Battle of Mow Navas de Tolosa

The battles of Mow Navas de Tolosa or Hisn Al-Iqab took place with the locality Castillo of the cuesta , nowadays Castro Ferral province of Jaén - Spain Monday July 16th 1212, or the 15 safar 609 of the Hégire, between a coalition of circumstance fewer but more aguerrie of several Christian states of the Iberian peninsula against troops under command of Muhammad year-Nâsir of the dynasty of the Almohades.

Facts

Since Berber the almohades unified in 1147 most of the Maghreb and the south of Spain, the reconquest of the territory by the Christians is done more difficult. As from 1172, the Almohades attacks against the Christian borders intensify. Consequently, wars and truces follow one another between Moslems and Christians. The Castilians gain a great victory with the occupation of Cuenca (1177), but they are crushed in Alarcos (1195). The Almohade offensive destroys the defense system that the military orders of Alcántara, Santiago and Calatrava established in the English Channel. From now on, in front of the warlike ardor of Almohades, the union of the Iberian princes appears essential.

Between 1206 and 1209, Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, archbishop of Tolède (1208 - 1247), chronicler of this battle, succeeds in restoring peace between the Christian kings with the treaty of Guadalajara. It obtains from the pope Innocent III (pope 1198-1216), which it issues the crusade against Almohades, with same indulgences for the crusaders as those granted to the Holy Land combatants.

Strategic situation

The crusaders gather, at the end of May, in Tolède, symbol city of the Reconquista. There is: 60.000 Castilians, led by Alphonse VIII of Castille the Large one (1155-king 1158-1214), 50.000 Aragoneses and Catalans, taken along by Pierre II of Aragon (1148-count-king 1196-1213), 50.000 vassal of Alphonse IX king de León (1171-king 1188-1230), and more than 60.000 " Francos" with the prelates of Narbonne, Bordeaux and Nantes.

The army shakes in the heat of fact road and June towards the south. Calatrava, important city, which orders the access towards the Andalusia, is conquered soon: its loss is a great disaster for the Moslems. Its defender, Yusuf Ben Kadis, are carried out by IVe caliph Muhammad year-Nâsir (towards 1168-caliph 1199-1213), known under the name of Miramamolin, to have failed.

This victory causes defection of majority of cross nonIberian, which is estimated free of their wish of crusade, except for those which followed and the archbishop papal legate of Narbonne, Arnaud Amaury (1150-1225), the spiritual leader of another crusade, that against the Albigensian in Languedoc. Moreover, these fanatic soldiers do not include/understand only king de Castille saves the Muslim populations: its tolerance irritates them. Because for Alphonse VIII, these are new subjects that it is a question above all of sparing.

Prince Yaqub Ben Yusuf, wire of the caliph Muhammad year-Nâsir, anxious of the movements and the recent victories of the Christians, precipitately leaves Morocco with the head of his Berber and Arab warriors, and seizes the fortress of Salvatierra which the Christians held. June 24th, 1212, the Christian army leaves Tolède.

It is a primarily Spanish army which goes against the prince of Almohades. Because after the victory of Calatrava, Sanche VII the Fort, king de Navarre (1152-king 1172-1221), joined the Ost.
The crossing of the Morena Sierra, by diverted paths that the Moors do not supervise, is painful and perilous. A shepherd showed to the Christians the way to avoid the procession in the Morena Sierra. That enabled them to be installed on a plate (known as of the king).
Arrived on Friday, July 13, to 9 km in the North-West of the small village of Mow Navas de Tolosa, with the foot of the Morena Sierra, in the current province of Ciudad Real, with the hollow of one of these broad valleys to the soft slopes - that the Castilians call nava and Arabs Al-Iqab -, the crusaders see finally the immense Almohade army.

The carry-flag Diego López de Haro of king de Navarre, is assembled until the “ puerto of Losa ” accompanied by the shepherd by the place which knew the ground well. Since this place it could observe the site of the Moslem troops, which has largely favoured the Christian troops.

On the site of Mow Navas, prince Yaqub Ben Yusuf had had time to exploit the resources as well as possible of them. Its troops, strong of 200.000 men approximately, are laid out in two formed wings of cavalry of Berber volunteers and Andalusian quotas, on both sides of the regular troops Almohades. Those occupy a hillock, where the tent of the prince is drawn up, they gather abids, slaves armed with long javelins, which constitute the special guard of the chief, and with the archers, who, of this position, prepare to accommodate the Christian cavalry.

Vis-a-vis them, the site chosen by the Christians is a little less favorable, a plate, which rises plain.

During saturdays and Sunday many skirmishes occur.

Unfolding

After being themselves confessed and having received the communion, they launch the offensive at the dawn of the Monday, July 16, 1212.

The Military Castilians and Orders formed the center flanked on the right by the Navarreses and the urban militia of Avila, Segovia and Medina del Campo, and on the left by the Aragoneses.

The attack starts very badly for the forces of Reconquista. While the arrows launched since the fort where the Moslems are make devastations, the light cavalry of Berber and Andalusians wrap the wings of the Christians. The risk is great and several bodies of battle start to be relaxed.

But, with riders of elite, king de Castille and the archbishop of Tolède then take the head of a furious load which inserts the center of the Berber ones. The Kings d' Aragon and Navarre, indicator this fact, charge in their turn on the sides right and left with the Moslem troops.

The Christians arrive until the cutting off of the archers Moors and cut them in parts. At this time, the Moslem troops, décontenancées, release foot and flee in disorder. Enhardis by this success, the Christians launch out to their continuation. The prince almohade itself escapes with his personal guard, and the escape of their chief accentuates the panic of the Moslem soldiers, who are literally massacred.

Yaqub Ben Yusuf has time to be folded up on Baeza, but it is again constrained to leave this city to regain Morocco, when Alphonse VIII, prosecutor his advance, attacks Baeza and seizes itself some.

The escape precipitated of Yaqub Ben Yusuf, allowed to the Christians to recover immense spoils of war. Of these spoils one preserved the '' Pendon '', a Moslem Standard. Whose star reason takes again the exhortations of illuminations being reproduced on the specimens of Coran of the time. It is currently exposed to the Monastery of Santa Maria of mow Huelgas Reales, with Burgos.

On the battle field where lie of innumerable corpses, the crusaders gather and, carried out by the archbishop of Tolède, start Te Deum to return graces to their God of this victory, which, according to the legend, profited from the intervention of Notre-Dame of Rocamadour.

Consequences

The battle of Mow Navas de Tolosa does not have important immediate consequences, except for the raids on Baeza and the high valley of the Guadalquivir (of Arabic wâdî Al-Kebir - the Grande river.) But, because it puts an end to the myth invincibility of Almohades, it opens the way with the conquest of the major part of the south of Spain.

The castle of Calatrava Nueva, close to Almagro, was built by the Ordre of Calatrava, by using Moslem prisoners of the battle of Navas de Tolosa, between 1213 and 1217.

The Marocain empire of the dynasty of Almohades is parcelled out in several kingdoms, the Taïfas, in the Iberian peninsula, the union successful by the father and the large father of Muhammad year-Nasir is not any more. It is finished by it unit so much so that one of these entities, the future emirate of Grenade, sign an agreement of vassalage with the Castillans, which still preserves it for a long time and leaves the freehands to Spanish to garner the benefits of this victory in the form of conquered territories; the new Frontera is stabilized for the two centuries to come, it will be militarized because not pacified all length.

After a truce of ten years, the Christian expansion begins again: Cordoue falls in 1236, Seville in 1248, Cadiz in 1261.

The Blazon of the Kingdom of Navarre

The legend tells that king Sanche de Navarre crossed last defense, with a troop chosen especially for its bravery, and broke the chains which surrounded the reserves of Yaqub Ben Yusuf. In memory of his gesture, king de Navarre would have incorporated the chains in his blazon and which appear the same in the quarter lower right of the weapons of Spain. The historical research leans rather for an evolution of one ecu to ray of escarboucle towards the current ecu, but the legend is beautiful.

See too

External bonds

Pendon
the Blazon of the Kingdom of Navarre
Batalla of '' tired Navas ''
in the north of Jaén

Random links: