The Battle of Bairén was fought between the forces of

Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (c. 1043 – 10 July 1099) was a Castilian knight and warlord in medieval Spain. Fighting with both Christian and Muslim armies during his lifetime, he earned the Arabic honorific ''al-sīd'', which would evolve into El C ...

, also known as "El Cid", in coalition with

Peter I of Aragon Peter I ( es, Pedro, an, Pero, eu, Petri; 1068 - 1104) was King of Aragon and also Pamplona from 1094 until his death in 1104. Peter was the eldest son of Sancho Ramírez, from whom he inherited the crowns of Aragon and Pamplona, and Isabell ...

, against the forces of the

Almoravid dynasty 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 tha ...

, under the command of Muhammad ibn Tasufin. The battle was part of the long

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 ...

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 ...

, and resulted in a victory for the forces of the Kingdom of Aragon and the Kingdom of Valencia.

Context

Rodrigo Díaz had conquered the

Taifa of Valencia The Taifa of Valencia () was a medieval Moorish taifa kingdom which existed, in and around Valencia, Spain during four distinct periods: from 1010 to 1065, from 1075 to 1099, from 1145 to 1147 and last from 1229 to 1238 when it was finally co ...

on June 17, 1094.Gea de Albarracín,
Cronología de Aragón y otros relacionados
' El Cid had joined forces with Peter I of Aragon later that year in Burriana to cement an alliance with the end goal of doing battle with the Almoravids. Under this agreement, El Cid departed in December 1096 with the aid of Aragonese troops to bring weapons, ammunition, and general supplies to the castle of Sierra de Benicadell. The castle itself had been retaken by "El Cid" in October 1091 to control access to

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 ...

from the south via the interior route. That action had taken place in the course of the operations for the "reconquista" of Levante that the Cid had undertaken before the arrival of the North African Almoravids.

Battle

Muhammad ibn Tasufin, commander of the Islamic forces, marched to intercept the combined Christian forces at

Xàtiva Xàtiva (, es, Játiva ) is a town in eastern Spain, in the province of Valencia, on the right (western) bank of the river Albaida and at the junction of the Valencia–Murcia and Valencia Albacete railways. It is located 25 km west ...

. Throughout January 1097, from that position, he threatened and pestered the forces of El Cid and

who, nevertheless, managed to reach the castle at Sierra de Benicadell and resupply it. Whilst "El Cid" and the king were marching north, they camped at Bairén, a place situated a few kilometers north of

Gandía Gandia ( es, Gandía) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, eastern Spain on the Mediterranean. Gandia is located on the Costa del Azahar (or ''Costa dels Tarongers''), south of Valencia and north of Alicante. Vehicles can acc ...

. The Almoravids managed to take the nearby high ground at Mondúver (at 841 meters above sea level), from where they were able to harass the Christian camp. In addition, General Muhammad had managed to bring a fleet of ships, both Almoravid and Andalusian, onto the nearby seashore from which archers and crossbowmen were able to catch the Christian forces in a crossfire. The situation appeared desperate, but "El Cid" harangued his troops one morning, ordering them to conduct a frontal charge and assault on the Almoravid forces, breaking their center. By mid-day, the attack was in full swing. The Almoravids, taken aback by the courage and desperate nature of the attack, broke and fled the field in disarray. The chaotic nature of the Muslim retreat led many Almoravid soldiers to drown in the river which crossed their path of retreat or in the sea as they tried to reach the safety of the Almoravid armada.

Aftermath

The Christian army was able to come away from the battle with a great deal of victory spoils after looting the Almoravid camp. After the battle, they were able to continue, in safety, to the city of

References

Bibliography

* Fletcher, Richard
''El Cid''
San Sebastián, Nerea, 2001. . 4ª ed. 2007. . Es trad. de
''The quest for El Cid''
Londres, Hutchinson, 1989. * Martinez Diez, Gonzalo, ''El Cid histórico'', Barcelona, Planeta, 1999. * Peña Pérez, F. Javier, ''Mio Cid el del Cantar. Un héroe medieval a escala humana'', Madrid, Sílex, 2009.

External links

*

' * [http://maps.google.es/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=38.99628,-0.202761&daddr=39.001217,+-0.255289&hl=es&geocode=&gl=es&mra=me&mrcr=0&mrsp=0,1&sz=13&sll=39.00131,-0.254745&sspn=0.057764,0.16737&ie=UTF8&ll=38.999309,-0.224705&spn=0.057765,0.16737&t=p&z=13 Posición aproximada de las fuerzas beligerantes: A) El Cid y Pedro I de Aragón; B) Muhammad ibn Tasufín]. *Gonzalo Menéndez Pidal y Goyri
''Peña Cadiella con la región meridional de Valencia. Itinerario del Cid y de Pedro I de Aragón en 1097''
apa 1929. Impreso en los Talleres del Instituto Geográfico y Catastral para ser incluido en ''La España del Cid'', de Ramón Menéndez Pidal, págs. 570-571. {{DEFAULTSORT:Battle of Bairen 1097 in Europe Conflicts in 1097 Bairen Bairen Bairen Bairen Bairen Bairen El Cid Bairen 11th century in Aragon