| Almoravid campaign in central Iberia (1109–1110) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Reconquista | |||||||||
 Iberian Peninsula in 1115 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Almoravid dynasty | Kingdom of Castile | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Ali ibn Yusuf | Álvar Fáñez | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Heavy | Heavy | ||||||||
In the year 1109, the Almoravid leader Ali ibn Yusuf launched a campaign against the Kingdom of Castile. During the campaign, they captured Talavera and other towns and forts. but they failed to capture Toledo.
After two months passed since the Battle of Uclés, the Almoravid leader, Ali bin Yusuf, set sail to Andalusia in August. He left Ceuta with a large army and crossed the straits. He arrived in Cordoba, where he stayed for one month before beginning his campaign. [2] [3]
According to Muslim accounts, the Almoravids first went to Talavera de la Reina, which was situated on the Tagus River west of Toledo. The Almoravids assaulted the town and sacked it, killing and enslaving the inhabitants. The Almoravids also freed Muslim prisoners. The Christians who survived the onslaught escaped to the Kasbah. The Christians managed to escape the Kasbah, which allowed the Almoravids to capture it. The city was sacked, and it's church was returned as a mosque. Ali then established a strong garrison. The Almoravids then invaded the Toledo vicinity, assaulting and capturing 27 forts. They also captured Madrid and Guadalajara. They then invested in Toledo, but after a siege of 3 days, they retreated after ravaging it's vicinity. [4] [5]
Christian accounts, however, present different versions. The Almoravids first went to Toledo; they destroyed the castles of San Servando and Aceca. They then invested in Toledo. The city was defended Álvar Fáñez. The siege has lasted for seven days, during which the Castilians managed to repel the Almoravids attempts to capture the city, suffering heavy losses and many siege equipments in 1110. After the failed siege, the Almoravids assaulted and sacked Madrid, Talavera, Olmos, Canales, and many other towns, carrying a large number of prisoners and plunder. [6] [7]
After the campaign, Ali returned to Cordoba, then to Marrakesh. Despite the difference in both accounts, it agrees that the campaign was large and had effect on the Castilians. [8]
The Almoravid dynasty was a Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire that stretched over the western Maghreb and Al-Andalus, starting in the 1050s and lasting until its fall to the Almohads in 1147.
The Battle of Consuegra took place during the Spanish Reconquista on 15 August 1097 near the village of Consuegra in the province of Castile-La Mancha between the Castilian and Leonese army of Alfonso VI and the Almoravids under Yusuf ibn Tashfin.
This is a timeline of notable events during the period of Muslim presence in Iberia, starting with the Umayyad conquest in the 8th century.
Ali ibn Yusuf was the 5th Almoravid emir. He reigned from 1106 to 1143.
The Battle of Sagrajas, also called Zalaca or Zallaqah, was a conflict fought in 1086 between the Almoravid army, led by their king, Yusuf ibn Tashfin, and the forces of King Alfonso VI of Castile. The Almoravids were called into battle by the taifas, Muslim principalities in Al-Andalus that often fought amongst themselves but united against the expanding Christian kingdoms to the north. In addition to the Almoravid forces, the Taifas and Takrur, the latter contributing 4,000 Black Moorish troops, bolstered the Muslim side, tilting the battle in their favor. The battlefield became known as az-Zallaqah due to the immense bloodshed that made the terrain treacherous, giving rise to its name in Arabic.
The Taifa of Valencia was a medieval Muslim kingdom which existed in and around Valencia, Spain. It gained independence from the Caliphate of Córdoba circa 1010 and became its own small kingdom, or Taifa, for most of the 11th century. It was absorbed by the Taifa of Toledo in 1065, which in turn fell to Alfonso VI of León and Castile in 1085. From 1094 to 1099, the kingdom was ruled directly by the Castilian military commander known as El Cid, then by his wife Jimena after his death, until being annexed by the Almoravids in 1102.
Abu Yusuf Yaqub ibn Abd al-Haqq was a Marinid ruler of Morocco. He was the fourth son of Marinid founder Abd al-Haqq, and succeeded his brother Abu Yahya in 1258. He died in 1286. He was the son of Abd al-Haqq I and Oum el-Iman bint Ali el-Bethary, a Zenata woman. Some sources add her mother to be known as Oum el Youm and a daughter of a Zenata clan leader of the Tafersit region.
Abu Muhammad Mazdali ibn Tilankan was a Berber military commander and diplomat for the Almoravid empire. Once Yusuf ibn Tashfin decided to become independent, he chose Mazdali, his second cousin and made him one of his most effective collaborators, to subdue and pacify the Maghrib and al-Andalus.
The siege of Silves in 1191 was a successful operation by the Almohads to recapture the city of Silves from the Portuguese whom they held from 1189.
The siege of Coimbra of 1117 was a military engagement between the forces of the Almoravid dynasty and those of the County of Portugal in the city of Coimbra. In 1117, the Almoravids launched a campaign into the County of Portugal to attack the city of Coimbra and withdrew after failing to capture it.
In the year 985, the Córdoban general Almanzor launched a military campaign against the County of Barcelona, which culminated in the sacking and razing of Barcelona.
In 1125–1126, the Arago-Navarrese king Alfonso the Battler launched a military expedition to capture the city of Granada from the Almoravids. The campaign was carried out over nine months during which he camped for a long time near Granada, he plundered fields and riches, he defeated the Almoravid army in pitched battle in Arnisol Anzur, near Puente Genil, south of the current province of Córdoba) and rescued a contingent of Mozarabs with which he repopulated the lands of the Ebro Valley recently conquered by the kingdom of Aragon.
The Battle of Badajoz was a military engagement between the Almoravids and the raiding party from Castile. The Castilians were soundly defeated.
The Battle of Calatrava was a military engagement between the Castilian and the Almohad army near Calatrava. The Almohads achieved a resounding victory against their enemy.
The siege of Almeria was a successful attempt by the Almohads to capture the city of Almeria from the Christians in 1157, who had captured the city a decade ago. The Almohads expelled the Leonese and Genoese garrison and repelled a Castilian attempt to relieve it.
In 1191, the Almohads besieged the city of Alcácer do Sal which the Portuguese held. The siege was part of the Almohad campaign against Portugal in 1191. The Almohads succeeded in capturing the city.
The Capture of Aceca was a military engagement between the Almoravids and the Castilians at the fort of Aceca, northwest of Toledo. The Almoravids were victorious.
The battle of Alamin was a military engagement in 1131 between the Almoravids and the Castilians at Alamin Castle near Escalona. The Castilian force was ambushed and destroyed.
The capture of Lisbon happened in 1094 when the Almoravids, led by Syr ibn Abi Bakr, invaded and captured Lisbon from the Castilians, defeating its ruler, Count Raymond.
The battle of Almodóvar del Río was a military engagement between the Almoravids and the Castilian forces who attempted to relieve Seville. The Castilians were defeated and routed.