It has been suggested that this article be merged into Almohad campaign against Portugal (1190–1191) . (Discuss) Proposed since September 2024. |
Siege of Silves (1190) | |||||||
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Part of the Reconquista | |||||||
Ruins of the fortifications of Silves today. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Kingdom of Portugal | Almohad Caliphate | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Rodrigo Sanches | Abu Hafs Yaqub b. Abi Hafs |
The Siege of Silves in 1190 was an military confrontation of the Reconquista, occurring during the sixth Almohad invasion of Portugal. The city of Silves, conquered by King Sancho I of Portugal the previous year, was besieged by a Muslim army, but the Portuguese resisted the attack.
In 1188, the Almohad caliph Yaqub al-Mansur completed the conquest of the entire Maghreb, declared holy war and warned the inhabitants of al-Andalus that he was preparing to cross the Strait of Gibraltar and set out to conquer the Christian kingdoms of the peninsula.
Silves, built on a hill on the banks of the Arade River, was the most important city in the Algarve and a renowned cultural center. Sancho I conquered Silves with the help of a fleet of crusaders in 1189. The Almohad Caliph then crossed the Strait of Gibraltar on April 23, 1190 with an army and settled in Tarifa. [1]
The caliph sent the governor of Seville Abu Hafs Yaqub b. Abi Hafs, his cousinto the Algarve, with an army made up of Andalusian troops from Seville and Granada, Berbers from the Azenegues and Haskura tribes and jihadist volunteers. [1] In Córdoba, al-Mansur received ambassadors from the king of Castile and signed a truce with him, thus leaving him free to focus on the conquest of Portugal. [1] In this city he distributed banners to his army in preparation for the campaign. [1]
The news of the arrival of the Almohads was already known in Portugal when, by chance, an English ship with 100 men at arms arrived in Silves. [2] [3] The English reinforcements were part of Richard the Lionheart's armada, which had dispersed off the Iberian Peninsula on its way to the Holy Land due to bad weather. [2] [3] Other ships from the armada docked in Lisbon. [2] [3] The Bishop of Silves Nicolau convinced the English to help defend the city and the Crusaders even offered their ship, which was promptly dismantled to help. [3] [2]
The Almohads built camps around Silves on the 6th of June, just eight months after the city was conquered by the Portuguese. [1] On the 5th of the following month, a Muslim fleet arrived from Seville with siege equipment. [1]
Meanwhile, the caliph invaded Portugal through Alentejo, destroyed cultures in his path, razed Torres Novas and besieged Tomar, defended by the Templars, while another detachment was sent to besiege Santarém as well. [1] [3]
In Silves, the Muslims proved incapable of overcoming the resistance put up by the Portuguese and English warriors. [1] Faced with a lack of supplies, tenacious resistance in Tomar and Santarém, and an outbreak of dysentery among his army, the caliph ordered all his troops to withdraw from Portugal. [1]
On July 26th the Caliph was back in Seville. [1]
Although Silves resisted the siege of 1190, the Almohads would invade Portugal again the following year for the seventh and final time. Silves was recaptured by the Muslims, who also reconquered from the Portuguese all the towns and castles in Alentejo and Algarve except Évora. [4] [5]
Silves would be definitively reconquered in 1242, by Paio Peres Correia.
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.
Silves is a city and municipality in the Portuguese region of Algarve, in southern Portugal. The population of the entire municipality of Silves in 2011 was 37,126, in an area of 680.06 km2. The urbanized area of the city proper has approximately 11,000 inhabitants. Silves is the former capital of the Kingdom of the Algarve (1249–1910), a nominal kingdom within the Kingdom of Portugal (1139–1910), and is of great historical importance.
The Kingdom of the Algarve, after 1471, Kingdom of the Algarves, was a nominal kingdom within the Kingdom of Portugal, located in the southernmost region of continental Portugal, until the end of the monarchy in 1910.
Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb ibn Yūsuf ibn Abd al-Muʾmin al-Manṣūr, commonly known as Yaqub al-Mansur or Moulay Yacoub, was the third Almohad Caliph. Succeeding his father, al-Mansur reigned from 1184 to 1199. His reign was distinguished by the flourishing of trade, architecture, philosophy and the sciences, as well as by victorious military campaigns in which he was successful in repelling the tide of the Reconquista in the Iberian Peninsula.
Battle of Alarcos, was fought between the Almohads led by Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur and King Alfonso VIII of Castile. It resulted in the defeat of the Castilian forces and their subsequent retreat to Toledo, whereas the Almohads reconquered Trujillo, Montánchez, and Talavera.
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.
Abu Muhammad ʿAbdallah 'al-ʿAdil' was an Almohad Caliph, a former governor in al-Andalus who challenged and secured the murder of his predecessor, Abd al-Wahid I. His 1224 coup ushered in a period of instability that lasted well beyond his own death in 1227. He is often regarded as one of the most disastrous of Almohad caliphs. His coup divided the Almohads and set in motion the loss of al-Andalus and the eventual collapse of the Almohad state.
Gharb al-Andalus, or just al-Gharb, was the name given by the Muslims of Iberia to the region of southern modern-day Portugal and part of West-central modern day Spain during their rule of the territory, from 711 to 1249. This period started with the fall of the Visigothic kingdom after Tariq ibn-Ziyad's invasion of Iberia and the establishment of the Umayyad control in the territory. The present day Algarve derives its name from this Arabic name. The region had a population of about 500,000 people.
The Taifa of Silves was an Arab taifa kingdom that existed in what is now southern Portugal for two distinct periods: from 1027 to 1063, and again from 1145 to 1150, when it was finally conquered by the Almohad Caliphate.
The Castle of Lagos is a medieval castle located in the municipality of Lagos, Portugal. Its walls surrounded the entire city of Lagos, providing the town its main means of defence.
The Almohad Caliphate launched a major offensive against the Kingdom of Portugal in the spring of 1190 that lasted into the summer of 1191. The Caliph Yaʿqūb al-Manṣūr crossed over from Africa to take personal command of his forces. The campaign of 1190 was underwhelming because of assistance Portugal received from passing armies of the Third Crusade. The sieges of Tomar, Santarém and Silves had to be abandoned, but the caliph overwintered in Seville. The campaign of 1191 reversed Portugal's recent reconquests, captured Silves after a second siege and pushed the frontier north to the Tagus.
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 Silves was an action of the Third Crusade and the Portuguese Reconquista in 1189. The city of Silves in the Almohad Caliphate was besieged from 21 July until 3 September by the forces of Portugal and a group of crusaders from northern Europe on their way to the siege of Acre. The defenders capitulated on terms, the city was handed over to Portugal and the crusaders took a portion of the spoils.
The siege of Tomar was a military engagement that took place in 1190 between the Almohad caliphate who attacked the town of Tomar in Portugal, and the Templar Order, who owned the settlement and successfully defended it from the Muslim attack.
Portuguese participation in the Reconquista occurred from when the County of Portugal was founded in 868 and continued for 381 years until the last cities still in Muslim control in the Algarve were captured in 1249. Portugal was created during this prolonged process and largely owes its geographic form to it.
The Spanish Christian–Muslim War of 1172–1212 was fought between the Spanish Christian kingdoms of Castile, Aragon, Navarre and Portugal and the Almohad Caliphate during the Reconquista. It began when the Almohad caliph Yusuf I attacked Castile from Cuenca in 1172 and ended after the Christian victory at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212 but small skirmishes still occurred after the battle.
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 Battle of Alcácer do Sal in 1161 was an armed encounter between the troops of King Afonso Henriques and the Almohads commanded by Abu Mohammed Abdallah Ben Hafs, known to the Portuguese as Benafece.
The Siege of Santarém in 1171 was a military confrontation during the Reconquista, in which the city of Santarém was besieged by an army from the Almohad Caliphate, but they were unable to conquer the city. It was the first time that Santarém was attacked since its conquest by King Afonso I of Portugal, 24 years earlier.