| Battle of Badajoz (1134) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Reconquista | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Almoravid dynasty |  Kingdom of Castile | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Tashfin ibn Ali | Unknown | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | Thousands | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Few survived | ||||||
The Battle of Badajoz was a military engagement between the Almoravids and the raiding party from Castile. The Castilians were soundly defeated.
The nobles of Salamanca, motivated by the victory of Rodrigo González de Lara over the Almoravids at the battle of al-Sharafe, [a] decided to raid the area around Badajoz. [1] They raised a sizable army with thousands of soldiers, including champions from Castile. As soon as they arrived, they started destroying everything, carrying out massacres, and capturing livestock and people. [2] [3] [4] When Tasfin bin Ali, the governor of Cordoba, learned of the raid, he organized his army to confront them. [5] [6] [7]
After leaving Seville, Tashfin sent his scouts to find the enemy and pursued them; they eventually met the Castilians east of Badajoz, close to the Sagrajas hills, where Tashfin's grandfather had defeated the Castilians. Tashfin started organizing his troops; he had Zenata Berbers in the front, Andalusian forces on the flanks, and Almoravid troops in the center. [8] [9]
Many of the nobility decided to flee the battlefield the night before the fight. The fight started early the following day. Following a fierce battle, the Castilians were soundly defeated. Only a small number of the Castilians survived the massacre. [10] The Almoravids took control of the Castilian camp, liberated the prisoners, [b] and took the previously taken loot. [11] [12] March 1134 was the month of the battle. [13]
Tashfin returned to Cordoba victorious, then to Granada, where he was well received. [14] [15] The Castilians attempted to raid Badajoz in October and June 1136, but both were defeated. [16]
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 Abbadid dynasty or Abbadids was an Arab dynasty from the tribe of Banu Lakhm of al-Hirah, which ruled the Taifa of Seville in al-Andalus following the fall of the Caliphate of Cordoba in 1031. After the collapse, they were the most powerful Taifa and before long absorbed most of the others. Abbadid rule lasted from about 1023 until 1091, but during the short period of its existence it exhibited singular energy and typified its time.
Al-Mu'tamid Muhammad ibn Abbad al-Lakhmi, also known as Abbad III, was the third and last ruler of the Taifa of Seville in Al-Andalus, as well as a renowned poet. He was the final ruler of the Arab Abbadid dynasty of Seville, before being deposed by the Almoravids in 1091.
Yusuf ibn Tashfin, also Tashafin, Teshufin, was a Sanhaja leader of the Almoravid Empire. He cofounded the city of Marrakesh and led the Muslim forces in the Battle of Sagrajas.
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 conflict fought 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 Murcia was an Arab taifa of medieval Al-Andalus, in what is now southern Spain. It became independent as a taifa centered on the Moorish city of Murcia after the fall of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba. The Moorish Taifa of Murcia included Albacete and part of Almería as well.
The Taifa of Badajoz was a medieval Islamic Moorish kingdom located in what is now parts of Portugal and Spain. It was centred on the city of Badajoz which exists today as the first city of Extremadura, in Spain.
In 1111, the Almoravids launched a campaign into the County of Portugal to capture the territories of western Iberia that had already been held by the Almoravids in 1094.
The siege of Badajoz (1169) was a military engagement between the Portuguese, led by King Afonso I of Portugal, and the Almohad garrison of Badajoz, allied with the Kingdom of León. The allied forces inflicted a severe defeat on the Portuguese.
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.
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 siege of Toledo in 1090 was an Almoravid attempt to conquer the city, which in 1085 fell into Castilian hands.
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.
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.
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.