Alfonso XI of Castile was a tough guy. The chronicles define him as a born warrior who kept the local nobility – excessively rebellious – at bay and who was greatly stung by the defeats against the Muslims. The one who was the great-grandson of Alfonso That contest, ended with victory, put a stop to the last African attempt to dominate the territory. And the monarch, just as wise as his great-grandfather, took advantage of his momentum to take over many other regions such as Priego, Rute or Benamejí.
revolutionary king
Don Alfonso was born in Salamanca back in August 1311. And, as explained by the doctor in History Manuel López Fernández in ‘Hispanic medieval commanders. 14th and 15th centuries (Desperta Ferro), He inherited the throne the following year, after his father’s death. But, young as he was, he remained under the tutelage of his grandmother, María de Molina. It was she who protected him from political intrigue during the remaining decade of his life and who made his character emerge. This was made clear by the ‘Chronicle of Alfonso the Eleventh’, attributed to Fernán Sánchez de Valladolid: “He began to be very encavalgant and paid a lot for weapons.”
At fourteen the boy demonstrated his abilities by getting his majority recognized in the Cortes, and shortly after he was already directing his steps towards the kingdom of Granada, sword at his belt. There he lost his virginity – military, oh – with the conquest of Olvera and other surrounding towns. Although he quickly returned to Castile to avoid the possible revolt of the nobles opposed to his royal person. From then on he uncorked the bottle of conquests until 1330, when he signed a key document in history as the Peace of Theba. “Through this agreement, the king of Granada became his vassal, in addition to paying him 12,000 gold doubles annually in pariah concepts,” explains the author.
Already established on the throne, Alfonso XI became what López Fernández considers a revolutionary and versatile monarch; much more than the typical warrior king of the time. «Firstly, he managed to strengthen the power of the monarchy against a nobility that refused to bow to the will of the monarch himself. Compliance was achieved in a negotiated manner in most cases, presenting chivalry as the basis of their Court model,” says the author. Furthermore, he founded the Order of the Band to reward his most faithful nobles – which increased their loyalty – and stood out as one of the most efficient negotiators of his era from an international point of view, then Portugal, Granada or Fez.
And that, not to mention his performance in the field of culture. “In this aspect we can highlight the creation of a new chronicle discourse by Fernán Sánchez de Valladolid, author of the chronicles of the reigns of Alfonso X, Sancho IV, Fernando IV and Alfonso himself,” says the doctor in History. Although his greatest desire was always to push the Arab enemy towards the south. Hence his obsession with reconquering the town of Gibraltar, lost in 1333, or gaining naval control of the Strait to prevent the transport of troops to the peninsula by the North Africans.
last attempt
In this context with the scent of reconquest, the Benimerines took power in North Africa and decided to expand towards the peninsula at the beginning of the 14th century. A serious problem for Don Alfonso that worsened in 1339, when the king Abu-I-Hasan He took the waters of the Strait of Gibraltar from Castile with his fleet. Far from stopping, these tribes allied themselves with the Nasrid kingdom of Granada and, in mid-September, they began the march towards the Christian city of Tarifa. Thus, given the desperate situation, the Castilian king Alfonso XI decided to put an end to the situation by using the tactic he knew best: war.
«A worthy competitor was going to find the benimerín in the young and fiery Alfonso XI. Born warrior, it was said of him that not a single day could live without war,” highlights the now deceased history expert Ambrosio Huici Miranda in ‘The great battles of the Reconquista during the African invasions’. The king ordered his soldiers to prepare to meet the Muslim army that was besieging Tarifa, which had also received reinforcement troops from Yusuf I, Nasrid monarch of Granada. Faced with the enormous enemy force, the Castilian asked his father-in-law, Alfonso IV of Portugal, for help. Time played against them: the longer it took, the more likely it was that the city would fall.
Therefore, the Christian army forced its march until, almost exhausted, it reached the banks of the Salado River at the end of October 1340, a small stream about seven kilometers long located near the city of Tarifa. Once there, the sight of the Muslim contingent briefly made the soldiers’ hearts shrink. And the fact is that, at the gates of the city, no less than between 60,000 and 80,000 enemies were gathered, an army formed mostly by foot lancers, crossbowmen and the feared Mohammedan light horsemen, of great versatility in combat. In exchange, the Christians added 9,000 cavalry and 13,000 infantry. The numbers were not the best.
Face to face, and only with the Salado River between them, the commanders of both armies began to place their troops on the improvised board that the land of Tarifa had become. Thus, the Muslims decided to burn their siege engines to prevent them from being captured and, after dividing their troops into two camps, they positioned themselves to confront the combined forces. For his part, Alfonso
On the morning of October 30, after confessing, the Christians formed what could be their last battle before passing on to the other world. In their favor they had the strength of chivalry and faith, since this campaign had been classified as a crusade by the Papacy. The orders were clear: the Castilians would fight against the Benimerines while the Portuguese would face Yusuf’s troops. To do this, the Portuguese king received the support of 3,000 Hispanic cavalry.
«The Christians formed their battle line, as usual, with a vanguard of Castilian heavy cavalry and military orders, followed by a main body of infantry. On both flanks were two cavalry units and, on the left flank, the Portuguese heavy cavalry. The Muslim army formed a solid phalanx of infantry, behind which was placed the Maghrebi cavalry, divided into five large units. A large mass of infantry was placed behind. On the right flank he formed the Nasrid cavalry, under the command of Yusuf I» determine Juan Vázquez and Lucas Molina in ‘Great Battles of Spain’.
After the sun rose enough so that it did not disturb the Christians’ vision, the allied contingent prepared to cross the Salado River and confront, once and for all, the enemy. The Castilian vanguard was the first to attack. “Arriving at the river, they took a narrow bridge, which was defended by two thousand five hundred Muslim horses, and when there were eight hundred of them, they made them give up the field,” Miranda states in his work. However, instead of securing the bridge, the heavy cavalry formed a long line and charged into the Muslim infantry. The clash was terrible for the Mohammedans, who broke formation.
Faced with the disbandment of the men on foot, the Benimerin cavalry had no choice but to charge against the heavy Castilian horsemen instead of carrying out their favorite tactic: that of assaulting and attacking the enemy. This was one of the first Muslim mistakes, as they engaged in a hand-to-hand fight to which, in a few minutes, several groups of allied infantry also arrived. Meanwhile, on the left flank, the Portuguese horsemen engaged in combat with the Nasrids, whom they forced to flee thanks to the support of the Castilian knights. However, the allies knew that they still had to face the powerful rearguard of infantry in a last and bloody battle.
But, when this contingent was going to join the fray, a miracle happened for the allies: suddenly, the defenders of Tarifa left the city determined to assault the Muslim rearguard. Caught between two forces, the Mohammedans knew instantly that the contest was impossible to win, so they began a chaotic retreat that ended with many of them drowning on the beach.
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