The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, known in Islamic history as the Battle of Al-Uqab ( ar, معركة العقاب), took place on 16 July 1212 and was an important turning point in the ''
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 ...
'' and the
medieval history of Spain
Spain in the Middle Ages is a period in the History of Spain that began in the 5th Century following the Fall of the Western Roman Empire and ended with the beginning of the Early modern period in 1492.
The history of Spain is marked by waves ...
. The
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
forces of King
Alfonso VIII of Castile
Alfonso VIII (11 November 11555 October 1214), called the Noble (''El Noble'') or the one of Las Navas (''el de las Navas''), was King of Castile from 1158 to his death and King of Toledo. After having suffered a great defeat with his own army at ...
were joined by the armies of his rivals,
Sancho VII of Navarre
Sancho VII ( eu, Antso VII.a; 11577 April 1234) called the Strong ( eu, Azkarra, es, el Fuerte) was King of Navarre from 1194 until his death in 1234. He was the son and heir of Sancho VI, whom he followed as the second king to hold the tit ...
and
Peter II of Aragon
Peter II the Catholic (; ) (July 1178 – 12 September 1213) was the King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona from 1196 to 1213.
Background
Peter was born in Huesca, the son of Alfonso II of Aragon and Sancha of Castile. In 1205 he acknowled ...
, in battle against the Almohad
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
rulers of the southern half of the
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
. The caliph
al-Nasir
Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad ibn al-Hassan al-Mustadi' ( ar, أبو العباس أحمد بن الحسن المستضيء) better known by his laqab Al-Nasir li-Din Allah ( ar, الناصر لدين الله; 6 August 1158 – 5 October 1225) or simply as A ...
(''
Miramamolín'' in the Spanish chronicles) led the Almohad army, made up of people from all over the
Almohad Caliphate
The Almohad Caliphate (; ar, خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ or or from ar, ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ, translit=al-Muwaḥḥidūn, lit=those who profess the Tawhid, unity of God) was a North African Berbers, Berber M ...
.
Background
In 1195, the Almohads defeated Alfonso VIII of Castile in the
Battle of Alarcos
Battle of Alarcos (July 18, 1195), was a battle between the Almohads led by Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur and King Alfonso VIII of Castile.''Medieval Iberia: an encyclopedia'', 42. It resulted in the defeat of the Castilian forces and their sub ...
. After this victory, they took several important cities:
Trujillo,
Plasencia
Plasencia () is a walled market city in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Western Spain. , it has a population of 41,047.
Situated on the bank of the Jerte River, Plasencia has a historic quarter that is a consequence of the city's stra ...
,
Talavera,
Cuenca, and
Uclés
Uclés is a municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain located in the province of Cuenca, Castilla–La Mancha. The municipality spans across a total area of 64.61 km2 and, as of 1 January 2020, it has a registered population of 212.
History ...
. Then, in 1211,
Muhammad al-Nasir
Muhammad al-Nasir (,'' al-Nāṣir li-dīn Allāh Muḥammad ibn al-Manṣūr'', – 1213) was the fourth Almohad Caliph from 1199 until his death. Évariste Lévi-Provençalal-Nāṣir Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Brill Online, 2013 ...
crossed the
Strait of Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medi ...
with a powerful army, invaded Christian territory, and captured
Salvatierra Castle
Salvatierra Castle is a fortification near Calzada de Calatrava in the south of the province of Ciudad Real, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain. It is located on a small hillock at the foot of the volcanic Mount Atalaya, about from Calzada de Calatrava.
...
, the stronghold of the knights of the
Order of Calatrava
The Order of Calatrava ( es, Orden de Calatrava, pt, Ordem de Calatrava) was one of the four Spanish military orders and the first military order founded in Castile, but the second to receive papal approval. The papal bull confirming the Orde ...
. The threat to the Hispanic Christian kingdoms was so great that
Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III ( la, Innocentius III; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216), born Lotario dei Conti di Segni (anglicized as Lothar of Segni), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 to his death in 16 J ...
called Christian
knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
s to a
crusade
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were i ...
.
Previous movements
There were some disagreements among the members of the Christian coalition; notably,
French and other European knights did not agree with Alfonso's merciful treatment of Jews and Muslims who had been defeated in the conquest of
Malagón
Malagón is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. , it has a population of 8,731.
References
Municipalities in the Province of Ciudad Real
{{CastileLaMancha-geo-stub ...
and
Calatrava la Vieja
Calatrava la Vieja (formerly just ''Calatrava'') is a medieval site and original nucleus of the Order of Calatrava. It is now part of the Archaeological Parks (''Parques Arqueológicos'') of the Community of Castile-La Mancha. Situated at ''Carri ...
. Previously, they had caused problems in
Toledo (where the different armies of the Crusade gathered), with assaults and murders in the
Jewish Quarter.
Battle
Alfonso crossed the mountain range that defended the Almohad camp, sneaking through the
Despeñaperros Pass
Despeñaperros (literally, '' liff wheredogs plunge'') is a Canyon, gorge or canyon carved out by the Despeñaperros river. It is located in the Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Santa Elena, Jaén, Santa Elena in the northern portion o ...
, led by
Martín Alhaja Martín Alhaja was a Spanish shepherd who aided the Castile (historical region), Castilian King Alfonso VIII during the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212 A.D. Alhaja, who knew the area, to herd his sheep had placed a cow skull on the path that l ...
, a local shepherd who knew the area. The Christian coalition caught the encamped Moorish army by surprise, and Alhaja was granted the hereditary title
Cabeza de Vaca
In Mexican cuisine, ''cabeza'' (''lit.'' 'head') is the meat from a roasted head of an animal, served as taco or burrito fillings.
Typically, the whole head is placed on a steamer or grill, and customers may ask for particular parts of the body ...
for his assistance to Alfonso VIII.
The battle was fought at relatively close range, so that neither the Almohads nor the Spaniards could use archers in the melee-dominated fight. Spanish knights became locked in close-quarter combat, in which they were superior to the Almohads.
Some of the Spanish knights, namely the
Order of Santiago
The Order of Santiago (; es, Orden de Santiago ), is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the Patron Saint of Spain, "Santiago" ( St. James the Greater). Its initial objective was to protect the pilgr ...
, eventually broke the Almohad line of defense decisively as they inflicted heavy casualties on the Almohads and established a breakthrough with gaps appearing in the enemy lines. This led to a possible spearhead. King Sancho VII then led his mounted knights through the gaps, exploiting them, and charged at the Caliph's tent.
According to legend, the Caliph had surrounded his tent with a bodyguard of slave-warriors. Though it was once claimed that these men were chained together to prevent flight, it is considered more likely that this results from a mistranslation of the word "serried", meaning a densely packed formation. The Navarrese force led by their king Sancho VII broke through this bodyguard. The Caliph escaped, but the Moors were routed, leaving heavy casualties on the battlefield. The victorious Christians seized several prizes of war; Muhammad al-Nasir's tent and standard were delivered to
Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III ( la, Innocentius III; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216), born Lotario dei Conti di Segni (anglicized as Lothar of Segni), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 to his death in 16 J ...
.
Christian losses were far fewer, only about 2,000 men (though not so few as legend had it).
The losses were particularly notable among the Orders: those killed included Pedro Gómez de Acevedo (bannerman of the
Order of Calatrava
The Order of Calatrava ( es, Orden de Calatrava, pt, Ordem de Calatrava) was one of the four Spanish military orders and the first military order founded in Castile, but the second to receive papal approval. The papal bull confirming the Orde ...
),
Alvaro Fernández de Valladares Alvaro Fernández de Valladares was the Commandant of the Order of Santiago also known as "Military Order of St. James of the Sword" which was established in the 12th century in Leon-Castile, in honor of the Patron of Galicia (Spain), Galicia (St. J ...
(''comendator'' of the
Order of Santiago
The Order of Santiago (; es, Orden de Santiago ), is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the Patron Saint of Spain, "Santiago" ( St. James the Greater). Its initial objective was to protect the pilgr ...
),
Pedro Arias (master of the Order of Santiago, died of wounds on 3 August), and Gomes Ramires (Portuguese master of the
Knights Templar
, colors = White mantle with a red cross
, colors_label = Attire
, march =
, mascot = Two knights riding a single horse
, equipment ...
and simultaneously master of Leon, Castile, and Portugal); Ruy Díaz (master of the Order of Calatrava) was so grievously wounded that he had to resign his command.
Muhammad al-Nasir died in
Marrakech
Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakes ...
shortly afterwards.
Aftermath
The crushing defeat of the Almohads significantly hastened their decline both in the Iberian Peninsula and in the
Maghreb
The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...
a decade later. That gave further impulse to the
Christian Reconquest
The ' (Spanish language, Spanish, Portuguese language, Portuguese and Galician language, Galician for "reconquest") is a Historiography, historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula be ...
and sharply reduced the already declining power of the Moors in Iberia. Shortly after the battle, the Castilians took
Baeza and then
Úbeda
Úbeda (; from Iberian ''Ibiut'') is a town in the province of Jaén in Spain's autonomous community of Andalusia, with 34,733 (data 2017) inhabitants. Both this city and the neighbouring city of Baeza benefited from extensive patronage in the ...
, major fortified cities near the battlefield and gateways to invade
Andalusia
Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...
. According to a letter from Alfonso VIII of Castile to Pope Innocent III, Baeza was evacuated and its people moved to
Úbeda
Úbeda (; from Iberian ''Ibiut'') is a town in the province of Jaén in Spain's autonomous community of Andalusia, with 34,733 (data 2017) inhabitants. Both this city and the neighbouring city of Baeza benefited from extensive patronage in the ...
; Alfonso laid siege, killing 60,000 Muslims and enslaving many more. According to the ''Latin Chronicle of Kings of Castile'' the number given is almost 100,000 Saracens, including children and women, who were captured.
Thereafter, Alfonso VIII's grandson
Ferdinand III of Castile
Ferdinand III ( es, Fernando, link=no; 1199/120130 May 1252), called the Saint (''el Santo''), was King of Castile from 1217 and King of León from 1230 as well as King of Galicia from 1231. He was the son of Alfonso IX of León and Berenguela of ...
took
Córdoba in 1236,
Jaén in 1246, and
Seville
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
in 1248; then he took
Arcos,
Medina-Sidonia
Medina Sidonia is a city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, southern Spain. Considered by some to be the oldest city in Europe, it is used as a military defence location because of its elevation. ...
,
Jerez
Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Cádiz Mountains. , the ...
, and
Cádiz
Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia.
Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...
. In 1252, Ferdinand was preparing his fleet and army for invasion of the Almohad lands in Africa. But he died in Seville on 30 May 1252, during an outbreak of plague in southern Hispania.
Only Ferdinand's death prevented the Castilians from taking the war to the Almohad on the Mediterranean coast,
James I of Aragon
James I the Conqueror ( es, Jaime el Conquistador, ca, Jaume el Conqueridor; 2 February 1208 – 27 July 1276) was King of Aragon and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1276; King of Majorca from 1231 to 1276; and Valencia from 1238 to 1276 ...
conquered the
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...
(from 1228 over the following four years) and
Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...
(the city capitulated on 28 September 1238).
By 1252 the Almohad empire was almost finished, at the mercy of another emerging Berber power. In 1269 a new association of Berber tribes, the
Marinid
The Marinid Sultanate was a Berber Muslim empire from the mid-13th to the 15th century which controlled present-day Morocco and, intermittently, other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian Peninsula (Spain) a ...
s, took control of Morocco. Later, the Marinids tried to recover the former Almohad territories in Iberia, but they were definitively defeated by
Alfonso XI of Castile
Alfonso XI (13 August 131126 March 1350), called the Avenger (''el Justiciero''), was King of Castile and León. He was the son of Ferdinand IV of Castile and his wife Constance of Portugal. Upon his father's death in 1312, several disputes en ...
and
Afonso IV of Portugal
Afonso IVEnglish: ''Alphonzo'' or ''Alphonse'', or ''Affonso'' (Archaic Portuguese), ''Alfonso'' or ''Alphonso'' (Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonsus'' (Latin). (; 8 February 129128 May 1357), called the Brave ( pt, o Bravo, links=no), was King ...
in the
Battle of Río Salado
The Battle of Río Salado also known as the Battle of Tarifa (30 October 1340) was a battle of the armies of King Afonso IV of Portugal and King Alfonso XI of Castile against those of Sultan Abu al-Hasan 'Ali of the Marinid dynasty and Yusuf I ...
, the last major military encounter between large Christian and Muslim armies in Hispania. So, the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa seems to have been a true turning point in the history of the region, including the western Mediterranean sea.
Moorish Granada
In 1292 Sancho IV took
Tarifa
Tarifa (, Arabic: طريفة) is a Spanish municipality in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Located at the southernmost end of the Iberian Peninsula, it is primarily known as one of the world's most popular destinations for windsports. Tarifa ...
, key to the control of the Strait of Gibraltar.
Granada
Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...
,
Almería
Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city gr ...
, and
Málaga
Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...
were the only major Muslim cities remaining in the Iberian peninsula. These three cities were the core of the
Emirate of Granada
The Emirate of Granada ( ar, إمارة غرﻧﺎﻃﺔ, Imārat Ġarnāṭah), also known as the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada ( es, Reino Nazarí de Granada), was an Emirate, Islamic realm in southern Iberia during the Late Middle Ages. It was the ...
, ruled by the
Nasrid dynasty
The Nasrid dynasty ( ar, بنو نصر ''banū Naṣr'' or ''banū al-Aḥmar''; Spanish: ''Nazarí'') was the last Muslim dynasty in the Iberian Peninsula, ruling the Emirate of Granada from 1230 until 1492. Its members claimed to be of Arab ...
. Granada was a
vassal state
A vassal state is any state that has a mutual obligation to a superior state or empire, in a status similar to that of a vassal in the feudal system in medieval Europe. Vassal states were common among the empires of the Near East, dating back to ...
of
Castile, until finally taken by the
Catholic Monarchs
The Catholic Monarchs were Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of Spain. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being bot ...
in 1492.
In fiction
Harry Harrison's 1972
alternate history
Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...
/
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
novel ''
Tunnel Through the Deeps
''Tunnel Through the Deeps'' (also published as ''A Transatlantic Tunnel, Hurrah!'') is a 1972 alternate history/list of science fiction novels, science fiction novel by American writer Harry Harrison (writer), Harry Harrison. It was serialized i ...
'' depicts a history where the Moors won at Las Navas de Tolosa and retained part of Spain into the 20th century.
Notes
References
* Alvira Cabrer, Martín, ''Las Navas de Tolosa, 1212: idea, liturgia y memoria de la batalla'', Sílex Ediciones, Madrid 2012 (Spanish).
* García Fitz, Francisco, ''Las Navas de Tolosa'', Ariel, Barcelona 2005 (Spanish).
* García Fitz, Francisco,
Was Las Navas a decisive battle?', in: ''Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies'' (JMIS), vol. 4, no. 1, 5–9.
* Nafziger, George F. and Mark W. Walton, ''Islam at War: a history'', Greenwood Publishing Company, 2003.
* O’Callaghan, Joseph F., ''Reconquest and crusade in medieval Spain'', University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia PA 2004.
* Setton, Kenneth Meyer, ''A History of the Crusades'', University of Wisconsin Press, 1975.
* Vara Thorbeck, Carlos, ''El lunes de las Navas'', Universidad de Jaén, 1999. Re-edited with another title: ''Las Navas de Tolosa: 1212, la batalla que decidió la Reconquista'', Edhasa, Barcelona 2012 (Spanish).
Xenealoxía.org - Genealogía de Galicia - Valladares, Marquesado deGomez, Miguel Dolan, "The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa: The Culture and Practice of Crusading in Medieval Iberia. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2011.
*
rof. Nick, National Museum of Las Navas de Tolosa, Spain. (2015). Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa Museum, Andalusia. https://www.visit-andalucia.com/battle-of-navas-tolosa-museum-jaen
Further reading
*
* Martín Alvira-Cabrer, ''Las Navas de Tolosa, 1212. Idea, liturgia y memoria de la batalla'', Sílex, Madrid, 2012.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Las Navas De Tolosa
1212 in Europe
Las Navas de Tolosa
The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, known in Islamic history as the Battle of Al-Uqab ( ar, معركة العقاب), took place on 16 July 1212 and was an important turning point in the ''Reconquista'' and the medieval history of Spain. The Chris ...
Las Navas de Tolosa 1212
Las Navas de Tolosa 1212
Las Navas de Tolosa 1212
Las Navas de Tolosa 1212
Las Navas de Tolosa 1212
Las Navas de Tolosa
The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, known in Islamic history as the Battle of Al-Uqab ( ar, معركة العقاب), took place on 16 July 1212 and was an important turning point in the ''Reconquista'' and the medieval history of Spain. The Chris ...
Military history of Spain
13th-century crusades
Conflicts in 1212
Navas de Tolosa
13th century in Al-Andalus
13th century in Aragon
13th century in Castile
13th century in Portugal