First conflicts with the Christians: 1172–1189 Cuenca In 1172,
Yusuf I began a series of attacks in
Castile and destroyed several small Castilian border garrisons. He also attempted to take
Huete but failed and was forced to retreat.
Alfonso VIII took the opportunity and began a
counter-offensive in
Cuenca, from which came great danger since the
Almohads used it as an outpost in their continuous attacks against
Castile. The city was well fortified so Alfonso VIII, with the help of
Alfonso II of Aragon, carried out a long
siege and captured it in 1177. Alfonso VIII also captured
Alarcón in 1183.
Portuguese incursions in Almohad territory In 1178,
Prince Sancho of Portugal launched a campaign against the Almohad Caliphate. He raided
Seville and burned
Triana. A few years later, in 1182 or 1183, a new Portuguese expedition composed of local militias from
Lisbon and
Santarém plundered the
Aljarafe, an area of villages and olive groves, taking a large number of captives.
Santarém In the spring of 1184,
Abu Yaqub Yusuf decided to attack
Santarem,
Portugal, which was defended by
Afonso I of Portugal. Upon hearing of Abu Yusuf's attack,
Ferdinand II of León marched his troops to Santarém to support Afonso I. Abu Yusuf, thinking he had sufficient troops to maintain the siege, sent orders for part of his army to march to
Lisbon and lay siege to that city too. The orders were misinterpreted and his army, seeing large contingents of men leaving the battle, became confused and started to retreat. Abu Yusuf, in an attempt to rally his troops, was wounded by a
crossbow bolt and died on 29 July 1184.
Almohad campaigns: 1190–1197 Southern Portugal today
Yaʿqūb al-Manṣūr, the new
Almohad caliph, decided to invade
Portugal after
they conquered Silves. Yaqub was joined by forces from
Seville and
Granada and laid siege to
Silves but he left operations in the hands of local troops and took most of his expeditionary force to
Córdoba. At Córdoba, the caliph met an embassy from
Alfonso VIII of Castile and they signed a truce, this was good news for Yaqub as it meant he could focus on his campaign against Portugal. He invaded
Alentejo and the town of
Torres Novas surrendered. He began to
besiege Tomar but failed to capture the city. The main objective of al-Manṣūr was to capture Santarém, which he besieged in 1190 but he was defeated by Sancho I and
English crusaders. This campaign was a failure. In 1191, Yaqub launched a second attempt to reconquer
Silves. He captured
Alcácer do Sal,
Torres Novas, and later the towns of
Palmela, Coina and
Almada.
Leiria was destroyed and the Almohads raided as far north as the environs of
Coimbra. He also recaptured the
Castle of Alvor, whose population had been
massacred in 1189. For his second siege of Silves, Yaqub brought four times as many siege engines as the defenders had. He started the siege in late June and ended in 25 July, as an Almohad victory. He also captured
Beja. After signing a five-year truce with Sancho, Yaqub returned to
Africa. He had pushed the border north as far as the
Tagus, leaving Portugal only one significant fortress to its south, at
Évora.
Castilian campaign in Al-Andalus of 1195 Alfonso VIII, after his truce with the
Almohads expired, he received news that
Yaʿqūb al-Manṣūr was gravely ill in
Marrakesh and that his brother Abu Yahya, the governor of Al-Andalus, had crossed the
Mediterranean to declare himself king and take over Marrakesh. He took the opportunity and began an expedition to the
region of Seville. Having successfully crushed his brother's ambitions, Yaqub al-Mansur was left with no choice other than to lead an expedition against the
Christians, who were now threatening his empire in
Iberia. On July 4 Ya'qub and his army crossed the pass of Muradal (
Despeñaperros) and advanced through the plain of Salvatierra. A cavalry detachment of the
Order of Calatrava and some knights from nearby castles tried to gather news about the Almohad strength and its heading but they were surrounded by
Muslim scouts and almost
massacred, but managed to provide information to the Castilian king.
Battle of Alarcos Alfonso gathered his forces at
Toledo and marched down to
Alarcos, a place which marked the Southern limit of his kingdom and where a fortress was under construction. The other Spanish Christian kingdoms feared that the
Almohads would succeed, so
Alfonso VIII received offers of help from
Alfonso IX of León and
Sancho VI of Navarre, which he accepted. But seeing that they were taking a long time to arrive, he decided to face the
Almohads alone. When on July 16 the
Almohad host came in view,
Yaqub al-Mansur did not accept battle on this day or the day after, preferring to give rest to his forces; but early the day after that, on July 18, the
Almohads formed for battle around a small hill called La Cabeza, two bow-shots from
Alarcos. It was a formidable army, whose strength
Alfonso had badly underestimated. The Castilian king put most of his heavy
cavalry in a compact body, about 8,000 strong, and gave its command to
Diego López II de Haro. The king himself would follow with the
infantry and the
Military Orders. Most of the knights turned to their left and after a fierce struggle they routed the
al-Andalus forces of
Ibn Sanadid. Three hours had passed; just afternoon, in the intense heat, the fatigue and the missiles which kept falling on them took their toll of armoured knights. Alfonso advanced with all his remaining forces into the melee, only to find himself assaulted from all sides and under a rain of arrows. For some time he fought hand-to-hand, until removed from the action, almost by force, by his bodyguard; they fled towards
Toledo. The Castilian
infantry was destroyed, together with most of the Orders which had supported them; the Lord of Vizcaya tried to force his way through the ring of enemy forces, but finally had to seek refuge in the unfinished fortress of
Alarcos with just a fraction of his knights. The castle was surrounded with some 3,000 people trapped inside, half of them women and children. The king's enemy,
Pedro Fernández de Castro, who had taken little part in the action, was sent by the Amir to negotiate the surrender;
Diego López II de Haro and the survivors were allowed to go, leaving 12 knights as hostages for the payment of a great ransom.
After Alarcos: Castilian-Leonese War of 1196–1197 in 1195. The Castilian field army had been destroyed. The outcome of the battle shook the stability of the
Kingdom of Castile for several years and all nearby castles surrendered or were abandoned:
Malagón,
Benavente,
Calatrava la Vieja,
Caracuel, and Torre de Guadalferza, and the way to
Toledo was wide open. However, both sides had considerable casualties, including the
Almohads, who could not continue with their campaign. The
Almohads obtained an alliance with King
Alfonso IX of León, who was angry with Alfonso VIII, who did not wait for him to fight the
battle in Alarcos. After this,
Alfonso IX of Leon (with
Almohad and
Navarrese help), declared war on
Castile, which was supported by
Aragon.
Alfonso VIII of Castile launched an invasion to
Leon, taking
Castroverde de Campos,
Alba de Tormes,
Ardón,
Coyanza and
Castro de los Judíos de Mayorga. He also approached
Benavente (where
Alfonso IX and his army were), invaded as far west as
Bierzo (Near
Portugal) and tried to capture
Astorga but failed. In 1197,
Alfonso IX recovered Castro de los Judíos de Mayorga while
Alfonso VIII took ,
Carpio and
Pozuelo. The Almohads also tried to invade Castile and laid siege to
Toledo,
Maqueda,
Talavera de la Reina and
Santa Olalla but only succeeding in the last one. These towns were defended by
Diego López II de Haro and Fernando Ruiz de Azagra,
lord of Albarracín. The
Almohads also took
Plasencia, Mount Angio and Turgelo. This conflict turned out to be a Castilian victory but there were no territorial changes because the
Papal states mediated the conflict and condemned both kingdoms for disapproving of the marriage between
Alfonso IX and
Berengaria of Castile (since it would lead to a peace between
Castile and
Leon). In the end, that marriage did take place and led to a peace between both kingdoms in 1197. The
Kingdom of Castile and the
Almohads also signed a truce that lasted until 1211.
Crusade of 1211–1212 Preparation of the crusade Alfonso VIII found himself in a dangerous situation: the disturbing possibility of losing
Toledo and the entire
Tagus Valley, which is why the king asked
Pope Innocent III in 1211 to preach a crusade to which not only his Castilian subjects responded, but also king
Peter II of Aragon,
Sancho VII of Navarre, the military Orders such as the
Order of Calatrava,
Knights Templar,
Santiago and
Saint John, and
crusaders from all over
Europe.
Crusade Hostilities began in 1211, when
Alfonso VIII broke the truce he had with the
Almohads and attacked
Andalusian territory.
Al-Nasir was forced to intervene and landed in the
Iberian Peninsula that same year. While the Christians devastated the lands of
Jaén, the Almohads surpassed
Sierra Morena and the
Fortress of
Salvatierra, the most important fortress of the
Order of Calatrava since the
Almohads took the castle of Calatrava. In June 1212,
Alfonso VIII took Guadalerzas,
Malagón,
Calatrava and
Caracuel.
Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa In July 16,
Alfonso VIII,
Peter II of Aragon and
Sancho VII of Navarre fought against
Muhammad al-Nasir, the
Almohad caliph, in Navas de Tolosa (near
Santa Elena). The battle was fought at relatively close range, so that neither the Almohads nor the Christians could use archers in the melee-dominated fight. Christian knights became locked in close-quarter combat, in which they were superior to the Almohads. Christian knights from the
Order of Santiago breached the
Almohad defense, inflicting heavy casualties and creating gaps that allowed for a potential spearhead. King
Sancho VII led his knights through the gaps and charged at the
Caliph, who was surrounded by a bodyguard of black slave-warriors. Though initially believed that these men were chained to prevent escape, it’s now thought to stem from a mistranslation of "serried," referring to a dense formation. The
Navarrese, led by King their king
Sancho VII, broke through this bodyguard. The
Caliph escaped, but the
Moors were defeated with heavy casualties. The victorious Christians captured war prizes, including
Muhammad al-Nasir's tent and standard, which were delivered to
Pope Innocent III.
After Las Navas de Tolosa Christian losses were around 2,000 men while Muslim losses were around 20,000 men. Notable Christian casualties included Pedro Gómez de Acevedo (
Order of Calatrava),
Alvaro Fernández de Valladares (
Order of Santiago), and Gomes Ramires (
Knights Templar).
Ruy Díaz (
Order of Calatrava) was severely wounded and had to resign. This battle is considered to be one of the most important battles in the Reconquista and the most important battle of this period.
Christians also defeated
Muslims in
Úbeda and
Baeza in the next 8 days.Despite his great victory, Alfonso VII did not continue with his campaign, preferring to let his soldiers rest. A truce was signed short after this battle, in 1214. == Aftermath ==