The Battle of Fraga was a battle of the Spanish

Reconquista The ' (Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid ...

that took place on 17 July 1134 at

Fraga Fraga (; ) is the major town of the ''comarca'' of Bajo Cinca ( ca, Baix Cinca) in the province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain. It is located by the river Cinca. According to the 2014 census, Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) the municipality ...

, Aragon,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. The battle was fought between the forces of the Kingdom of Aragon, commanded by Alfonso the Battler and a variety of

Almoravid The Almoravid dynasty ( ar, المرابطون, translit=Al-Murābiṭūn, lit=those from the ribats) was an imperial Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century that ...

forces that had come to the aid of the town of Fraga which was being besieged by King Alfonso I. The battle resulted in an Almoravid victory. The Aragonese monarch Alfonso I died shortly after the battle.

Context

Since the second half of the 11th century, the kings of

Aragón Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises th ...

and the counts of

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and of Urgel tried with obstinacy to conquer the Muslim held towns and frontier fortresses of the Marca Superior. Specifically, they targeted the low lands around the Segre and Cinca Rivers all the way to the mouth of the

Ebro , name_etymology = , image = Zaragoza shel.JPG , image_size = , image_caption = The Ebro River in Zaragoza , map = SpainEbroBasin.png , map_size = , map_caption = The Ebro ...

, an active and prosperous region with direct access to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

. The most important towns in this region were Lleida,

Mequinenza Mequinenza (Aragonese and ) or Mequinensa () is a town and municipality of the province of Zaragoza, in the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It is located beside the river Segre, close to its confluence with the river Ebro between the Mequi ...

, and

Tortosa Tortosa (; ) is the capital of the '' comarca'' of Baix Ebre, in Catalonia, Spain. Tortosa is located at above sea level, by the Ebro river, protected on its northern side by the mountains of the Cardó Massif, of which Buinaca, one of the hig ...

The battle

In July 1134, King

Alfonso I of Aragon Alfonso I (''c''. 1073/10747 September 1134), called the Battler or the Warrior ( es, el Batallador), was King of Aragon and Navarre from 1104 until his death in 1134. He was the second son of King Sancho Ramírez and successor of his brother Pe ...

''the Battler'', known by the Muslims as ''Ibn Rudmir'' (literally "son of Ramiro) or ''al-Farandji'', laid siege to the town of Fraga with an army from Aragon. The Almoravid response was swift and decisive. The

Emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...

of Cordoba, son of the caliph, equipped a force of 2,000 knights, the Emir of

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

and

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

put together 500 knights, and the governor of Lleida another 200. Once these forces combined, they marched to the relief of Fraga. The day of 17 July 1134 brought the arrival of an Almohad relief force, led by the governor of Lérida, Ibn ‘Iyad. Seeing reinforcements, the besieged Fragans sallied out, however Alfonso I, still confident in his numerical and tactical advantage, rallied his troops. His entourage clashed with the cavalry of the emir of Murcia, Yahya ben Ghaniya. The Almoravid cavalry decimated the Aragonese soldiers. Upon seeing this, the townspeople, most of whom were of

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

origin, exited the city and fell upon the Aragonese camp pillaging and killing a majority of the soldiers there. They made off with all of the Aragonese army's provisions and took them back into the city of Fraga. At this moment, the emir of Cordoba launched a final attack with his cavalry and broke the Christian troops once again. Having lost a majority of his soldiers, Alfonso I ''the Battler'' was obliged to flee and made for

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

. He died 7 September 1134.

Casualties and Aftermath

The Aragonese toll at Fraga was significant. Amongst the dead or captured were many notable members of Aragonese society. Guy of Lescar fought with the Christian forces, was captured by the Almoravid forces, and imprisoned at Balensiyya. Aside from the king, the following notable Aragonese knights were killed at Fraga: *

Aimery II of Narbonne Aimery II (also called Aimeric II) (died 17 July 1134) was the Viscount of Narbonne from around 1106 until his death. He was the eldest son of Aimery I of Narbonne and Mahalt (also Mahault or Mafalda), daughter of Robert Guiscard and Sichelgaita ...

* Centula VI, the viscount of Béarn * Bertrán de Risnel

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 1134 in Europe