Mansur, al- (Muhammad ibn Abi-Amir al-Mansur billah), 914–1002, Moorish regent of Córdoba, known in Spanish as Almanzor. He became steward to Princess Subh, wife of the caliph Hakim II, and under her patronage and by clever manipulation he rose to become (978) royal chamberlain for Hakim's successor, the young Hisham II. Al-Mansur kept Hisham in seclusion at his court and assumed complete control over the caliphate. A great warrior, he reorganized the army and undertook many campaigns against the Christian states of N Spain; he sacked Barcelona (985), razed the city of León (988), and destroyed the church and shrine of St. James at Santiago de Compostela (998). Before he died he appointed one of his sons as his successor.
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