Yahya al-Muzaffar

Gold dinars minted under Yahya al-Muzaffar in 1029

Yahya al-Muzaffar - Arabic يحيئ المزفر, DMG Yaḥya al-Muzaffar - was in the Taifa Kingdom of Saragossa between the years 1021 and 1036, the second emir of the Tujibid dynasty .

biography

Yahya al-Muzaffar, with full name in Arabic يحيى بن المنذر التجيبي, DMG Yaḥya ibn al-Munḏir at-Tujībī , initially referred to himself as the Hajjib (chamberlain) of the caliph of Cordoba al-Qasim al-Ma'mun from the Hammudid dynasty, following Almansor . As a sign of his position of power, he had his own money minted. Only later did he take the title Arabic المظفر, DMG al-Muẓaffar . In his Taifa kingdom he ruled in a manner comparable to that of the neighboring Christian rulers.

Yahya al-Muzaffar continued the consolidation policy of the emirate begun by his father al-Mundir I and promoted literature and the arts. He was anxious to have good relations with the mighty Taifa of Toledo and therefore married the sister of Ismail al-Zafir (Ismail ibn Di-l-Nun). The heir to the throne, Mundir II, emerged from this marriage . He could also rely on the loyalty of Sulayman ibn Huds , who was installed as governor in Tudela and Lérida . Sulaiman in turn was supposed to replace the Tujibids in Saragossa in 1039 and establish the Hudid dynasty there.

Armed conflicts

Yahya had with Sancho III. and towards the end of his reign with his sons García III. and Ramiro I. to fight. He also undertook campaigns and raids up to the upper Ebro valley , where he devastated Nájera and returned with prisoners and rich booty.

Structural expansion of the Zaragoza mosque

The old mosque was expanded by Musa ibn Musa in the middle of the 9th century to 56 × 44 meters with a floor area of ​​around 2500 square meters. Yahya began in 1023, following the instructions of his late father al-Mundir I, with the expansion of the building to 86 × 54 meters, which corresponds to almost doubling the length and area (to around 4,700 square meters). This expansion made the mosque one of the largest in Al-Andalus .

The mihrab was made from a huge block of white alabaster and transported on rollers - a delicate undertaking that led to cracks in the rock.

Fener a high minaret was built, which was converted into a church tower after the Reconquista and was preserved until the 17th century. This church tower then had to give way to the current baroque tower. During the renovation work, which was completed in 1999, numerous discoveries were made - for example, the plan of the ancient building was found as well as the impressions of the minaret on the outer wall, which made it possible to reconstruct its original appearance.

literature

• Cervera Fras, Maria José: El reino de Saraqusta . CAI, Saragossa 1999, ISBN 84-88305-93-1 .
• Corral, José Luis: Historia de Zaragoza. Zaragoza musulmana (714-1118) . Ayto. de Zaragoza and CAI, Saragossa 1998, ISBN 84-8069-155-7 .
• Montaner Frutos, Alberto: Introducción histórica to chapter El palacio musulmán . In: Bernabé Cabañero Subiza et al. (Ed.): La Aljafería . tape I . Cortes de Aragón, Saragossa 1998, ISBN 84-86794-97-8 , p. 35-65 .
• Viguera Molins, Maria Jesús: Aragón musulmán . Mira editores, Saragossa 1988, ISBN 84-86778-06-9 .
• Viguera Molins, Maria Jesús: El islam en Aragón (=  Col. "Mariano de Pano y Ruata" . No. 9 ). CAI, Saragossa 1995, ISBN 84-88305-27-3 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Andu Resano, Fernando: La Taifa de Zaragoza, El esplendor de la poesía en la Taifa de Zaragoza . Mira, Saragossa 2007, ISBN 978-84-8465-253-3 , p. 166-167 .

predecessor	Office	successor
al-Mundir I.	Emir of Saragossa 1021-1036	Mundir II.