The siege of Oreja was a
siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...
by the forces of
Alfonso VII
Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...
,
Emperor of Spain
is a Latin title meaning "Emperor of All Spain". In Spain in the Middle Ages, the title "emperor" (from Latin '' imperator'') was used under a variety of circumstances from the ninth century onwards, but its usage peaked, as a formal and pract ...
, on the Spanish town
Colmenar de Oreja
Colmenar de Oreja is a town and municipality of the Las Vegas comarca, in the Community of Madrid, Spain. It was subject to a seven-month siege in 1139.
Location
It is located in the hydrographic plateau of the rivers Tagus and Tajuña, ...
that lasted from April until October 1139 when the
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 ...
garrison surrendered. It was the first major victory of the renewed ''
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 characterised the last two decades of Alfonso's reign.
Principal sources
The main source for the siege of Oreja is the contemporary ''
Chronica Adefonsi imperatoris'', a narrative of Alfonso's reign in two books. According to this source, at the time it was "the largest campaign that had been conducted in the combined regions of
Toledo and
Extremadura
Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it ...
."
[Book II, §156.] Historian Bernard Reilly has succinctly explained the "virtues and vices" of the ''Chronica'' as a reliable historical account: ". . . the second book of the
'Chronica''is made up largely of a series of popular tales originally composed separately and only subsequently tacked together in a literary, Latin text appended to the more traditional and staid annals that form most of its first book. The compiler has often scarcely bothered to reconcile his materials, much less treat them critically."
Nineteen royal
charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...
s were issued from Alfonso's camp during the siege (nos. 334–52), and another two (nos. 353–54) are important for its dating.
[Reilly 1998, 65–66.] The dating and chronology of the siege can be most reliably established from an examination of the documents.
Background
The town of Oreja (''Aurelia''), with its castle, lay on the
Tagus
The Tagus ( ; es, Tajo ; pt, Tejo ; see #Name, below) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales near Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally west with two main south-westward sections ...
about upstream from
Toledo. It was of strategic importance for the defence of Toledo. It is today represented by
Colmenar de Oreja
Colmenar de Oreja is a town and municipality of the Las Vegas comarca, in the Community of Madrid, Spain. It was subject to a seven-month siege in 1139.
Location
It is located in the hydrographic plateau of the rivers Tagus and Tajuña, ...
, then the small settlement of ''Apis Aureliae''.
[Barton 1997, 14.][Powers 1987, 30.] In 1113, at the height of the civil war between
Queen Urraca
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mothe ...
, the supporters of her son, the future Alfonso VII, and the supporters of her husband,
Alfonso the Battler
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 Pet ...
, while it was being guarded by the duke of nearby Toledo,
Álvar Fáñez
Álvar Fáñez (or Háñez) (died 1114) was a Leonese nobleman and military leader under Alfonso VI of León and Castile, becoming the nearly independent ruler of Toledo under Queen Urraca. He became the subject of legend, being transformed by th ...
, Oreja fell to the Muslims.
[ According to the ''Chronica'':
]
The King of Sevilla and the King of Córdoba and all the other Almoravide rulers in the south had gathered a large army of cavalry, infantry and archers. They proceeded to the territory of Toledo and began to attack the castle at Oreja. They massacred the Christians there and took many prisoners. . . he soldiersin Oreja were aily moving on the offensive
Aily is a village in Varanasi district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is about from the state capital Lucknow and from the national capital Delhi.
Demography
Aily has a total population of 1,693 people amongst 285 families. Sex rati ...
against Toledo and against other cities in the Trans-Sierra region. They committed many massacres and carried away a great deal of booty.
By March 1115 it was either back in Christian hands or its Christian population in exile at Toledo had its own ''alcalde
Alcalde (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian '' cabildo'' (the municipal council) a ...
'', a certain Genesio recorded in a private charter at that time. In 1131 there was another Christian–Muslim skirmish—"a fierce battle", the ''Chronica'' calls it—near Oreja that resulted in Muslim victory.
The anonymous author of the ''Chronica'' notes that the Muslims stationed at Oreja were a constant menace to the Christians of the '' alfoz'' (region) around Toledo.[ When Alfonso VII "realized that the Lord had given him somewhat of a respite from his enemies" early in 1139, "he took counsel with his advisors" and decided to besiege Oreja in April.][Book II, §145.] The commander of the Muslim garrison was Ali, a "famous infidel chieftain ndnotorious murderer of Christians" in the Trans-Sierra
Trasierra is a municipality located in the province of Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain. According to the 2014 census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given populati ...
.[Book II, §146.] According to the ''Chronica'' the defenders included a large number of archers and cavalry, with a somewhat more modest infantry contingent, and consisted in both native Muslims and Almoravid Berbers
, image = File:Berber_flag.svg
, caption = The Berber ethnic flag
, population = 36 million
, region1 = Morocco
, pop1 = 14 million to 18 million
, region2 = Algeria
, pop2 ...
from northern Africa. The castle was well-prepared for an assault, and boasted catapult
A catapult is a ballistic device used to launch a projectile a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden release of stored p ...
s "for hurling large stones".[
]
Siege
Initiation
The siege was begun in April by the brothers Gutierre
Gutierre is an old Spanish male given name. The surname Gutiérrez is derived from this name.
Notable people
Notable people with the name include:
* Gutierre Álvarez de Toledo, Spanish priest
* Gutierre de Cetina (1519–1554), Spanish poet and s ...
and Rodrigo Fernández, both governors on the frontier, at the orders of Alfonso, each with their own ''mesnadas'' (knightly retinues) and with the militias (cavalry and infantry) of Toledo and the other cities of the Trans-Sierra and the Extremadura.[ The towns of ]Ávila
Ávila (, , ) is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Ávila.
It lies on the right bank of the Adaja river. Located more than 1,130 m abov ...
, Guadalajara
Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...
, Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
, Salamanca
Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritag ...
, Segovia
Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia.
Segovia is in the Inner Plateau (''Meseta central''), near the northern slopes of th ...
, Talavera, and Zamora are known to have had especially active militias on the southern frontier in the period.[ Probably at least the municipalities of Ávila, Salamanca, and Segovia participated.][ While the Fernández brothers began the siege, Alfonso gathered "all of the military personnel from Galicia, León and Castile", in the words of the ''Chronica'', at a place unnamed, and departed for Oreja with a large number of infantry troops.][
When the royal army arrived is unknown, and the first evidence of the king's presence is in a charter he issued from the siege on 25 July. This charter shows that a large contingent of magnates from Galicia had joined Alfonso at the siege, including Fernando Yáñez and his son Pelayo Curvo, ]Rodrigo Vélaz
Rodrigo Vélaz (died June 1144) was the "count of Galicia, who held Sarria" according to the near-contemporary ''Chronica Adefonsi imperatoris''. During his long public career he was the dominant figure in mountainous eastern Galicia (Spain), Gali ...
, and, according to documents in the archives of Santa María de Oseira, four of the sons of Pedro Fróilaz de Traba
Pedro Fróilaz de Traba ('' fl.'' 1086–1126) was the most powerful secular magnate in the Kingdom of Galicia during the first quarter of the twelfth century. According to the ''Historia compostelana'', he was "spirited ... warlike ... of great p ...
: Fernando Pérez, García Pérez, Rodrigo Pérez, and Vermudo Pérez.[Barton 1997, 180.] Royal charters issued from the siege during the remainder of the summer show that all of these Galicians left Oreja not long after, possibly to defend the frontier with Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
, but more likely because they resented long campaigns so far from home. Magnates from the more central provinces, like Gutierre and Rodrigo Fernández, Ramiro Fróilaz
Ramiro Fróilaz (''floruit'' 1120–1169) was a Leonese magnate, statesman, and military leader. He was a dominant figure in the kingdom during the reigns of Alfonso VII and Ferdinand II. He was primarily a territorial governor, but also a court ...
, and Rodrigo Gómez, remained at the siege probably until the end.[ The regular courtiers were also present throughout the campaign, including Ponce de Cabrera, a mainstay of Alfonso's reconquest expeditions. There were seven bishops present. Lope López may also have been present.
The ''Chronica'' records that Alfonso also brought with him siege engineers and built several ]siege engine
A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent heavy castle doors, thick city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some are immobile, constructed in place to attack enemy fortifications from a distance, while oth ...
s (probably including at least siege tower
A Roman siege tower or breaching tower (or in the Middle Ages, a belfry''Castle: Stephen Biesty's Cross-Sections''. Dorling Kindersley Pub (T); 1st American edition (September 1994). Siege towers were invented in 300 BC. ) is a specialized siege ...
s "placed against the walls") for investing the castle. To cut off the defenders' water supplies he stationed guards along the riverbank and had a mantlet
A mantlet was a portable wall or shelter used for stopping projectiles in medieval warfare. It could be mounted on a wheeled carriage, and protected one or several soldiers.
In the First World War a mantlet type of device was used by the French ...
placed at a location where they had theretofore drawn water in secret.[ One day the Muslims sallied forth and set the mantlet, left unguarded, on fire, destroying it. Thereafter, however, an order prevented anybody inside the castle from leaving. The internal water reserves ("the cisterns") had been exhausted, and the effects of hunger began to set in: "many of them died for lack of food and water".][Book II, §151.] It is not clear when during the siege this happened, since the ''Chronica'' does not provide a clear chronology of those seven months.
Surrender
The towers of the castle were destroyed by the siege engines and this, the ''Chronica'' indicates, convinced Ali to seek terms after "consulting with his advisors". It further records the following messages between the two leaders, by which the terms of the surrender were established:
''Ali'': "Let us come to terms by means of a peace treaty. Grant us a period of one month, so that we may again send a messenger across the Mediterranean Sea to King Texufin and to all the Spanish Moslems also on this side of the sea. If no one will come to our aid, we will march out and return your castle to you. You will then allow us to go peacefully, taking all of our belongings to our city of Calatrava."
''Alfonso'': "I will make the following agreement with you: give me fifteen of your nobles as hostages excepting Ali. If no one will come to your defense, you will return my castle to me. Your catapults and all of your weapons and riches will remain in the castle. You will be allow to take only your personal possessions with you. The Christian captives in your dungeons will remain in the castle to be fed by my men at my own expense."[Book II, §152.]
These terms were accepted. The Muslim hostages were sent to Toledo under guard, and both leaders "pledged under oath ofulfill every item in the treaty as stated".[ The defenders went messengers, but they returned with no hope of a timely rescue.][ The castle surrendered early on the morning of 31 October according to the ''Chronica''. The last royal charter issued before the walls of Oreja is dated 18 October.][ A charter issued by the king's sister, Sancha Raimúndez, at ]Sahagún
Sahagún () is a town and municipality of Spain, part of the autonomous community of Castile and León and the province of León. It is the main populated place in the Leonese part of the Tierra de Campos natural region.
Sahagún contains some ...
on 27 October 1139 is dated to "the year and month in which Oreja was captured". Considering the time it would have taken for news of the capture to reach Sahagún, Oreja probably surrender closer to 20 October.[ There is also a royal charter that was issued at Toledo and dated 26 October, presumably only a day or so after the king's returning triumph.][
After the surrender Alfonso's banners were raised from the highest tower, accompanied by the twin shouts of acclamation of those holding the banners ("Long live Alfonso, the Emperor of León and of Toledo!") and the assembled clergy with hands raised ("We praise you Lord, we acknowledge your glory"), which included some (unnamed) bishops. The surrendering Muslims first went to Alfonso's camp, where they remained several days as honoured guests and received back their hostages.][Book II, §155.] They were then allowed to go with their families and their movable personal property under military escort, led by Rodrigo Gómez, to Calatrava. This act of general mercy outraged the local residents from around Toledo, who wanted them killed.[ One recent historian identifies the "Count Rodrigo" the ''Chronica'' relates as escorting the defeated with Rodrigo Fernández instead of Rodrigo Gómez.][
]
Returning triumph
The ''Chronica'' provides a description of the triumph which Alfonso received upon his arrival in Toledo after the siege. It is not an historical description, but an extended allusion
Allusion is a figure of speech, in which an object or circumstance from unrelated context is referred to covertly or indirectly. It is left to the audience to make the direct connection. Where the connection is directly and explicitly stated (as ...
to passages in the ''Book of Daniel
The Book of Daniel is a 2nd-century BC biblical apocalypse with a 6th century BC setting. Ostensibly "an account of the activities and visions of Daniel, a noble Jew exiled at Babylon", it combines a prophecy of history with an eschatology (a ...
'' (3:7) and the ''Gospel According to Matthew
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
'' (21:9):
When his coming was announced, all of the leaders of the Christians, Moors and Jews and all the commoners of the city went out to meet him with tambourines, lutes, psalteries and many other musical instruments. In his own tongue each one of them praised and glorified God who had aided all of the enterprises of the Emperor. They were saying, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, and blessed are you and your wife and your children and the kingdom of your fathers, and blessed is your compassion and forbearance."
Inside the city, Raimundo, the Archbishop of Toledo
This is a list of Bishops and Archbishops of Toledo ( la, Archidioecesis Metropolitae Toletana). , led a long procession of clerics and monks into the plaza of the city and welcomed the Emperor. They went to the Church of Saint Mary during which time the archbishop was singing, "Fear God obey his commandments."
''Fuero''
Alfonso re-fortified the castle, leaving a garrison composed of knights and infantry, and supplied with several siege engines for defensive purposes. He also replenished the internal water supply and added food provisions.[ Alfonso also organised the resettlement of the town with a '']fuero
(), (), () or () is a Spanish legal term and concept. The word comes from Latin , an open space used as a market, tribunal and meeting place. The same Latin root is the origin of the French terms and , and the Portuguese terms and ; all ...
'' (collection of privileges) in November. The new settlers were required to remit to the king a fifth of any booty they might take at the enemy's expense. The settlers could not be traitors nor any "count or other power who possessed royal fiefs", but those who were in disgrace or had gained the king's anger could take refuge in Oreja.
The town, like Ocaña, was also granted the "abduction privilege". According to this custom, a man who had abducted a woman could take refuge in the town, the king levying a fine of five hundred ''sueldo
The ''solidus'' (Latin 'solid'; ''solidi'') or nomisma ( grc-gre, νόμισμα, ''nómisma'', 'coin') was a highly pure gold coin issued in the Late Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire. Constantine I, Constantine introduced the coin, ...
s'' on anybody who injured or killed him. This policy was designed to encourage settlement by providing a means for settlers to procure wives. Alfonso had first granted this privilege to Guadalajara in 1133, but in the case of Oreja it was severely restricted: the abductee could not be already married, related to the abductor, or abducted by force; she had to come voluntarily and of marriageable age. The law was designed to prevent families from repatriating eloped female relatives, and to prevent cuckolds from taking back their adulterous wives.
The ''fuero'' of Oreja, like that of Escalona
Escalona is a municipality located in the north part of the province of Toledo, which in turn is part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2017 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 3,240 inhabi ...
, also protected new settlers' properties in their places of origin. They were exempted from service for these, and also extended royal protection. It was typically required of settlers in New Castile to stay in their new possessions for at least one year, and such was the case in Alfonso's ''fuero'' for Oreja. Afterwards settlers often sold off their new land. Alfonso also exempted Oreja from having to pay the ''portaticum'' or ''portazgo'', the usual toll on transporting goods along a certain road or through a certain territory, throughout his kingdoms except in the region of Toledo. Further, if any person in the kingdom wished to take legal action against an inhabitant of Oreja he had to go to a place on the bank of the Tagus beneath the walls of the castle of Oreja and seek judgement there.[Lacarra de Miguel 1982, 493 n22: ''Post hee si quis de populatoribus Aurelie cum aliquo homine, Ultra Serram vel Citra Serram morante, Toletanis civibus exceptis, iudicium habuerit habeant medianedo in ripa Tagi ante Aurelie Castellum ibique recipiant et habeant iudicium''.] This law, too, was not unusual for re-settlements, although again persons from Toledo were excepted.
The ''fuero'' of Oreja has been edited and published at least twice:
*C. Gutiérrez del Arroyo, "Fueros de Oreja y Ocaña", ''Anuario de Historia del Derecho Español'', 17 (1946), 651–62.
*Alfonso García-Gallo, "Los fueros de Toledo", ''Anuario de Historia del Derecho Español'', 45 (1975), 341–488. Cf. "Fuero del Castillo de Oreja concedido por Alfonso VII (Toledo, 3 de noviembre de 1139)" on pp. 469–71.
Notes
Bibliography
*S. F. BARTON. "Two Catalan Magnates in the Courts of the Kings of León-Castile: The Careers of Ponce de Cabrera and Ponce de Minerva Re-Examined." ''Journal of Medieval History The ''Journal of Medieval History'' is a major international academic journal devoted to all aspects of the history of Europe in the Middle Ages.
Each issue contains 4 or 5 original articles on European history, including the British Isles, North A ...
'', 18:3 (1992), 233–66.
*S. F. BARTON. ''The Aristocracy in Twelfth-century León and Castile''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
*S. F. BARTON
"From Tyrants to Soldiers of Christ: The Nobility of Twelfth-century León-Castile and the Struggle Against Islam."
''Nottingham Medieval Studies'', 44 (2000), 28–48.
*H. DILLARD
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984.
* R. A. FLETCHER
''Saint James's Catapult: The Life and Times of Diego Gelmírez of Santiago de Compostela''.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984.
*A. HUICI MIRANDA. ''Historia musulmana de Valencia y de su región'', III. Valencia: 1970.
*J. Ma. LACARRA DE MIGUEL
"Acerca de la atracción de pobladores en las ciudades fronterizas de la España cristiana (siglos XI–XII)."
''En la España medieval'', 2 (1982), 485–98.
*G. E. LIPSKEY
PhD dissertation, Northwestern University, 1972.
*J. F. POWERS
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987.
*B. F. REILLY
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1982.
*B. F. REILLY. ''The Kingdom of León-Castilla under King Alfonso VII, 1126–1157''. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998.
*R. ROGERS. ''Latin Siege Warfare in the Twelfth Century''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992.
{{coord missing, Spain
Oreja
Colmenar de Oreja is a town and municipality of the Las Vegas comarca, in the Community of Madrid, Spain. It was subject to a seven-month siege in 1139.
Location
It is located in the hydrographic plateau of the rivers Tagus and Tajuña, ...
1139 in Europe
12th century in Castile
Oreja
Colmenar de Oreja is a town and municipality of the Las Vegas comarca, in the Community of Madrid, Spain. It was subject to a seven-month siege in 1139.
Location
It is located in the hydrographic plateau of the rivers Tagus and Tajuña, ...
Oreja
Colmenar de Oreja is a town and municipality of the Las Vegas comarca, in the Community of Madrid, Spain. It was subject to a seven-month siege in 1139.
Location
It is located in the hydrographic plateau of the rivers Tagus and Tajuña, ...
Oreja
Colmenar de Oreja is a town and municipality of the Las Vegas comarca, in the Community of Madrid, Spain. It was subject to a seven-month siege in 1139.
Location
It is located in the hydrographic plateau of the rivers Tagus and Tajuña, ...
12th century in Al-Andalus
Oreja
Colmenar de Oreja is a town and municipality of the Las Vegas comarca, in the Community of Madrid, Spain. It was subject to a seven-month siege in 1139.
Location
It is located in the hydrographic plateau of the rivers Tagus and Tajuña, ...