Background
Muhammad V was the eldest son and heir of Yusuf I by his slave Butayna, born on Sunday, January 4, 1338.
Muhammad V was the eldest son and heir of Yusuf I by his slave Butayna, born on Sunday, January 4, 1338.
He ruled between 1354–1359 and 1362–1391, and is best known for completing the royal palace of the Alhambra with the Palace of the Lions and the Mexuar, or Cuarto Dorado. He inherited the throne from Yusuf I but was overthrown in August 1359 by his half-brother Ismail II and sought protection with the Marinid sultan of Fez, where Muhammed was inspired with fresh examples of architecture. During the three-year period of the reign of Muhammed VI, Muhammed V was plotting his return to power.
A chance came in 1362 when King Peter I of Castile (Pedro el Cruel) lured Muhammed VI to his kingdom.
There, in Seville, he was murdered and his head sent to Muhammed V as a gift upon his return to the throne. As a gesture of good relations between him and the Marinid, the eldest son of Muhammed V, Yusuf II, married to a daughter of the Marinid His hospital in Granada was completed in 1366.
He employed the poet and diplomat Ibn Khaldun in negotiations with Pedro the Cruel. Muhammed V died on January 16, 1391.
He had at least four sons.
Yusuf II, Nasr, Muhammad and Sa"daughter
