At the historical moment that the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa took place (13th century), we find ourselves with a divided and confronted Iberian Peninsula. According to medieval historiography, on the one hand, we will have the five peninsular Christian kingdoms: Castile, with Alfonso VIII at the head; León, with Alfonso IX; Portugal, with Alfonso II; Aragon, with Pedro II; and Navarra, with Sancho VII. All of them, in continuous dispute over territories and privileges, something that led them on several occasions to use force of arms against each other, neglecting as a consequence the advance of the Reconquest. The achievement of a firm unity between Christian kingdoms being necessary to be able to dispute the peninsular domain against the Muslims on the battlefield. Unit that was not reached until the thirteenth century.
On the other hand, facing these disunited and conflicting Christian kingdoms, was the compact Almohad Empire, with its caliph Yusuf Al-Mansur at the head, succeeded by his son Mohamed Al-Nasir in 1199. According to the Arab sources of the time, the arrival of these Almohads to the Peninsula took place between the years 1146-1147. Who in the first instance occupied the border bases of Tarifa and Algeciras commanded by Barraz ibn Muhammad Al-Masufi, military envoy of Abd Al-Mumin, the first Almohad caliph (1130-1163). Bases from where the process of occupation of the peninsular territory started.
In the first place, the Almohads went to the Algarve, and then they marched on Seville, a city that became the capital of the Empire in Al-Andalus. From then on, the Almohads continued their conquering process, cornering the Christian kingdoms, subduing the Andalusians, setting aside the relaxed customs cultivated by the Almoravids and imposing their strong Islamic faith. In this way, “a vast Almohad Empire was established that occupied at the beginning of the 13th century the southern half of the Iberian Peninsula and the entire strip of North Africa to Tripoli (Libya)” (CUSIN JURY, p.83).
LAS NAVAS DE TOLOSA: BATTLE
The defeat in Alarcos (1195) of Alfonso VIII of Castile against the Almohad caliph Yusuf Al-Mansur was decisive, since it marked the future actions of both leaders. In the fields of Ciudad Real, the Castilians suffered a heavy defeat that forced them to retreat to Toledo. Alfonso VIII was determined not to wait for the reinforcements that the other Christian kingdoms could send, which inevitably led him to be in the minority against the Almohad caliph in the Alarcos military camp. The Muslim archer riders managed to bend and massacre the Castilian knights, whose dreaded rides were of no use, causing a real massacre among the Castilian cavalry.
The Muslims behind Alarcos decided to go on the attack. However, the sudden death of Caliph Yusuf Al-Mansur (1199) and the proclamation of his son delayed the offensive plans. It was between 1202 and 1204, when the new caliph Al-Nasir – known by Christians as Miramamolín – decided to go on the attack again. Thus, after pacifying his African Empire and strengthening his caliphal authority, he seized Mallorca and Menorca. Proclaiming, then, from the capital of his Empire (Marrakesh) the jihad against the Christian peninsular kingdoms.
For its part, Alfonso VIII, faced with the above scenario, sought the support of Pope Innocent III, who launched a crusade bull. Here, the protection of Castile was guaranteed, which could not be attacked by any of its neighboring kingdoms under pain of excommunication. Also offering, to the servants of God of all Christianity, forgiveness for their sins if they went to the Peninsula to fight the infidel.
The new Muslim threat and the previous crusade bull managed to achieve a certain unity between the peninsular Christian kingdoms of Aragon, Castile and Navarre. Thus, the contest was close and the tension before the armed clash was already palpable in the hearts of the contenders with the arrival of the month of May 1212.
The Christians with Alfonso VIII at the head, managed to gather a considerable force for the time, around 27,000 men, some of these being: 18,000 Castilians, 8,500 Aragonese under the command of King Pedro II, 200 Navarrese under the command of King Sancho VII and 300 Portuguese, Leonese and ultramontane volunteers. The latter without their kings at the head, since Alfonso IX of León had been excommunicated by the Papacy because of his dealings with the infidel and his attacks on Castile, for his part, the Portuguese monarch, Alfonso II, was immersed in other conflicts.
Despite everything, “the Crusader troops consisted of 22,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry. An excellent heavy cavalry where the royal retinues and the friars of the four military orders stood out, Santiago, Temple, Hospital and Calatrava” (PRIMO JURADO, p.84). Faced with these Christian forces, the Miramamolín appeared with a superior army in number, his forces being mostly men on foot, mounted Andalusians, Turkish-Mongolian archers on horseback and volunteers of the faith.
Today there is still some controversy regarding the combat figures. In this way, some sources indicate that the Christians came with about 70,000 men and the Almohads with about 120,000. However, other sources point to these figures as exaggerated and bulky, taking into account the peninsular population at the time and the cost of maintenance for such an army. Proposing numbers between 70,000-50,000 Muslims and 30,000-20,000 Christians. However, from this dance of figures, something that we do make clear is that we are facing the greatest military confrontation of the moment.
With everything, the Christian contingent left Toledo in May 1212 and advanced south to meet the Almohads. After the taking of Malagón, almost all the ultramontane deserted due to the heat and discomfort, and because Alfonso VIII ordered not to pillage, which they did not respect. Thus, only 150 ultramontane knights from Languedoc remained in contention, with the Bishop of Narbonne at their head.
Almohads and Christians met face to face on July 13, 1212, after the latter managed to avoid the Muslim blockade exerted on the Despeñaperros passes, managing to cross to the south through the Puerto del Rey pass guided by a shepherd. At this moment, the combat was already imminent, on one side the Christians camped in the King’s Table and on the other the Almohads of Al-Nasir –Miramamolín for the Christians–, camped on the Cerro Olivares, separated only by the plain of the mountains. Navas of Toulouse.
Alfonso VIII decided to change the strategy with respect to the one used in Alarcos, since the light Almohad cavalry wreaked havoc with its encircling movements on the heavy and slow Christian cavalry. For this reason, on this occasion the crusading army was arranged in three lines, the first occupied by various Castilian council militias and numerous knights, all of them led by Diego López de Haro, Lord of Vizcaya. The second housed more militiamen, the Aragonese, the Navarrese, the Portuguese, the ultramontane and the military orders. And the third, in the rear, was the place chosen for the three Christian monarchs, Alfonso VIII of Castile, Pedro II of Aragon and Sancho VII of Navarre.
It was in the early hours of dawn on July 16, 1212 when hostilities broke out, leaving the first Christian line to attack and uphill towards the Almohad positions. Encountering in the first instance the volunteers of the Muslim faith, poorly armed and equipped, the cavalry of the Lord of Vizcaya caused havoc among their ranks. In this way, the Christians managed to destroy the first line of the Almohad forces and continue their advance on the second line.
It is at this moment, when the Miramamolín generals tried to implement the same strategy as Alarcos. Using identical attack and flight movements, inciting the Christian knights to pursue the Muslim archer horsemen and fall into their trap. However, on this occasion the forces of the cross merely regrouped and held together against the second Almohad line.
The clash between the men of the Lord of Vizcaya and the Muslim second line was harsh and bloody, being quickly reduced the Christian forces to less than half. Especially forceful was the blow to the Madrid militiamen who were practically exterminated. It was time to make way for the second Christian line, which bravely stood up to the powerful Andalusian troops and Almohad regulars. Given the intensity of the combat and the tangle of men that took place in the Campo de las Navas, the military orders were unable to implement their charging strategy, having to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Christian infantry who were still resisting. Trying to break Navarrese, Portuguese, Leonese, Castilian and ultramontane to an enemy superior in number.
This was the critical episode of the battle, as the Crusaders were on the verge of being overwhelmed, encircled by their wings and surrounded, which would have spelled their total doom. Nevertheless, It was in this moment of desperation that we found ourselves before the key episode that tipped the balance of the conflict towards the Christian side. Thus, “Alfonso VIII, decided that he would not return to Castile again alive and defeated. He looked to his right at Archbishop Jiménez de Rada and told him, while he unsheathed his sword: << Here, Mr. Bishop, we all die! >>. And ordering the banner of Castile to be waved, he charged forward with his royal retinue” (PRIMO JURADO, p.89). He being immediately followed by the other two remaining monarchs, resulting in the famous charge of the three kings.
The charge of the sovereigns broke the compact Almohad line creating gaps, quickly exploited by the Christian infantry to penetrate the Muslim ranks.. Causing a great mortality among the Almohads, who began to give up and begin the retreat. With the Almohad vanguard defeated, the Christian knights focused on their final objective, taking the Muslim camp and the Caliph’s red tent. Who had been the whole battle locked in it reading the Koran.
However, achieving this objective was complicated because the Miramamolín, on the eve of the battle, had ordered the camp to be surrounded with wicker baskets one and a half meters long, filled with sand and tied together to prevent the penetration of the Crusader cavalry. Furthermore, the caliph’s tent was heavily guarded and surrounded by his Black Guard of burly Sub-Saharans, chained together and armed with large spears. This wall of men prevented the passage of the Christian cavalry for a long time, developing a bloody fight between the Black Guard and the Christian infantrymen, giving the caliph time to flee. Legend has it that it was the monarch Sancho VII of Navarre who managed to break the siege of the chains with his weapon, allowing his courageous action to penetrate the…