Al-Ghazāl
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Al-Ghazāl
Abū Zakariyyāʾ Yaḥyā ibn Ḥakam al-Bakrī al-Jayyānī ( 790–864), nicknamed al-Ghazāl ("the gazelle"), was an Andalusi Arab poet and diplomat. He undertook two important missions for the Emirate of Córdoba, the first to the Byzantine Empire in 840 and the second to the Vikings in 845. A native of Jaén, he received the nickname ''al-ghazāl'' in his youth because he was thin and handsome. He was a Muslim who belonged to the Arab tribe of Bakr ibn Wāʾil. The 11th-century historian Ibn Ḥayyān called him "the sage of Spain" (''ḥakīm al-andalus''), and the 13th-century writer Ibn Diḥya devoted more space to his diplomacy than his poetry in his ''Melodious Compilation from the Poetry of the People of the West''. Ibn Diḥya is the only source for the Viking embassy, which he claims to have read about in a now lost work by al-Ghazāl's contemporary, Tammām ibn ʿAlḳama. In 839 or 840,According to , all that is known regarding the date is that the Byz ...
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Viking Raid On Seville
The Viking raid on Išbīliya, then part of the Umayyad Emirate of Córdoba, took place in 844. After raiding the coasts of what are now Spain and Portugal, a Viking fleet arrived in Išbīliya (now Seville) through the Guadalquivir on 25 September and took the city on 1 or 3 October. The Vikings pillaged the city and the surrounding areas. Emir Abd ar-Rahman II of Córdoba mobilized and sent a large force against the Vikings under the command of the '' hajib'' (chief-minister) Isa ibn Shuhayd. After a series of indecisive engagements, the Muslim army defeated the Vikings on either 11 or 17 November. Seville was retaken and the remnants of the Vikings fled Spain. After the raid, the Muslims raised new troops and built more ships and other military equipment to protect the coast. The quick military response in 844 and the subsequent defensive improvements discouraged further attacks by the Vikings. Historians such as Hugh N. Kennedy and Neil Price contrast the rapid Muslim res ...
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Gazelle
A gazelle is one of many antelope species in the genus ''Gazella'' . There are also seven species included in two further genera; '' Eudorcas'' and '' Nanger'', which were formerly considered subgenera of ''Gazella''. A third former subgenus, '' Procapra'', includes three living species of Asian gazelles. Gazelles are known as swift animals. Some can run at bursts as high as or run at a sustained speed of . Gazelles are found mostly in the deserts, grasslands, and savannas of Africa, but they are also found in southwest and central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. They tend to live in herds, and eat fine, easily digestible plants and leaves. Gazelles are relatively small antelopes, most standing high at the shoulder, and are generally fawn-colored. The gazelle genera are ''Gazella'', ''Eudorcas'', and ''Nanger''. The taxonomy of these genera is confused, and the classification of species and subspecies has been an unsettled issue. Currently, the genus ''Gazella'' is widely ...
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Michael III
Michael III (; 9/10 January 840 – 24 September 867), also known as Michael the Drunkard, was Byzantine emperor from 842 to 867. Michael III was the third and traditionally last member of the Amorian dynasty, Amorian (or Phrygian) dynasty. He was given the disparaging epithet ''the Drunkard'' () by the hostile historians of the succeeding Macedonian dynasty, but modern historical research has rehabilitated his reputation to some extent, demonstrating the vital role his reign played in the resurgence of Byzantine power in the 9th century. He was also the youngest person to bear the imperial title, as well as the youngest to succeed as senior emperor. Life Early life and regency Michael was the youngest child of the emperor Theophilos (emperor), Theophilos and his empress Theodora (wife of Theophilos), Theodora. His precise date of birth is uncertain, but the balance of available evidence supports a birthdate in early 840, probably on 9 or 10 January. He was coronation of the ...
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9th-century People From Al-Andalus
The 9th century was a period from 801 (represented by the Roman numerals DCCCI) through 900 (CM) in accordance with the Julian calendar. The Carolingian Renaissance and the Viking raids occurred within this period. In the Middle East, the House of Wisdom was founded in Abbasid Baghdad, attracting many scholars to the city. The field of algebra was founded by the Muslim polymath al-Khwarizmi. The most famous Islamic scholar Ahmad ibn Hanbal was tortured and imprisoned by Abbasid official Ahmad ibn Abi Du'ad during the reign of Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim and caliph al-Wathiq. In Southeast Asia, the height of the Mataram Kingdom happened in this century, while Burma would see the establishment of the major kingdom of Pagan. Tang China started the century with the effective rule under Emperor Xianzong and ended the century with the Huang Chao rebellions. In America, the Maya experienced widespread political collapse in the central Maya region, resulting in internecine warfare, t ...
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864 Deaths
__NOTOC__ Year 864 ( DCCCLXIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Emperor Louis II (the Younger) marches with a Frankish army against Rome. While en route to the papal city, he becomes ill, and decides to make peace with Pope Nicholas I. * July 25 – Edict of Pistres: King Charles the Bald orders defensive measures against the Vikings. He creates a large force of cavalry, which inspires the beginning of French chivalry. * Viking raiders, led by Olaf the White, arrive in Scotland from the Viking settlement of Dublin (Ireland). He rampages the country, until his defeat in battle by King Constantine I. * Robert the Strong, margrave of Neustria, attacks the Loire Vikings in a successful campaign. Other Viking raiders plunder the cities of Limoges and Clermont, in Aquitaine. * King Louis the German invades Moravia, crossing the Danube River to besiege the ''civitas Dowina'' (identified, although not un ...
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8th-century Births
The 8th century is the period from 701 (represented by the Roman numerals DCCI) through 800 (DCCC) in accordance with the Julian Calendar. In the historiography of Europe the phrase the long 8th century is sometimes used to refer to the period of circa AD 660–820. The coast of North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula quickly came under Islamic Arab domination. The westward expansion of the Umayyad Empire was famously halted at the siege of Constantinople by the Byzantine Empire and the Battle of Tours by the Franks. The tide of Arab conquest came to an end in the middle of the 8th century.Roberts, J., '' History of the World'', Penguin, 1994. In Europe, late in the century, the Vikings, seafaring peoples from Scandinavia, begin raiding the coasts of Europe and the Mediterranean, and go on to found several important kingdoms. In Asia, the Pala Empire is founded in Bengal. The Tang dynasty reaches its pinnacle under Chinese Emperor Xuanzong. The Nara period begins in ...
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Ziryāb
Abu al-Hasan 'Ali Ibn Nafi (; 789– 857), commonly known as Ziryab, was a singer, oud and lute player, composer, poet, and teacher. He lived and worked in what is now Iraq, Northern Africa and Andalusia during the medieval Islamic period. He was also a polymath, with knowledge in astronomy, geography, meteorology, botanics, cosmetics, culinary art, and fashion. His nickname, "Ziryab", comes from the Persian and Kurdish word for jay-bird , pronounced "Zaryāb". He was also known as ('blackbird') in Spanish. He was active at the Umayyad court of Córdoba in Islamic Iberia. He first achieved fame at the Abbasid court in Baghdad, his birthplace, as a performer and student of the musician and composer Ibrahim al-Mawsili. Ziryab was a gifted pupil of Ibrahim al-Mawsili in Baghdad, where he got his beginner lessons. He left Baghdad during the reign of the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun and moved to Córdoba, where he was accepted as a court musician in the court of Abd ar-Rahman II of ...
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Chess
Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arranged in an 8×8 grid. The players, referred to as White and Black in chess, "White" and "Black", each control sixteen Chess piece, pieces: one king (chess), king, one queen (chess), queen, two rook (chess), rooks, two bishop (chess), bishops, two knight (chess), knights, and eight pawn (chess), pawns, with each type of piece having a different pattern of movement. An enemy piece may be captured (removed from the board) by moving one's own piece onto the square it occupies. The object of the game is to "checkmate" (threaten with inescapable capture) the enemy king. There are also several ways a game can end in a draw (chess), draw. The recorded history of chess goes back to at least the emergence of chaturanga—also thought to be an ancesto ...
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Courtly Love
Courtly love ( ; ) was a medieval European literary conception of love that emphasized nobility and chivalry. Medieval literature is filled with examples of knights setting out on adventures and performing various deeds or services for ladies because of their "courtly love". This kind of love was originally a literary fiction created for the entertainment of the nobility, but as time passed, these ideas about love spread to popular culture and attracted a larger literate audience. In the High Middle Ages, a "game of love" developed around these ideas as a set of social practices. "Loving nobly" was considered to be an enriching and improving practice. Courtly love began in the ducal and princely courts of Aquitaine, Provence, Champagne, ducal Burgundy and the Norman Kingdom of Sicily at the end of the eleventh century. In essence, courtly love was an experience between erotic desire and spiritual attainment, "a love at once illicit and morally elevating, passionate and disc ...
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Christianization Of Scandinavia
The Christianization of Scandinavia, as well as other Nordic countries and the Baltic countries, took place between the 8th and the 12th centuries. The realms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden established their own Archbishop, archdioceses, responsible directly to the pope, in 1104, 1154 and 1164, respectively. The Religious conversion, conversion to Christianity of the Scandinavian people required more time, since it took additional efforts to establish a network of churches. The earliest signs of Christianization were in the 830s with Ansgar's construction of churches in Birka and Hedeby. The conversion of Scandinavian kings occurred over the period 960–1020. Subsequently, Scandinavian kings sought to establish churches, dioceses and Christian kingship, as well as destroy pagan temples. Denmark was the first Scandinavian country to Christianize, as Harald Bluetooth declared this around AD 965, and raised the larger of the two Jelling Stones. According to historian Anders Winroth, ...
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Santiago De Compostela
Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of St. James, a leading Catholic pilgrimage route since the 9th century. In 1985, the city's Old Town was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Santiago de Compostela has a very mild climate for its latitude with heavy winter rainfall courtesy of its relative proximity to the prevailing winds from Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic low-pressure systems. Toponym According to Richard A. Fletcher, scholars now agree that the origin of the name Compostela comes from the Latin ''compositum tella'', meaning a well-ordered burial ground, possibly referring to an ancient burial ground on the site of the Church of Santiago de ...
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Majūs
''Majūs'' () or ''Magūs'' () was originally a term meaning Zoroastrians, specifically priests. It was a technical term for the magi, and like its synonym ''gabr'' (of uncertain etymology) originally had no pejorative implications. It is also translated as "fire worshipper". This term was borrowed via from . It was also borrowed from Old Persian into ancient Greek (plural ''mágoi''), which appears in Matthew 2. The word is mentioned in Quran 22:17: "Indeed, those who have believed and those who were Jews and the Sabians and the Christians and the Magians and those who associated with Allah - Allah will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection. Indeed Allah is, over all things, Witness". They are also mentioned by ibn al-Jawzi in his famous work ''Talbis Iblis'' "The Devil's Deceptions"., The term was used to describe the Vikings initially in al-Andalus. In the 1980s, ''majus'' was part of anti-Iranian propaganda of the Iran–Iraq War to refer to Iranians. Today t ...
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