magolding-94772 — 9 years ago(December 13, 2016 03:06 PM)

Ben Yusuf (Herbert Lom) is the villain or antagonist in
El Cid
, leader of the North African Muslims who invade the Muslim and Christian kingdoms of Spain. In the end:
Ben Yusuf dies in El Cid's spectacular last victory, trampled under the hooves of El Cid's horse Babieca.
Now imagine an opening crawl like in
Star Wars
Muslim forces conquered most of the Iberian Peninsula in a few years beginning in 711. A few years later the unsuccessful Muslim siege of Constantinople in 717-718 marked a slow down in Muslim expansion and the end of hopes to invade Europe by the short route through Asia Minor.
The Muslim rulers of Spain didn't try to crush the small remaining Christian realms in the far north, preferring to raid into the richer lands of France, and perhaps hoping to invade and conquer Europe the long way through Spain and France.
In 719 Muslims captured the Septimania region in southern France, but they were defeated by the Franks at the Battles of Toulouse (721) and Tours (732) and lost Septimania in 759.
In 750 the Umayyad Dynasty of caliphs was overthrown by the Abbasid Dynasty. Umayyad prince Abd al-Rahman I (731-788) spent years on the run before he overthrew the Emir of Spain in 756. The Arabic word emir means leader and is used for Muslim generals, governors, and kings.
Abd al-Rahman III (889/891-961) Emir of Al-Andalus (Spain) from 912, ruled most of Spain, making most of the Christian lords his vassals, and parts of North Africa. He proclaimed himself Caliph in 929 in opposition to the Abbasid and Fatamid Caliphs.
The third caliph Hisham II (966-1013?) was a child in 976 and so others ruled for him, including Al Mansur (Almanzor) who ruled with dictatorial power since 981. Al Mansur (died 1002) forced the Christians realms to become his vassals and often raided them for loot to pay his mercenary armies. Caliph Hisham II and Al Mansur's son were deposed in 1009, leading to a period of civil wars between military leaders and claimants to the Caliphate. Various leaders made themselves rulers of parts of Muslim Spain.
In 1031 the leaders of Cordoba deposed Hisham III, the last Caliph and declared Cordoba a republic. The rest of Muslim Spain was divided into emirates known as
taifas
. There were 33
taifas
and over 20
taifas
at a time in some years, before they began conquering one another.
At that time there were six main Christian realms in northern Spain, the Kingdoms of Galicia, Leon, Castile, Navarre, and Aragon, and the County of Barcelona, their numbers changing with various unions and divisions. Christian warriors were hired to fight for Taifas in their wars, and often seized Muslim territories as payment.
Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, El Cid, (c. 1040-1099) lived in the reigns of King Ferdinand III the Great of Castile and Leon (reigned 1037-1065) "Emperor of Spain" and his sons King Sancho II The strong, King of Castile (1065-1072), Galicia (1071-72), and Leon (1072); King Garica II of Galicia (1065-1071) and King Alfonso VI of Leon (1065-1072, 1072-1109), Galicia (1072-1109), and Castile (1072-1109). Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, El Cid served under King Sancho II including against King Alfonso VI. When the childless Sancho was assassinated King Alfonso VI became the ruler of Galicia, Leon, and Castile and did not favor El Cid, who left Castile in 1080.
El Cid fought for the Muslim King of Zaragoza against his Muslim and Christian enemies and became a great and famous warrior.
Meanwhile King Alfonso became a great and powerful king, "Emperor of Spain" and conquered many
Taifas
or made them tributary.
And this is where "Ben Yusuf" comes in. in Arabic
ibn
or
ben
means "son of", so Ben Yusuf would be the son of someone named Yusuf, which is the Arabic version of Joseph. But in the Wikipedia article about the movie
El Cid
(1961), clicking on the character of Ben Yusuf takes you to the the page on Yusuf ibn Tashfin (1009-1106).
Yusuf ibn Tashfin (1009-1106) was the king or Sultan of Morocco and the western Sahara, and leader of the Almoravids from about 1061.
Muhammad ibn Abbad al-Mu'tamid (1040-1095) "Caliph" of Seville from c. 1069, conquered several other
taifas
but was still a tributary of King Alfonso. Al-Mu'tamid is said to have been the father or father-in-law of Zaida, a mistress and possibly wife of King Alfonso. Alfonso conquered Toledo in 1085 and besieged Seville after al-Mu'tamid stopped paying tribute. Al-Mu'tamid asked for help from Yusuf ibn Tashfin; when his son Rashid criticized him al-Mu'tamid said:
I have no desire to be branded by my descendants as the man who delivered al-Andalus as prey to the infidels. I am loath to have my name cursed in every Muslim pulpit. And, for my part, I would rather be a camel-driver in Africa than a swineherd in Castile.[7]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Mu'tamid_ibn_Abbad
Yusuf ibn Tashfin came to Spain with a great army and defeated King Alfonso at the Battle of Sagrajas 23 October 1086, stopping the Christian
reconquista
of Spain. El Cid conq