Rueda de Jalón - Castillo - Muralla neoarabe

Aḥmad III Abū Jaʿfar ibn ʿAbd al-Malik al-Mustanṣir ( ar, أحمد الثالث أبو جعفر بن عبد الملك المستنصر; died 5 February 1146), called Sayf al-Dawla ("Sword of the Dynasty"), Latinised as Zafadola, was the last ruler of the

Hudid dynasty The Banu Hud ( ar, بنو هود ', the Hudid dynasty) were an Arab dynasty that ruled the ' of Zaragoza from 1039 until 1110. In 1039, under the leadership of Al-Mustain I, Sulayman ibn Hud al-Judhami, the Bani Hud seized control of Zaragoza f ...

. He ruled the rump of the ''

taifa The ''taifas'' (singular ''taifa'', from ar, طائفة ''ṭā'ifa'', plural طوائف ''ṭawā'if'', a party, band or faction) were the independent Muslim principalities and kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Portugal and Spain), re ...

'' kingdom of Zaragoza from his castle at

Rueda de Jalón Rueda de Jalón is a municipality located in the Zaragoza (province), province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2004 census (Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain), INE), the municipality has a population of 360 inhabitants. Refer ...

, in what is now

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 ...

. He was the son of Abd al-Malik. After the city of

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

was conquered by the

Almoravids 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 ...

in 1110, ʿAbd al-Malik and Sayf al-Dawla fled to Rueda to resist the invaders. There they received help from

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 ...

, king of

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

. Their state was reduced to the towns of Rueda and Borja and their hinterland. In 1130 ʿAbd al-Malik died. In 1131 Sayf al-Dawla sent messengers to the court of King

Alfonso VII of León 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. ...

to propose his rendering homage to Alfonso. The latter sent an embassy led by Count

Rodrigo Martínez Rodrigo Martínez ( la, Rudericus Martini) (died July 1138) was a Leonese nobleman, landowner, courtier, military leader, governor, and diplomat, "the most powerful lay figure in the region of the western Tierra de Campos," who "emerges as far an ...

and the king's counsellor

Gutierre Fernández de Castro Gutierre Fernández de Castro ( flourished 1124–66) was a nobleman and military commander from the Kingdom of Castile. His career in royal service corresponds exactly with the reigns of Alfonso VII (1126–57) and his son Sancho III (1157–58). ...

to Rueda to make final arrangements. The ''taifa'' king and his sons then went to Alfonso, surrendered Rueda to him and became his vassals. Alfonso in turn gave Sayf al-Dawla territory in the

Kingdom of Toledo The Kingdom of Toledo ( es, Reino de Toledo) was a realm in the central Iberian Peninsula, created after the capture of Toledo by Alfonso VI of León in 1085. It continued in existence until 1833; its region is currently within Spain. Back ...

and the task of defending a sector of the southern frontier from the Almoravids. Sayf al-Dawla took part in battles with the Almoravids in Jaén,

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 ...

and

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

, and also fought against Alfonso the Battler. In 1135 he attended Alfonso VII's imperial coronation in León. He was defending the southern border in 1146, when Alfonso VII sent some of his leading knights—

Manrique de Lara The House of Lara (Spanish: ''Casa de Lara'') is a noble family from the medieval Kingdom of Castile. Two of its branches, the Duques de Nájera and the Marquesado de Aguilar de Campoo were considered Grandees of Spain. The Lara family gained num ...

, Ponce de Cabrera and Armengol de Urgel—to assist him. In a dispute with the Christians, Sayf al-Dawla was killed during the

battle of Chinchilla A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

, near

Chinchilla de Montearagón Chinchilla de Montearagón or Chinchilla de Monte-Aragón, or simply Chinchilla ( ar, جنجالة), is a municipality in the province of Albacete in Castile-La Mancha, Spain. Spreading across a total area of , the municipality has population of ...

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