 Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Yahyà ibn as-Sa’igh at-Tujibi Ibn Bajja was known to the Latin philosophers as Avempace. We can assume that he was born in Saragossa some years before 1085, when the city was the capital of the Taifa kingdom of the Banu Hud. Yusuf al-Mu’tamin Ibn Hud reigned from 1081–1085; he was outstanding in all the sciences including mathematics (Rashed 2012, 721–766) and he largely contributed to the development of the city as a cultural center. His successor al-Mustaʻin II reigned until the year 1110 when he was killed in the battle of Valtierra that Alfonso the Christian King of Aragon won. Avempace had been in the service of al-Musta‛in II Ibn Hud because he praised him in his poems showing familiarity with the emir (Maqqari-N: vol. 7, p. 25) (Ibn Khaqan 1989, p. 943). Al-Musta‛in II Ibn Hud was followed by ʻImad ad-Dawla Ibn Hud who stayed in power only for a few months. In the same year, 1110, he was overthrown by the Almoravid Sultan ʽAli ibn Yusuf Ibn Tashfin (ruled 1107–1143), who sent Abu ‛Abd Allah Muhammad Ibn al-Hajj, governor of Valencia (and the East province), with the Almoravid army to conquer Saragossa. ʽImad ad-Dawla had to leave the town and retire to Rueda, a fortress located some distance from Saragossa.