The Battle of Sierra Elvira, also called the Disaster of the Vega de Granada, was a battle of the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

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 ...

fought near the city of

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 ...

on 25 June 1319 (6

Jumada al-Awwal Jumada al-Awwal ( ar, جُمَادَىٰ ٱلْأَوَّل, Jumādā al-ʾAwwal, lit=The initial Jumada), also known as Jumada al-Ula ( ar, جُمَادَىٰ ٱلْأُولَىٰ, Jumādā al-ʾŪlā, lit=The first Jumada), or Jumada I, is the ...

719 AH). The battle was fought between the troops 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 ...

and those of the

Kingdom of Castile The Kingdom of Castile (; es, Reino de Castilla, la, Regnum Castellae) was a large and powerful state on the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region. It began in the 9th centu ...

. The battle resulted in a catastrophic defeat for Castile.

Historical Context

The Kingdom of Castile periodically conducted raids into the Emirate of Granada in order to collect plunder. Notwithstanding temporary agreements and truces with the Nasrid rulers, these expeditions were often under the leadership of the rulers of Castile. They were often true military expeditions with large armies numbering thousands of men. In the late 1310s Castile was ruled by King Alfonso XI, a minor, under the joint regency of his grandmother Maria de Molina, of his granduncle

infante ''Infante'' (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as Infant or translated as Prince, is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to t ...

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

and of his uncle infante

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

. Infante Peter had led minor raids into Granadine territory in 1316 and 1317 and an agreement had been reached with the nobility of Castile in the

Cortes Cortes, Cortés, Cortês, Corts, or Cortès may refer to: People * Cortes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), a Spanish conquistador Places * Cortes, Navarre, a village in the South border of ...

held at

Medina del Campo Medina del Campo is a town and municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Part of the Province of Valladolid, it is the centre of a farming area. History Medina del Campo grew in importance thanks to its fairs ...

in 1318 for a new expedition to begin in the late spring of 1319. This expedition was to be a large one, blessed by Pope John XXII who authorized it as 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 ...

and conceded the rebate to the crown of some of the Church tithes in order to finance it. The troops assembled in Cordoba in June 1319 and crossed the border under the command of infante Peter. With him were the

Grand Masters Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and c ...

of the Orders of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

, Calatrava and Alcántara and the Archbishops of Toledo 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 ...

. Infante John followed with his own troops. The two infantes resolved to march deep into Granada and to reach the

Vega de Granada The Vega de Granada is a ''comarca'' (county, but with no administrative role) in the province of Granada, southeastern Spain. According to the 2007 census (INE), the comarca has a population of 500,121 inhabitants, which is over half the overa ...

, the area surrounding the city characterized by its wealth and fertility. During the march the army skirmished with

Moorish The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or se ...

troops and captured several towns, collecting large amounts of plunder.

The battle

The large Castilian army encamped in the Vega de Granada and, after looting the immediate area, resolved to return to Castile satisfied with the collected booty. A siege of the city of

was deemed impossible at the time. The withdrawal started on 25 June 1319, in very hot weather; infante Peter led the

vanguard The vanguard (also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. History The vanguard derives fr ...

while infante John commanded the

rearguard A rearguard is a part of a military force that protects it from attack from the rear, either during an advance or withdrawal. The term can also be used to describe forces protecting lines, such as communication lines, behind an army. Even more ...

. At this point Sultan Ismail decided to strike. A large force of elite Moorish

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

, the " Volunteers of the Faith", led by

Uthman ibn Abi al-Ula Abu Sa'id Uthman ibn Abi al-Ula (; also Don Uzmén in Castilian sources; died 1330) was a Marinid prince who led an unsuccessful rebellion aiming to capture the throne, and fled to the Nasrid Emirate of Granada in its aftermath. There he served as ...

, exited from Granada and started harassing the retreating Castilians of infante John. These minor attacks turned into a general assault when the Granadines realized the Castilians were losing their cohesion during their retreat and were unable to fight back effectively. Infante John requested the aid of infante Peter, but Peter, according to chroniclers, was at first dissuaded from this by his companions. When he finally decided to help his uncle, he fell from his horse as he led his men, and was trampled and killed. At this point the vanguard thought only of flight and to reach the Castilian border; in their panic, many men drowned while attempting to cross the river Genil in full armour. The unsupported rearguard collapsed, with infante John falling victim probably to

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

heat stroke Heat stroke or heatstroke, also known as sun stroke, is a severe heat illness that results in a body temperature greater than , along with red skin, headache, dizziness, and confusion. Sweating is generally present in exertional heatstroke, ...

leading to a spectacular Moorish victory. Most of the fighting took place in the present-day municipality of

Pinos Puente Pinos Puente is a municipality located in the province of Granada, Spain. According to the 2005 census (INE), the city has a population of 13319 inhabitants. The Cubillas River runs by the town. Etymology The town's name refers to pine or fir ...

. A hill on the battlefield was given the name ''Cerro de los Infantes'' ("Hill of the Infantes").

Aftermath

Numbers are not available for the Castilian losses but they had to be quite large. The border for some years after 1319 was undermanned and the Granadines could raid the southern Castilian territories almost at will. Maria de Molina remained as sole regent and was later joined by her other son, infante

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

and by a distant relative, the celebrated Juan Manuel.Suárez Fernández, Vol.2, p.246 In 1325 Alfonso XI started to rule alone and soon started his lifelong, and in the end victorious, struggle with the Nasrid kingdom and its later ally, the

Marinids 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) ar ...

Fez Fez most often refers to: * Fez (hat), a type of felt hat commonly worn in the Ottoman Empire * Fez, Morocco (or Fes), the second largest city of Morocco Fez or FEZ may also refer to: Media * ''Fez'' (Frank Stella), a 1964 painting by the moder ...

, which was also intended to avenge the 1319 defeat.

References

External links

* * *

Bibliography

* * * * A rich bibliography is available in the

Spanish Wikipedia The Spanish Wikipedia ( es, Wikipedia en español) is a Spanish-language edition of Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia. It has articles. Started in May 2001, it reached 100,000 articles on March 8, 2006 and 1,000,000 articles on May 16, 2013 ...

{{coord missing, Spain Vega of Granada Vega of Granada Vega of Granada 14th century in Al-Andalus Vega of Granada Vega of Granada 1319 in Europe 14th century in Castile