Yakub I

Yakub I (yäkʊb'), 1160?-1199, ruler of Morocco (1184-99) and Moorish Spain. He was known as Yakub al-Mansur [the victorious] after his victory over Alfonso VIII of Castile at Alarcos (1195). One of the most powerful of the Almohads, he encouraged art and literature and constructed many public buildings in both Spain and Morocco, notably the Giralda at Seville, the Koutoubiya tower at Marrakech, and numerous edifices at Rabat. Yakub was a patron of Averroës.