| Siege of Aledo | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 A painting of the battle | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Almoravids Taifa of Sevilla Minor Taifas: Taifa of Granada Taifa of Murcia Taifa of Almeria Abbadid dynasty Taifa of Malaga |  Kingdom of Castile and Leon | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
The siege of Aledo was one of the many battles in the conflict between the Almoravids and the Taifa kingdoms on one side, and the Kingdom of Castile on the other, in the Andalusian region.
In the second half of the 11th century, the taifa king al-Mu'tamid of Seville, who had pursued an aggressive policy of expansion against neighboring states arising from the decomposition of the Caliphate of Cordoba, found his own domains threatened when King Alfonso VI of Leon and Castile conquered Toledo in 1085. Just a year later, his troops captured the castle of Aledo led by the knight García Jiménez. The control over Toledo and the occupation of Aledo were part of the Castilian-Leonese strategy to weaken the fragmented Muslim power. The definitive fall of Toledo served as a significant blow, giving Christians renewed momentum in subduing southern territories. While some taifas agreed to pay tributes, strengthening the economy of Christian kingdoms, others sought assistance from the Almoravids, a Berber dynasty. The Almoravids landed in al-Yazira al-Jadra in 1086, defeating the Christians at the Battle of Sagrajas. Despite this, the expedition led by Emir Yusuf ibn Tashufin chose to return to the Maghreb upon hearing of his son's death. Aledo gained importance as an isolated Christian outpost in Islamic territory, challenging the surrounding taifas. Castilian-Leonese forces instilled fear in the Murcian taifa population with daring raids on the orchards of Murcia and Orihuela, seizing control of the Guadalentín Valley and key Levantine communication routes. The Andalusian principalities, concerned, once again sought the aid of the Almoravids. [1]
Emir Ibn Tašufin returned to the Iberian Peninsula in 1089, using Gibraltar as a landing point. [3] At Algeciras, his troops were joined by those of Sevillian al-Mu'tamid, and together they advanced to Málaga, where the taifa Tamim ibn Buluggin joined them with his hosts. The aim of the Sevillian emir, despite his protests as a defender of Islam against the Christian raids from Aledo, was to take the castle and the dominion of Murcia for his son, which his own vizier had taken from him. [1]
On the way to Aledo, Abdallah ibn Buluggin from Granada and al-Mu‘tásim bi-l-Lah from Almería joined the already numerous force. [4] while Ibn Rashiq of Murcia collaborated by sending men and money.
The Muslim army set up camp at the foot of the castle of Aledo, and began to harass the Christian position by means of mangonels and ballistas shots, [5] built expressly by expert craftsmen brought from Murcia.
The assaults occurred day and night, with one of the emirs' army attacking in rotation each day. [6] [1] but time passed without achieving the surrender of the Leonese garrison. The morale of the besiegers began to suffer and tensions arose between them, [1] to the point that Ibn Rashiq, fearing that al-Mu'tamid intended to annex Murcia to his taifa of Seville, supplied the besieged. [1] Finally dismissed by Ibn Tašufin due to a fatwa, the Murcians abandoned the siege, refused to submit to the Sevillians and asked for help from the Christian king Alfonso VI. [1]
El Cid intended to relieve the city, but it would be the monarch himself who would march at the head of his troops to liberate Aledo, causing the Almoravids to retreat after a four-month siege. [1] At the end of the summer and after insistent requests from the garrison and the Murcians who were hostile to Ibn Tašufin, Alfonso set out to relieve the city. [1] After this setback, Yusuf ibn Tašufin briefly continued his peninsular campaign, seizing Talavera de la Reina and Madrid, but after being rejected in Guadalajara he retreated to Cordoba, to end up returning to his North African possessions. [7]
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.
Alfonso VI, nicknamed the Brave or the Valiant, was king of León (1065–1109), Galicia (1071–1109), and Castile (1072–1109).
The taifas were the independent Muslim principalities and kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula, referred to by Muslims as al-Andalus, that emerged from the decline and fall of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba between 1009 and 1031. They were a recurring feature of al-Andalus history.
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.
This is a historical timeline of Portugal.
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 Seville was an Arab kingdom which was ruled by the Abbadid dynasty. It was established in 1023 and lasted until 1091, in what is today southern Spain and Portugal. It gained independence from the Caliphate of Cordoba and it expanded the territory it ruled in the mid-11th century. The emerging power of Castile led Seville to ask military assistance from the Almoravids, who then occupied Seville.
The Taifa of Granada or Zirid Kingdom of Granada was a Muslim kingdom that was formed in al-Andalus in 1013 following the deposition of Caliph Hisham II in 1009. The kingdom was centered on Granada, its capital, and it also extended its control to Málaga for a period. Four kings succeeded each other during its nearly 80 years of existence, all of them belonging to an offshoot of the Zirid dynasty of North Africa, a Sanhaja Berber clan. The Taifa of Granada was considered to be the wealthiest out of all of the taifa kingdoms. It was eventually conquered by the Almoravids in 1090, putting an end to Zirid rule in Granada.
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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.
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