The Battle of Navas de Tolosa

The Battle of Navas de Tolosa was crucial in the Christian Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula. It marked a before and after, since it marked the beginning of the decline of the Muslim occupation of the Iberian Peninsula until its overthrow in 1492, with the Catholic Monarchs.

Historical background

In 711, a Muslim army of Arabs and Berbers destroyed Hispania, the kingdom that the Visigoths had founded. After occupying almost the entire Iberian Peninsula, the Muslims created the province of Al-Andalus, which was integrated into the Umayyad Caliphate in Syria.

In 750, all the members of the Umayyad Caliphate were killed, all except Prince Abderraman, who fled to the Iberian Peninsula and later founded the Emirate of Cordoba. In 929, Abderraman III broke away from the Abbasids (who had murdered the members of the Umayyad Caliphate) and founded the Caliphate of Córdoba.

This triggered a civil war that threw the Caliphate into crisis and was resolved by the division of the territory into some thirty small states, known as the Taifa kingdoms.

Christians and Muslims were engaged in a territorial dispute for control of the lands of the Iberian Peninsula. To counter the Christian attacks, the Taifa kingdoms called in the Almohads from the Maghreb in North Africa, who integrated the Taifa kingdoms into their caliphate.

In 1195, the Almohads (who had already integrated the Taifa kingdoms into their caliphate) defeated the Christians at the Battle of Alarcos and threatened the city of Toledo. Alfonso VIII of Castile, in order to prevent the Almohad advance, called together the Christian kings of the Iberian Peninsula to form an alliance.

The sides in the battle

With the Christian defeat at the Battle of Alarcos, Alfonso VIII of Castile wanted to join forces with the other Christian kings to overthrow the Almohads once and for all. Thus, in what would later become the Battle of Navas de Tolosa, Christians and Muslims clashed.

The Muslim kingdom was comprised of the Almohad caliphate, which stretched from North Africa to the south of present-day Spain. It was ruled by the Caliph Muhammad-an-Nasir and had threatened Toledo to annex it to his rule.

The Christian kingdom, also known as the Holy Crusade, consisted of an alliance of the Christian kingdoms of Castile, León and Aragon. It was supported by the Order of Calatrava, the Order of Santiago, the Knights Templar, the Knights Hospitaller and French, Leonese and Portuguese volunteers. Commanding this front were

Kings Alfonso VIII of Castile, Sancho VII of Navarre and Pedro II of Aragon.

In order to form the Christian front, the ecclesiastical role was necessary. Thus, the bishop of Toledo, Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, managed to convince the kings of Navarre and Aragon to join the fight against the Almohads. Pope Innocent II, for his part, promised forgiveness of sins to all those who fought against the Almohads.

The course of the battle

The Christian army, already formed by the alliance of the kingdoms of Castile, León and Aragon, assembled in Toledo in May 1212 and from there began their march towards the south of the Iberian Peninsula to defeat the Almohad army.

An-Nasir"s army tried to avoid the battle by blocking the Christians" path before reaching their destination, which they failed to do. In fact, the Christian army succeeded in making the battle take place on terrain that the Muslim army had not chosen and which was not favourable to their usual way of fighting.

Thus, on the morning of 16 July 1212, the Christian troops charged the Muslims, initiating the Battle of Navas de Tolosa.

The Caliph An-Nasir ordered the central corps of his army to advance on the Christian vanguard, while the Muslim cavalry advanced on both flanks. In fact, the Muslim army carried out the same strategy that it had developed at the Battle of Alarcos, which gave it victory at the time but failed to do so at the Battle of Navas de Tolosa.

Thus, the strategy developed by the Caliph An-Nasir consisted of feigning a retreat in order to lure the Christian army and defeat it. However, the Christians developed their own strategy, sensing that the Muslims would adopt the same strategy that had led them to victory at Alarcos.

The Christian army was thus divided into three fronts: Alfonso VIII and his cavalry in the centre, the Aragonese cavalry with Pedro II on the left flank and Sancho VII of Navarre and his cavalry on the right flank. This attack proved successful for the Christians, as they managed to stop the Muslims and stabilise the battle front.

On the afternoon of 16 July, Alfonso VIII ordered the advance of the entire Christian rearguard, made up of the best men from the three kingdoms. Thus, the Muslim lines retreated, despite being doubled in number, and the Christians advanced as far as the camp of the Caliph An-Nasir, who fled to the city of Jaén.

Implications of the battle for the course of the Reconquista

The Battle of Navas de Tolosa was the beginning of the end of the Almohad period in the Iberian Peninsula. The Muslims lost a large part of the troops that fought in the battle, beginning the decline of the Muslim kingdom.

With the triumph of the Christians at the Battle of Navas de Tolosa, they gained control of the castles of Vilches, Ferral, Baños de la Encina and Tolosa and destroyed the cities of Úbeda and Baeza.

The descendants of Alfonso VIII focused on conquering Muslim territories. Thus, Ferdinand III The Saint, successor to the Christian king, took Cordoba in 1236, Jaen in 1246 and Seville in 1248. In the territories conquered from the Muslims, the repopulation and evangelisation of these territories began, as well as the construction of new sanctuaries and the reconstruction of old Visigothic temples.