The Battle of Torà was a defensive battle of the

Reconquista The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...

, fought between an alliance of Catalan counts and an army of the

Caliphate of Córdoba A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

in 1003 at Torà,

Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

. The main source for the battle is Andrew of Fleury, who probably received his information, which is detailed and generally accurate, during a trip to the Catalonia. He incorporated the account in his ''Miracula sancti Benedicti'' around 1043.

Carl Erdmann Carl Erdmann (17 November 1898 – 5 March 1945) was a German historian who specialized in medieval political and intellectual history. He is noted in particular for his study of the origins of the idea of crusading in medieval Latin Christendom, ...

(1977), ''The Origin of the Idea of Crusade'', trans. by Marshall W. Baldwin and

Walter Goffart Walter André Goffart (February 22, 1934 – February 14, 2025) was a German-born American historian who specialized in Late Antiquity and the European Middle Ages. He taught for many years in the history department and Centre for Medieval Studie ...

(Princeton: Princeton University Press), 99–100. The four Christian counts of the battle were Raymond Borell of Barcelona,

Bernard I of Besalú Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It has West Germanic origin and is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern ...

, Wifred II of Cerdagne, and Ermengol I of Urgell. The German historian of the Crusades

supposed the leader of the Muslim army to be Abd al-Malik, the son of the recently deceased ''

hajib Hajib or hadjib (, ) was a court official, equivalent to a chamberlain, in the early Muslim world, which evolved to fulfil various functions, often serving as chief ministers or enjoying dictatorial powers. The post appeared under the Umayyad Ca ...

Almanzor Abu ʿĀmir Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn Abi ʿĀmir al-Maʿafiri (), nicknamed al-Manṣūr (, "the Victorious"), which is often Latinized as Almanzor in Spanish, Almansor in Catalan language, Catalan and Almançor in Portuguese ( 938 – 8 A ...

. When Andrew records that the caliph himself, then

Hisham II Hisham II or Abu'l-Walid Hisham II al-Mu'ayyad bi-llah (, Abū'l-Walīd Hishām al-Muʾayyad bi-ʾllāh; 966 – 1044) (son of Al-Hakam II and Subh of Córdoba) was the third Umayyad Caliph of Spain, in Al-Andalus from 976 to 1009, and from 1 ...

, died in the encounter, he is probably rehearsing a local legend. The battle is not dated precisely by any chronicler, but the names of the counts (all given by Andrew) restrict it to between the years 992 and 1010. A date of 1003 has been deduced by Erdmann from other accounts that a Muslim army moved through the

County of Barcelona The County of Barcelona (, ) was a polity in northeastern Iberian Peninsula, originally located in the southern frontier region of the Carolingian Empire. In the 10th century, the Counts of Barcelona progressively achieved independence from F ...

and passed into the south of the

County of Urgell The County of Urgell (, ; ) is one of the historical Catalan counties, bordering on the counties of County of Pallars, Pallars and Cerdanya. History The county of Urgell was carved by the Franks out of a former section of the Mark of Toulouse w ...

in the summer of 1003. The exact location of the battle, ''Thoranum castrum'' (the castle, or fortified place, of Torà), is given by Andrew. The Muslims, according to both

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

sources, were defeated and one of their leading men killed. The Muslims retreated to their own territory, where a second battle was fought at Albesa.This—Erdmann's chronology—assumes a summertime campaign, whereas the battle of Albesa may have occurred in February and been the cause and not the effect of a Muslim invasion, cf. Dolors Bramon Planas (1995)
"La batalla de Albesa (25 de febrero de 1003) y la primera aceifa de ‘Ábd al-Mallk al-Muzaifar (verano del mismo año),"
''Anaquel de estudios árabes'', 6, 21–28. The result of this second battle is unclear, but it was the end of the brief war, and possibly the campaigning season. Importantly, Andrew reports the battle in terms as if describing a

holy war A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war (), is a war and conflict which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion and beliefs. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent t ...

. The Muslims, whose numbers he puts at 17,000, are "new

Philistines Philistines (; LXX: ; ) were ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan during the Iron Age in a confederation of city-states generally referred to as Philistia. There is compelling evidence to suggest that the Philistines origi ...

". Bernard of Besalú he quotes as reasoning that if the saints

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 su ...

and

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

and the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

each kill 5,000 Muslims, there will be a manageable number left for the soldiers. Bernard recalls that the Muslims are often slain before they have a chance to retreat. According to Andrew, after the battle the Virgin Mary miraculously brought news of the Christian victory to as far away as

Monte Sant'Angelo Monte Sant'Angelo (Neapolitan language, Foggiano: ) is a town and ''comune'' of Apulia, southern Italy, in the province of Foggia, on the southern slopes of Monte Gargano. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of ...

. Despite the theme of religious warfare, Spanish historians have not picked up on Andrew's account.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle of Tora Torà Torà 1003 in Europe Tora 11th century in al-Andalus Medieval Catalonia Torà