Yahia Ben Bakr
Yahia Ben Bakr (born in the 9th century) was an important Mozarab (Iberian Christian living under Muslim domination) figure in Medieval Portugal.
Yahia Ben Bakr was of Jewish descent, the son of a Bakr Ben Yahia (not to confuse with Yahia Ben Bakr's son, also called Bakr Ben Yahia) and an ancestor of Yahia Ben Yahi III, a Sephardi Jew who was entrusted by King Afonso I of Portugal with the post of supervisor of tax collection and was nominated the first Chief-Rabbi of Portugal.
Yahia Ben Bakr was succeeded in office by his son, Bakr Ben Yahia. Both Ben Bakr and Ben Yahia held political office and executed important construction in the city of Faro.[1] They are credited with constructing the actual city walls, as well as the iron gates around the perimeter of the city. It is during this time that they brought the image of Mary as it is stated in the songs by King Alfonso X of Castile.