14th century and described it in his writings. Not only grand regional histories but also local histories were composed by some authors for cities and towns. Art Marinid art continued many of the artistic traditions previously established in the region under the Almoravids and Almohads. Metalwork Many Marinid religious buildings were furnished with the same kind of bronze chandeliers that the Almohads made for mosques. The Marinid chandelier in the Great Mosque of Taza, with a diameter of 2.5 metres and weighing 3 tons, is the largest surviving example of its kind in North Africa. It dates to 1294 and was commissioned by Sultan Abu Yaqub Yusuf. It is closely modeled on another large chandelier in the Qarawiyyin Mosque made by the Almohads. It is composed of nine circular tiers arranged in an overall conical shape that could hold 514 glass oil lamps. Its decoration included mainly arabesque forms like floral patterns as well as a poetic inscription in cursive Arabic. A number of other ornate metal chandeliers hanging in the Qarawiyyin mosque's prayer hall also date from the Marinid era. Three of them were made from church bells which Marinid craftsmen used as a base onto which they grafted ornate copper fittings. The largest of them, installed in the mosque in 1337, was a bell brought back from Gibraltar by the son of Sultan Abu al-Hasan, Abu Malik, after its reconquest from Christian forces in 1333. Textiles and banners Not many Marinid textiles have survived, but it is assumed that luxurious silks continued to be made as in previous periods. The only reliably-dated Marinid textiles extant today are three impressive banners which were captured from Sultan Abu al-Hasan's army in the Battle of Rio Salado in 1340 by Alfonso XI. Today they are housed at the Cathedral of Toledo. Ibn Khaldun wrote that Abu al-Hasan possessed hundreds of silk and gold banners which were displayed in palaces or on ceremonial occasions, while both the Marinid and Nasrid armies carried many colourful banners with them into battle. They thus had great symbolic value and were deployed on many occasions. The oldest of the three banners is dated, according to its inscription, to May or June 1312 (Muharram 712 AH). It was made in the "kasbah" (royal citadel) of Fes for Sultan Abu Sa'id Uthman (father of Abu al-Hasan). The banner measures 280 by 220 cm and is made of predominantly