Battle of Guadalquivir (1138)

Battle of Guadalquivir (1138)
Part of the Reconquista
Guadalquivir River where Castilians raided some nearby towns
Date 1138 Location Guadalquivir Result Almoravid victory
Belligerents
Almoravid dynasty	Kingdom of Castile
Commanders and leaders
Unknown	Alfonso VII of León and Castile Rodrigo Fernández
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	All but one killed

The battle of Guadalquivir was a military engagement between the Almoravids and the raiding Castilians at the Guadalquivir river. The Almoravids annihilated the Castlian detachment.

Background

Main article: Andalusian campaign (1133)

The Castilian king, Alfonso VII, spent the first years of his reign establishing public order after civil wars and restoring towns conquored by the Aragonese. In 1131, Zafadola, the son of the last ruler of Banu Hud of Zaragoza, was given estates in Toledo and Extremadura, becoming his vassal and loyal to the king. In 1133, Alfonso led his army in a raid on the Guadalquivir valley. His men raided the valley, ravaging, looting, and enslaving. Alfonso returned to the north undefeated.

Battle

In 1138, Alfonos returned to Guadalquivir to repeat his success. He was accompanied by the governor of Toledo, Rodrigo Fernández. Alfonso encamped in Guadalquivir near Jaén. He then sent out parties to raid the outskirts of Jaén, Baeza, Ubeda, Andújar, and many other towns. They destroyed villages and mosques, burning down trees, and taking large numbers of captives and cattle. One of these parties, however, crossed the Guadalquivir River opposite the bank, probably without the King's command. They ravaged the countryside and took a number of slaves. After this, the party returned to where they crossed the river. However, when they reached there, a sudden flooding in the river cut off the party due to a hevy storm, rendering it blocked.

The Almoravids, realizing the detachment was cut off, sent a large number of cavalry and infantry to destroy them. The commanders of the main army were in no position to save them but to give them their last advice: to confess their sins to each other. The doomed raiders did so; they then proceeded to slaughter their captives, men, women, children, and cattle. The Almoravids attacked the raiders, massacring them all in front of the king. All were killed, except one who managed to swim across the river. The Almoravids cut off the heads of the Castilians and took their spoils. The King was saddened by the news and prompted him to return to Toledo.

Sources

• Richard Fletcher & Simon Barton (2000), The World of El Cid: Chronicles of the Spanish Reconquest.

• Derek W. Lomax (1978), The Reconquest of Spain.

• Manuel Colmeiro (1891), Reyes cristianos desde Alonso VI hasta Alfonso XI en Castilia, Aragon, Navarra y Portugal, Vol I.[1]