Averroes was a 12th century philosopher from Al-Andalus who came from a poor family but studied law, philosophy, arts, and medicine. He had a great interest in knowledge and studied every day except when his father died. He served as a judge in Córdoba and a bodyguard to the Caliph but was exiled for believing that reason was more important than faith. After being forgiven, he died in Algeria in 1195. Averroes wrote many books on philosophy, religion, medicine, arts, and astronomy but they were not translated and his ideas were forgotten during the Middle Ages.