hafsids, was restored within a few years. Relations with Charles of Anjou also improved, as Muhammad entered into an economic relationship with Sicily similar to that with the Staufers, which was continued by his successors and also after the Sicilian Vespers (1282).

death

When Muhammad I al-Mustansir died in 1277, he was followed by his son Yahya II. Al-Watiq (r. 1277-1279). Violent power struggles broke out under him, which severely shook the Hafsiden Empire.

Al-Mansur as a hunter

In 1247 (AH 645) the heir to the throne, who at that time was still Emir von Bône and a passionate hunter with dogs ( Saluki ) and falcons, was presented with a book about hunting. An English translation of this book, of which only parts VII and VIII of volume IV have been preserved in the University of Ez-Zitouna in Tunis, has been available since 2001.

literature

• Terence Clark, Muawiya Derhalli (translator): Al Mansur's Book On Hunting , Aris & Phillips, Warminster 2001, ISBN 0-85668-744-8 .
• Ulrich Haarmann : History of the Arab World. Edited by Heinz Halm . (Beck's historical library) 4th revised and expanded edition. CH Beck, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-406-47486-1 .
• Stephan Ronart, Nandy Ronart: Lexicon of the Arab World. A historical-political reference work. Artemis, Zurich et al. 1972, ISBN 3-7608-0138-2 .
• Dirk Reitz: The crusades of Ludwig IX. of France 1248/1270. (New aspects of European research on the Middle Ages 3) LIT Verlag, Münster 2005, ISBN 3-8258-7068-5 (also: Darmstadt, Techn. Univ., Diss., 2004).
• Tilman Nagel : Die Islamische Welt bis 1500. (Oldenbourg Grundriss der Geschichte 24) Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-486-53011-9 .