Image 1

Former coat of arms of the town of Évora (Portugal, XIV century). The high relief above shows Christian nobleman Giraldo the Fearless (Geraldo Sem-Pavor) wielding a broadsword. Oral tradition has it that he broke into the principal tower of the town alone and cut off the heads of an old Moor and that of his daughter’s, who were in possession of the keys to the town’s main gates. That same night his small army recaptured Évora. Right above him, we can see the representation of the heads of the two decapitated Moslems. From that event onward, Évora became one of the main centers of military resistance against the Almohades. In: MATTOSO, José (dir.). História de Portugal - Antes de Portugal. Lisboa: Editorial Estampa, s/d., vol. 2, p. 428.

In the Middle Ages, men were happy to go to war. A great polarization there existed, however: whereas the peasantry endured great sufferings with the deaths of their kinsfolk and the devastation of fields and crops, the knights sang as they rode on, looking forward to engaging in the fight. Spring was the appropriate season. So, there was, also, a great paradox: whilst the flowers bloomed and nature came back into effervescence, leaving winter hibernation behind, poets and troubadours ushered in the return of life and, at the same time, the moment of combat. For example, Bertrand de Born (1159-1197) exalted the colorful flowers and leaves, the singing birds and the knights who, merrily, cried “forward” as they headed on toward death. That excitement, that feeling of euphoria was frequent among those rude and violent men, always ready for hand-to-hand fighting and for the virile clanging of swords and shields (2):

Once he has begun to fight, no noble knight thinks of anything but slashing heads and armors, a dead man is better than one who is alive but useless (...) Barons, it is better for you to lose castles, villages and towns than refusing, any one of you, to go to war (3).

That was the lay war: a feast, like a tournament (4). But there was another war, far more important, solemn, sacred, that would confer upon the Christian combatant the glory of Paradise and eternal blessings: the crusade. Holy war, war between two visions, two religions. In the Iberian Peninsula, the mentality of crusade slowly penetrated the nobility, partially owing to the immigration of French knights (5), partly thanks to the Cluny abbey’s share in the diffusion of that mentality, (6), always supported by the Papacy, and partly due to the work of the Military Orders, always ready to spread the new chivalrous ideal of the monk-crusader. (7)

It was toward the end of the rule of Alfonso VIII (1158-1214), the Noble, of Castile, that the character of the crusade was definitely associated with the Reconquest. This was due, principally, to the second Islamic offensive of the Almohades, in 1179. That North-African dynasty (1130-1269), whose members called themselves the “believers in the unity of God”, was even more intolerant than its predecessor, that of the Almoravids (1056-1147), preaching a rigorous morality based on the Koran.

Being themselves some sort of soldier-monks, the Almohades harbored a natural aversion for the Almoravid “depraved civilization” of al-Andaluz, (8), as this passage of the work Kitab al-Muchid shows:

The Almoravids have forsaken each other, yielding to their own taste for restfulness and tranquility and allowing themselves to be subjected to the authority of their women. Eventually, they became the object of the disdain and scorn of the inhabitants of al-Andaluz, stirring their enemies’ audacity. And thus the Christians took numerous strongholds along the borders of their territory. (9)

Then, starting out from Morocco, seat of their empire, in 1179, the Almohades launched a counter-attack which, apart from ending the Almoravid dynasty, imposed a series of defeats upon the Christians. However, the most spectacular of them, that of Alarcos (1195), was also the last North-African Moslem victory in the Iberian Peninsula. (10)

Alfonso VIII took part in the battle of Alarcos, being defeated. Seventeen years later, though, he won the most famous confrontation with the Moslems in the history of the Reconquista, the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212), burying definitely all Moslem claims to possessions in al-Andaluz and effecting, indelibly, the association of the mentality of crusade with the Spanish Reconquest.

In this article, I will analyze, briefly, the construction of the warlike image of Alfonso VIII and his incredible history of love and crime, chastisement and redemption contained in the General Chronicle of Spain of 1344, which was written by Count Don Pedro, bastard son of the king Don Dinis of Portugal. (11)

My own perspective will be that of the actors of the time, themselves. My artform of choice, the narrative. (12) My method, the comparative analysis of contemporary texts: I will confront the General Chronicle of Spain of 1344 with the Latin Chronicle of the Kings of Castile (13), The First General Chronicle (History of Spain), that was composed at the order of Alfonso X, the Wise (14), a letter by the archbishop of Narbonne (15) and four Moslem texts. (16) Thus, it is expected that, drawing from sources of both sides of the struggle, the reader will possess a good overview of the matter, apart from a better perception of the singularity of the “fantastic narrative” contained in the Chronicle of Spain.

I. Alfonso VIII, Doña Eleonor and the Jewish “witch”

According to the General Chronicle of Spain, Alfonso VIII was “already a grown-up man” in 1170 (he was twelve years old!), when his ambassadors brought him the daughter of Henry II of England, Eleonor (1161-1214), to marry. She was nine years old. (17) Soon after his wedding, the king went to Toledo, where he met a Jewish girl with whom he fell in love. She probably was from a rich family, for in Toledo Jewish women enjoyed great economic independence. (18) Alfonso loved that “Jewish witch” so passionately that he forgot Eleonor, his own kingdom and whatever else there was. The Archbishop Rodrigo said he kept himself “imprisoned” with her for seven months; “And some say that so great an affection he had for that Jew was nothing but the product of spells that she was able to cast upon him”. (19)

Image 2

Alfonso VIII and Queen Eleonor delivering the city and the village of Uclés to the master of the Order of Santiago (Miniatura del Tumbo Menor de Castilla. Archivo Historico National. Madrid). In: RIBEIRA, Pedro. “Historia de España (Edades Antigua y Media)”. Enciclopedia Labor. Barcelona: Editorial Labor, 1959, p. 128.

However, the counts, knights and rich men of Castile, seeing that the kingdom was in great danger, cut the girl’s throat, killing her.

Alfonso was inconsolable. One night, when he was thinking about that “cursed wretch,” a miracle took place: an angel appeared to him, that reprehended him and told him that he would not have a male son to succeed him, since God wanted to chastise him. When the angel left, the king was very sad and the royal chamber was inundated by an “awesome odor and a great clarity." (20)

Owing to this sin, king Alfonso, a “much honored man, very noble and of great understanding, liberal and justice-loving" (21), was defeated at Alarcos! That is the comprehension of the chronicler, typical of the medieval conception of historical processes. Additionally, according to the Chronicle, the Christians lost the battle because the Castilian noblemen did not engage in it as fiercely as they should since they were dishonored (jealous!) by the words of praise that Alfonso VIII had said in favor of the knights from Extremadura. (22)

II. The Battle of Alarcos (1195): Moorish and Christian witnesses

From 1177 on, with the conquest of Cuenca, Alfonso had managed to make important advancements into the Moslem territory, taking and occupying fortresses and handing them over to the Military Orders. (23) The monk-knights were, since 1150 at least, on the front line of the Reconquest, fighting the most decisive combats. (24)

In order to defend that frontier, Alfonso began the construction of the fortified village of Alarcos, a little northward from the Guadiana river, threatening from there many Moslem cities and fortresses, from which he began to demand an important boon. (25) In addition, he tried to occupy the territory with Christians, "peopling" a series of villages in Extremadura, "without stopping to do harm to the Moor" (26) (see image 3).

Image 3

The village of Alarcos

The Islamic reaction did not take long to begin. Moslem forces, under the command of Moroccan Sultan Yacub ben Yusef I (1184-1199), crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and headed for Cordoba. They stayed there for three days, taking some rest. According to the Andalucian chronicler Ibn Idari (in his Al-Bayán al-Mugrib (27), that dates from the XIII century), a force of Christian cavalry advanced, then, toward Calatrava, a fortress located half-way between Cordoba and Alarcos (image 4), in order to collect intelligence on that new invasion.

The Moslem castle dwellers, however, gave battle against the invading party, going out to fight the enemy "like the hungry man runs for food or the thirsty runs for water." (28)

Image 4

The military offensive of the Christendom against Islam. In: CORTÁZAR, Garcia de. Historia de España Alfaguarra II. La época medieval. Madrid: Alianza Universidad, 1981, p. 157. Note that between the battles of Alarcos and Las Navas de Tolosa the borderline separating the two cultures was situated between the Tejo and Guadiana rivers, already in the center-south of the Peninsula.

The Christians fled in disarray. Their flight was seen as the "coming of victory" by the Moslems. In his text, Ibn Idari calls into attention the speeches so eloquently made by the Moslem leaders, raising the spirits of the combatants: that of the vizier Abu Yahia, who appealed to the listeners’ emotions and brought them to tears; that of the cádi (judge) Abu Ali ibn Hachchach, who incited them to fight a Holy War, and the people “went out with their intelligences illuminated and purified in the direction of God, their souls fortified themselves and their bravery and boldness redoubled,” and that of al-Mansur who, amidst the battle, delivered so beautiful a speech that “set the souls ablaze,” and each platoon attacked the closest enemies, making the combat burn like fire until the moment of victory.

The "cursed" Alfonso escaped, but, according to the chronicler, thirty thousand Christians were killed. Only five hundred Moslems "suffered the martyrdom." Thus, the "mistakes of the Christian polytheists" and the "frauds of those infidels" were laid bare. (29)

For its part, the Latin Chronicle of the Kings of Castile, more realistically, reports that the victorious tactic of the Moslems combined tiredness and a surprise attack: knowing that the Christians had already arrived at the site of the battle early in the morning, the sultan ordered his men to wait and rest, forcing the enemy's strength to wear away as they stayed in the sun bearing the heavy weight of the armory and weapons, coupled with thirst, during the whole day, and the next.

Image 5

Illumination of the “Seasons of Hariri” (1237). Manuscript of the National Library of Paris. In: MATTOSO, José (dir.). História de Portugal 1 - Antes de Portugal. Lisboa: Editorial Estampa, s/d, p. 399. This picture represents the moment that antecedes a combat. The warriors beat drums and blow horns (eschatological sounds), so as to frighten the enemy.

Around midnight, the Moslem army prepared for action and attacked the Christian camp in the early hours of the third day. The unexpected presence of the Moors "simultaneously produced astonishment and fear amidst the enemies," who disorderly left their tents:

An innumerable quantity of arrows flew across the air and, although sent into the unknown, hurt the Christians with a deadly blow. Both sides fought with vigor. The day, prodigal in human blood, sent Moors down to the Tartar –the Islamic equivalent to Hell– and removed Christians over to the eternal palaces. (30)

On the other hand, the General Chronicle of Spain is quite succinct in relation to the Christian defeat at Alarcos. Initially, the chronicler tells us that, as soon as he learned of the Almohade advance, Alfonso arrived at Alarcos and, imprudently, did not want to wait for reinforcements to come (31) - which is confirmed by the Latin Chronicle of the Kings of Castile: “The glorious king of Castile did not want to wait for the king of León, who was marching to help him and was already in the land of Talavera, despite the insistence with which that advice was given him by men known to be prudent and well acquainted with the matters of warfare.” (32) And proceeds:

Being Don Alfonso in Alarcos, there came up against him the Moor with so great a might that one could not count. And the king soon gave them battle, like a very courageous knight. The combat was fought with great force from both sides, but Jesus Christ did not want the Christians to finish the battle with honor, because not all of their hearts were set on the battle, as one, nor did they help their master as they should. Therefore, they were vanquished and many of them perished and, in the end, with great wounds, the king was removed from there by force, for he wanted to die there, but his countrymen did not allow him to, fleeing with him toward Toledo. (33)

Another Moslem chronicler, Marrakuxi, claims that Alfonso managed to escape with only thirty of his officers, and the sultan, advancing beyond Calatrava, conquered several fortresses that surrounded Toledo, returning to Seville "crowned with the halo of victory." (34)

Although young and impulsive, Alfonso understood the divine message: that defeat was a punishment from God for the sin he had committed, that is, for having loved that Jewish young woman from Toledo so madly, just as the angel had told him. At this paradigmatic moment, the narrative points to a radical change in the life of the king:

So goes the story that, after his defeat on that battle of Alarcos, Don Alfonso looked like a broken man and was always very sad, believing that, due to his sin, God had given him that penance. Henceforth, he labored to straighten out his life and to do service to God in every way he could, giving out alms generously and reconciling himself with all those of whom he knew not to like him, especially the noblemen, in such a manner that he won their hearts for his service. (35)

The chronicler's literary structuring leaves no room for doubt: to the medieval man, the battlefield was the place wherein he was to settle all accounts with God. (36) The people ("folks") always had to bear the consequences brought about by the sins of their leader. According to the medieval political thought, king and subjects formed one single body. (37)

Hence, Alfonso went ahead with his redemptive via crucis: he built schools and paid "great sums" to schoolmasters, "so that students could not have excuses not to learn;" further, he built both a monastery, securing for it a legacy of several land possessions, and a hospital for the care of the sick:

…and to the poor that go there, they give food and good beds, taking care of the sick until they are healed; and those who die therein are honorably buried, so that in the name of the king, who has always been good in life, they may be honored in this world, and pray to God for him and for all the other kings who have been good and straight, so may God give them the Paradise. Amen. (38)

III. Preparations for the Holy War

While he was undergoing that process of conversion, Alfonso VIII asked the archbishop Don Rodrigo to go to Pope Innocent III and beseech him to order a crusade. After the papal acceptance, there began to come to Toledo large companies of crusaders, from all parts of Europe. Violent, speaking different languages, they “did great harm, for they killed Jews and did many other sorts of misbehavior.” (39) They were joined by the king Don Pedro II of Aragon, the Catholic (1196-1213), along with barons of high lineage, counts, viscounts and prelates, and the king Don Sancho of Navarra, the Strong (1194-1234), with thirteen hundred knights. (40)

In all, if we give credit to the Chronicle of 1344, the crusade movement managed to muster thirty thousand mounted warriors and countless foot soldiers, all well paid by Don Alfonso with maravedis, “a currency that was widely accepted and very good.” (41) Finally there could not be absent the masters of the military orders of Santiago, of São João de Jerusalém, of Calatrava and of the Templo (42), conferring, therefore, a sacred character upon the combat that was about to begin.

Starting out from Toledo, the big army of crusaders laid siege to and conquered the fortress of Malagón, “killing and burning all the Moors.” Thenceforth, they began to encircle the castle of Calatrava, already at the limit between the two worlds, no-man’s land that stirred the imagination that imbued the Christian perception of Geography. (43) After having laid a marvelous siege around it, “with so many arrows and stones that not a single Moor dared to show himself up the walls” (44), an agreement was worked out whereby Alfonso secured its surrender. Generously, Alfonso VIII gave everything that was inside the castle to the kings of Aragon and Navarre and to all foreign combatants. His royal prodigality was of the chivalrous type, the largesse, representative of the medieval nobility’s mentality. (45)

Meanwhile, the Almohade Morrocan king Abu Yusuf al-Nasir (known as Miramolim in the Chronicle of 1344), (46), who concentrated his peoples in Jaén, southward to the Guadalquivir river (see image 4), awaited for the Christian advance, taking into account the probable occurrence of illnesses and deaths among Christians provoked by the insalubrious condition of the Guadiana river. When he learned that many Frenchmen had been contaminated by that and had died, he, contented, sent his troops forward in a calculated attempt to cut off the supply lines of the enemy.

Don Alfonso then ordered three barons to go out in search of supplies, with approximately ten thousand knights. This group arrived at the neighboring areas of the castle of Ferral (Castro Ferral, see image 7), and realized that the access paths to it had been occupied by the Moors. With their advance toward the castle blocked, the Christians were given the blessing of a divine miracle: with the help of a shepherd-angel (“certainly an angel of God he was” [47]), they were guided through a gorge until they reached a hill covered with good pastures, known as the “silk of the emperor,” (48), and there, on a Saturday, their armies received enough fresh supplies. (49)

Upon the return of the barons, the kings ordered their men to pitch tents facing the enemy line directly. This time growing impatient, Miramolim moved his own tent on to a position to the right of that of the king of Castile, along with his strong divisions ('azes'), commanded by "many kings and men of high rank." (50). However, now the Christians did not hurry: realizing that the Moors were attempting to ensnare them and seeing that their horses, after the ride through the gorge, were exhausted, they decided to rest, letting the Almohade king waiting on the battlefield.

Meanwhile, the Archbishop of Toledo, Don Rodrigo, the one who had asked the Pope to call for the Crusade that resulted in that battle, was praying. He urged every men to take Communion, obtaining thus divine forgiveness and cleansing their hearts before the battle. It was Sunday. Next morning, after attending Mass, when the prelates gave the Holy Sacrament to the knights, the cavalry marched on, as the sun rose up, irradiating its light. (51)

IV. The Crusade of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212)

So, the military procession began on Monday. The joy and enthusiasm of the combatants blended with the colors of the blooming springtime around them and with the multitude of colors of coats of arms and banners bearing the symbols of the distinct lineages that merged into the Crusade (see image 6).

The liturgical theater of war presented its protagonists. Alfonso VIII was the main character; his coadjutants were positioned around him. Thus, flanking him, on one side, Don Rodrigo Dias de Cameiros, together with many noblemen and members of diverse municipalities (concelhos)(52); to the other side, the Count Don Gonçalo de Lara, accompanied by the military orders of Santiago, São João and Calatrava, and a multitude of concelhos. Don Alfonso rode with the rear division (az posterior), having, by his side, the Archbishop of Toledo and many counts and noblemen; to his right, there also rode the king of Navarre and, to his left, that of Aragón.

Image 6

The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. Afonso X, Cantigas de Santa Maria. Manuscript (50 x 34 cm). Castela (c. 1260-1270). BnF (Facsimile ms. T.l.1 fol. 92, Madrid, National Heritage)

With those commanders on the lead, the ‘azes’ moved on into the open field. Then there appeared in the sky a most beautiful and colorful cross. The Christians took it for a good portent of victory. (53)

Image 7

Las Navas de Tolosa, according to a XVI century map. In: SÁNCHEZ-ALBORNOZ, Claudio (org.) La España Musulmana — según los autores islamitas y cristianos medievales. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe S. A., 1986, tomo II, p. 363.

Right before them, there stood Evil – it is important for the historian to try to assimilate the viewpoint that informed the narrative that he is trying to analyze, with the perspective of the contemporary writer, along with the maniqueist simbology pervading the latter’s mental representations. (54) And so the commander of the evil forces, Miramolim, paraded with his battles in good array, full of Moors and led by most noble captains.

Close to his tent, the Islamic leader ordered a division to be assembled for his defense (a so-called 'az de curral'). The Christian chronicler underlined the shamefulness in it: armed men on foot were designed to protect the sultan, but they were chained with iron shackles, to prevent them from escaping. Captives. Of those there were a hundred thousand black men, Moslems, carrying spears, swords and daggers, accompanied by archers and crossbow men. An army of prisoners within the Moslem army. (55)

Not satisfied with that much protection, inside that ‘az de curral,’ an additional force of thirty thousand men provided increased security for that most precious thing: the body of the sultan. A throng, therefore. (56) And how about the whole of the army? To count them, tells the chronicler, was impossible: “there is no man that can imagine it, let alone calculate it.” (57) To listen to them, would be astonishing –one of the differences between the Christian and Moslem armies related to noise: whereas the Christians fought in silence, the Moslems used drums and horns (ver image 5).

The first and decisive strike against the Moslem forces was delivered by Don Diego Lopez and Don Garcia Romeiro. The two noblemen were so inflamed by the crusade that, onto whatever direction they charged through, “it looked like the place was set ablaze.” When, next, there came into the battle the forces of Don Alfonso VIII, the Moslems began to run away. In astonishment, Miramolim, ordering the horns to be blown and the drummers to beat their instruments, rode on into the battlefield, his horse colorfully adorned, and called every Moor, with shouts, to get back into the fight. (58)

On the other hand, the Christians had been whipped up by Don Alfonso, who made incensed speeches amidst the battle. (59) When he actually got into the fight, the blows he delivered were also so fierce that “a fire seemed to light up the bushes.” Thenceforth, the sultan’s forces were dismantled gradually, until the crusaders approached the ‘az de curral,’ that innermost part of the Moslem army, where the chief commander was protected by enslaved soldiers, bound up in iron chains. It looked impossible for anyone to break through that barrier. Then, boldly, Don Álvaro Nunes, who carried the king’s pennon, spurred his horse and leapt into the enemy ranks, being followed by the kings of Aragon and Navarre.

Other Christian knights witnessed that gesture of courage and boldness of Don Álvaro, typical of the impetuosity that should be expected from a crusader. (60) Hence, all of them followed him, breaking into the az de curral, and the battle that followed “was the most cruel and forceful, and there took place many great and momentous blows against the enemy, producing a big slaughter of Moors, that one could marvel at.” (61)

VeSeeing that his az de curral was in shatters and that his men had been defeated, Miramolim “rode away on his colorful horse” and managed to escape. The “most noble” Christian kings tried to go out after him, but the terrain was so clogged with corpses that their horses could not proceed. The sultan arrived at Baeça and told the Moslems of the sad result of the battle. Afterward, he left for Jaén.

Exhausted, but victorious, Alfonso VIII took some rest inside Miramolim’s tent. During the next couple of days, the Christians collected the rich booty that was dispersed over the battlefield: gold, precious gems, silk fabrics, horses and weapons (the structure of the medieval war machine, as of the XIII century, had since long been pervaded by the use of money). (62) Not only did they collect those riches, but they also killed many Moors that were lying in agony amid the dead. (63) According to the Archbishop Don Rodrigo, out of the eighty thousand Moors that took part in the battle on horseback, thirty five thousand died, whereas the number of dead foot soldiers soared up to more than two hundred thousand. As for the Christian fatal casualties, the total did not surpass the figure of a hundred and fifty! “Thus God shows us how marvelous he is through His works.” (64)

Soon after that smashing Christian victory, the Portuguese chronicler tells us that the wrath of God had befallen Spain, for they had had so bad a year and so “scarce of bread” that the men had died of hunger, the fruit of the earth had perished and, also, animals and fowls had not bred. Had it been the manifestation of the ire of God against a Christian victory? No, it had only been a period whereupon the alliance between Him and the king had been renewed, an opportunity for Alfonso VIII to be generously Christian and be definitely pardoned for the sin of luxury, for having sullied his honor with that Jewish witch: “And there died that year many horses and beasts of burden for want of food that was lacking. But for all the pestilence and hunger on the land, the good king never ceased to do good, giving out great alms for the love of God.” (65)

Then, purified through the sacred combat, Alfonso VIII, the crusader-hero of Las Navas de Tolosa, passed away in 1214. In the presence of his family (Doña Eleonor, his wife, Doña Biringuela, his daughter, his son Don Henrique and his grandsons, Don Fernando and Don Alfonso) and of the bishops of Valencia and D’Ávila, he received the Holy Sacrament with the body of Christ from the hands of Don Rodrigo (66), the same Don Rodrigo that went to Rome to beseech the Pope those vows of crusade that led to the battle of Navas de Tolosa, the most celebrated crusade of the Reconquest. (67)

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For its turn, in the Anonymous of Copenhagen, work written by a Moslem who was contemporary to the defeat of Las Navas de Tolosa (68), the description of the combat is, naturally, much more succinct:

This was the year of the battle of Uqab (las Navas), that caused the ruin of al-Andaluz. The emir al-Muminin al-Nasir headed toward the enemy country of the wretched Alfonso with a great Moslem army. The infidels prepared themselves, and all the people of Castile and the other different kingdoms close to her; the two armies met at the site called al-Uqab and victory was first declared to be for the Moslems. But the Almohades did not make enough efforts nor did they behave well on this expedition owing to the chastise that al-Nasir imposed upon the Almohade sheiks and to their being condemned to death and being dispossessed by the hands of Ibn Mizna. The Barcelonian (king of Aragon) came with three thousand horses to help Alfonso (…), the Moslems turned their backs on them and defeat extended to them. Al-Nasir stood out so firmly that the enemy almost took possession of his own person, and the Christian spears were closing in on him when he sought salvation by way of fleeing. This battle took place on Monday the 8th of Safar, of that said year. Some were reported to have said: “Tell Ibn Mizna to resist this inundation,” thus making an allusion to the ministry that ordered the execution of the Almohade sheiks. In order to apologize for the outcome of that battle, al-Nasir addressed letters to Marrakech and other parties. (69)

The chronicler put more emphasis on Miramolim’s costly preparations for the combat than on the defeat itself. And despite the recognition that the Moslem army did not fight with enough energy, the chronicle downplayed the Christian victory, since the Almohade failure was credited to al-Nasir’s order of execution of some Almohade sheiks a few days before the battle. (70)

Finally, another Moslem chronicler, Ibn Abi Zar, in his Rawd al-Quirtas (71), offers so dramatic and vivid an account of the battle – including dialogues – that it deserves a full transcription:

When Alfonso learned that al-Nasir had taken Salvaterra, he headed toward him with all the Christian kings, who followed Alphonso with their armies. As soon as he knew it, al-Nasir went out to confront him with the Moslem troops: the combatants faced each other on a site called Hisn al-Iqab. (72) There the battle took place. The red tent was pitched, ready for battle, on the summit of a hill. Al-Nasir came into it and sat down on his shield, with his horse by his side; the black men surrounded the tent entirely with weapons and all. The rear, with flags and drums, positioned in front of the blacks’ guard, with the vizier Abu Said ben Djami. The Christian army went for them, in ranks, like clouds of locusts; the 160.000 volunteers also went for the enemy and fell upon them, but disappeared among the ranks of the Christians, who overwhelmed them and fought them terribly. The Moslems resisted heroically; all the volunteers died as martyrs, no-one survived. The Almohade, Arab and Andalucian troops looked on without moving.

When the Christians finished off with the volunteers, they fell upon the Almohades and upon the Arabs with an extraordinary pressure (…) When the Almohades, the Arabs and the Berbers saw that the volunteers had been exterminated, that the Andalucians were fleeing, that the combat against those who remained in the battle was getting tougher, and that increasingly the Christians were more numerous, they all disbanded and left al-Nasir. The infidels chased them away, swords in hand, until they approached the circle of Blacks and guards that surrounded al-Nasir like a solid wall, but could not manage to breach through it. Then they rode their armored horses searching for a passage and forced their way through against the spears of the Negroes that were pointed against them and broke into their ranks.

Al-Nasir still sat on his shield, before his tent, and said: “God told the truth and the devil lied,” without moving from his spot, until the Christians came for him. There died around him more than 10.000 of his guardsmen. An Arab, then, mounting a mare, came close to him and said: “How much longer will you stay here? Oh, Prince of Believers, God’s judgement has already been completed, His will has been fulfilled and the Moslems have perished.” Then, al-Nasir raised to his feet and prepared to mount on the fast racer he had at his side, but the Arab, dismounting, told him: “Mount this mare, that is of pure lineage and is not sullied with ignominy, so may God save you with her, for in your salvation there lies our well-being.”

Al-Nasir mounted on the mare and the Arab escorted him on his horse, both of them being guarded by a strong detachment of Negroes, with Christians on their pursuit. Throat cutting of Moslems went on until well into the night, and the swords of the infidels fell upon them and exterminated them so completely that out of a thousand no one of them escaped. Alfonso’s adjutants cried: “Kill them and take no prisoners, he who takes a prisoner will be killed with him.” And so not a single captive was taken that day by the enemy.

That terrible calamity took place on Monday, the fifteenth of Safar, 609 (73), when, starting with that defeat, there began to fade away the power of Moslems in al-Andaluz, and their banners attended no more victories; the enemy grew stronger because of it and took possession of their castles and the majority of their land. They would have conquered everything had not God conceded them the succor of the emir of the Moslems’, Abu Yusuf ben Abd al-Haqq, who restored them from their ruins, rebuilt their minarets and devastated the country of the infidels with his expeditions. (74)

*

Confronting the account of Ibn Abi Zar and that of the Anonymous of Copenhagen, on one side, with the Chronicle of 1344, on the other side, one can perceive some similarities between them as regards the descriptions of the battle: 1) Al-Nasir (Miramolim) stood behind a great protective barrier (‘az de curral’) of Negroes (Abi Zar, however, does not mention their being put in chains); 2) the Christians broke through that human shield with a daring charge of cavalry; 3) courageously, only at the last moment did the sultan leave the theater of war, in time to avoid capture; and 4) there followed a great massacre of Moslems, after the battle, carried out by the victorious Christian forces.

In short, apart from both the divine interventions – especially the shepherd-angel – and the first motive of the battles of Alarcos and Las Navas – God’s chastisement for the insane love Alfonso felt for the Jewish girl of Toledo and the need for His absolution – the chronicles are, basically, coherent in respect to the main events in that war narrative.

And of all the narratives, the Chronicle of 1344 is, from a literary standpoint, the one in which the chain of events unfolds best, the one that is more interwoven with symbolic images of the world of men and the world of God, the one that best conveys to the contemporary believer the idea that the battlefield offered him an access to the sacred world. (75) Las Navas de Tolosa, in the perspective of that epoch, forced upon the Heavens the disclosing of God’s designs, showing unquestionably on whose favor God’s justice stood, on whose side were the true and legitimate sentiments in the hearts of the warriors. The cause, the cause of the crusade, was the just cause, the one that should be fought for “with all hearts as one,” as was said by the chroniclers. Like the medieval ordeal and the duel, decisive events whereby the truth revealed itself, medieval warfare offered the greatest opportunity for believers to confirm what the will of God really was. For the hour of the field battle was the hour of proclamation and redemption, the moment of purification by blood, and the blood that was shed was the guarantee of eternal salvation.

For those motives, love and crime, chastisement and redemption intertwine in the fantastic narrative of the crusade of the Iberian Peninsula, the one which had as backdrop the redeeming of king Alfonso VIII. Without such an eschatological perspective, one cannot comprehend medieval warfare, wars that were fought, for their most part, in the name of God.

Notas

(1) Adjutant Professor of Medieval History with the Federal University of Espírito Santo state, Brazil (Ufes).

(2) “I can no longer feel as much pleasure in eating, drinking, sleeping / as I do when I hear the cry “Forward!” / been raised from both sides, the sound of the horses with no horsemen on their backs in the shade / and the cries of “Help! Help!” / when I see them, great and small, falling down on the herb, away from the ditches; / when, finally, I see the dead men who, from inside their bowels / still have pieces of spears sticking out,with their banners.” ? Quoted in BLOCH, Marc. A sociedade feudal. Lisboa: Edições 70, 1987, p. 307.

(3) Quoted in PRESTWICH, Michael. “A Era da Cavalaria”. In: A Arte da Guerra. Série História em Revista. Rio de Janeiro: Abril Livros / Time-Life Books, 1993, p. 52.

(4) Curso de Literatura Inglesa. Jorge Luis Borges (org., pesquisa e notas de Martín Arias e Martín Hadis). São Paulo: Martins Fontes, 2002, p. 105.

(5) MATTOSO, José. “Cluny, Crúzios e Cistercienses na formação de Portugal”. In: Portugal Medieval – novas interpretações. Lisboa: Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda, 1985, p. 107.

(6) COSTA, Ricardo da. A Guerra na Idade Média - um estudo da mentalidade de cruzada na Península Ibérica. Rio de Janeiro: Edições Paratodos, 1998, p. 72.

(7) COSTA, Ricardo da. A Guerra na Idade Média, op. cit., p. 89.

(8) CAHEN, Claude. El Islam. I. Desde los orígenes hasta el comienzo del Imperio otomano. Madrid: Siglo XXI, 1992, p. 295.

(9) “Kitab al-Muchid, o Marrakuxi”. In: SÁNCHEZ-ALBORNOZ, Claudio (org.). La España Musulmana — según los autores islamitas y cristianos medievales. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe S. A., 1986, tomo II, p. 267-268. All the translations contained herein, originally from Spanish and old Portuguese into current Portuguese, were made by the author.

(10) IRADIEL, Paulino, MORETA, Salustiano y SARASA, Esteban. Historia Medieval de la España Cristiana. Madrid: Ediciones Cátedra, 1989, p. 147.

(11) Crónica Geral de Espanha de 1344. CINTRA, Luís Filipe Lindley (ed. crítica). Lisboa: Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda, 04 volumes, 1983-1991.

(12) For a discussion on the retrieval of the narrative in historical texts, see LE GOFF, Jacques. São Luís. Rio de Janeiro: Record, 1999, p. 23-24.

(13) Written between the years 1223 and 1239 probably by the bishop de Osma and Chancellor for Ferdinand III, Juan Domíngues. In: SÁNCHEZ-ALBORNOZ, Claudio (org.). La España Musulmana, op. cit., tomo II, p. 323-329; INTERNET.

(14) “De la Estoria de España que mandó componer Alfonso X, el Sabio". In: SÁNCHEZ-ALBORNOZ, Claudio (org.). La España Musulmana, op. cit., tomo II, p. 367-381.

(15) "Carta de Arnaldo Amalarico, arcebispo de Narbona". In: SÁNCHEZ-ALBORNOZ, Claudio (org.). La España Musulmana, op. cit., p. 361-367.

(16) BEM IDHARI. “Bayan al-Mugrib, II, 185”, MARRAKUXI, “Kitab al-Muchid”, "Anónimo de Copenhage". In: SÁNCHEZ-ALBORNOZ, Claudio (org.). La España Musulmana, op. cit., p. 330-332, 332-333 e 354-361; IBN ABI ZAR. Rawd al-quirtas (ed. de A. Huici Miranda), Valencia 1964. Recogido por Cristina Segura. INTERNET: “La Batalla de las Navas de Tolosa segun los musulmanes”.

(17) Eleonor was daughter of Eleonor of Aquitaine, mother of Richard I the Lion-heart and John the Landless. One of her daughters, Branca of Castela (1188-1252), married the king of France Louis VIII (1187-1226), father of Saint Louis IX (1214-1270).

(18) LEÓN TELLO, Pilar. “A Judería, um certo sucesso”. In: CARDAILLAC, Louis (org.). Toledo, séculos XII-XIII. Muçulmanos, cristãos e judeus: o saber e a tolerância. Rio de Janeiro: Jorge Zahar Editor, 1992, p. 113.

(19) Crónica Geral de Espanha de 1344, op. cit., volume IV, 1991, cap. DCCXLI, p. 282.

(20) Crónica Geral de Espanha de 1344, op. cit., cap. DCCXLI, cap. DCCXLI, p. 283.

(21) Crónica Geral de Espanha de 1344, op. cit., cap. DCCL, p. 297.

(22) "In the year 1089, we met for the first time the aforementioned señor de Lara: the man in question is D. Gonzalo Nuñez, magnate of the court of Alfonso VI. His sons will be those men who (...) would add to the House new and abundant lands from Asturias de Santillana to Extremadura del Duero (...) It so happened to don Nuño Pérez de Lara that, although he was not the greatest of the sons, he nevertheless enjoyed the highest prestige and attained without question the leadership of the clan (...) Don Nuño Pérez occupied himself with the foundation of monasteries (...) and with making benevolent donations of all sorts. His arrogance and cunning in politics were always acknowledged and envied. He died in 1177, fighting with his king during the siege of Cuenca." - CASADO, Hererra. Los Lara, condes de Molina. INTERNET.

(23) CORTÁZAR, Garcia de. Historia de España Alfaguarra II. La época medieval. Madrid: Alianza Universidad, 1981, p. 124.

(24) MATTOSO, José. “Dois séculos de vicissitudes políticas”. In: MATTOSO, José (dir.). História de Portugal - A Monarquia Feudal (1096-1480). Lisboa: Editorial Estampa, s/d, p. 92.

(25) IRADIEL, Paulino, MORETA, Salustiano y SARASA, Esteban. Historia Medieval de la España Cristiana, op. cit., p. 147.

(26) Crónica Geral de Espanha de 1344, op. cit., cap. DCCLII, p. 308.

(27) IBN IDARI. "Al-Bayán al-Mugrib. Nuevos fragmentos almorávides y almohades". Textos medievales 8, Valencia, 1963; BEM IDHARI. “Bayan al-Mugrib, II, 185”. In: SÁNCHEZ-ALBORNOZ, Claudio (org.). España Musulmana, op. cit., tomo II, p. 330-332.

(28) BEM IDHARI. “Bayan al-Mugrib, II, 185”. In: SÁNCHEZ-ALBORNOZ, Claudio (org.). España Musulmana, op. cit., tomo II, p. 330.

(29) BEM IDHARI. “Bayan al-Mugrib, II, 185”. In: SÁNCHEZ-ALBORNOZ, Claudio (org.). España Musulmana, op. cit., tomo II, p. 332.

(30) Crónica latina de los reyes de Castilla, II, 13.

(31) Crónica Geral de Espanha de 1344, op. cit., cap. DCCLIII, p. 309.

(32) Crónica latina de los reyes de Castilla, II, 13, op. cit.

(33) Crónica Geral de Espanha de 1344, op. cit., cap. DCCLIII, p. 309.

(34) MARRAKUXI, “Kitab al-Muchid”. In: SÁNCHEZ-ALBORNOZ, Claudio (org.). España Musulmana, op. cit., tomo II, p. 333.

(35) Crónica Geral de Espanha de 1344, op. cit., cap. DCCLVI, p. 316.

(36) See DUBY, Georges. O Domingo de Bouvines. 27 de julho de 1214. Rio de Janeiro: Paz e Terra, 1993, p. 157.

(37) See especially KANTOROWICZ, Ernst H. Os Dois Corpos do Rei - Um estudo sobre teologia política medieval. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 1998.

(38) Crónica Geral de Espanha de 1344, op. cit., cap. DCCLVI, p. 317.

(39) The crusaders from out of the Iberian Peninsula distinguished themselves from the locals by their ardent anti-Semitism. For example, upon the seizure of Lisbon in 1147, the king of Portugal, Alfonso I, had to curb the impetus of the soldiery, because “the Colonians and Flemish, seeing that there were so many things in town that stirred their greed, show no respect for their oath and fidelity; run hither and thither; arrest people; break into their homes; search the interior of each home; frighten away the inhabitants, affronting them with injuries against divine and human law; spoil vases and dresses; behave injuriously toward the ladies; equal right to wrong; and steal, surreptitiously, all that was supposed to be shared by everyone. Against law and right they even kill the bishop of the town, already an elder man, slashing his throat.” - Conquista de Lisboa aos Mouros em 1147 - Carta de um cruzado Inglês. Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, 1989, p. 77.

(40) Royal genealogies can be verified in RUCQUOI, Adeline. História Medieval da Península Ibérica. Lisboa: Editorial Estampa, 1995, p. 319-335.

(41) Crónica Geral de Espanha de 1344, op. cit., cap. DCCLIX, p. 321.

(42) Crónica Geral de Espanha de 1344, op. cit., cap. DCCLIX, p. 321-22.

(43) “The dominant image of the border area among Christians was that of a desert - locus desertus - an empty place...” - GLICK, Thomas F. Cristianos y musulmanes en la España Medieval (711-1250). Madrid: Alianza Universidad, 1994, p. 75.

(44) Crónica Geral de Espanha de 1344, op. cit., cap. DCCLX, p. 323.

(45) DUBY, Georges. Guilherme Marechal ou o melhor cavaleiro do mundo. Rio de Janeiro: Edições Graal, 1987, p. 118. Apart from that, Alfonso VIII, knowing that the “foreigners” had ran out of food, ordered a thousand packs of victuals and fifty thousand maravedis to be given to them. Despite that, many of them returned to their lands after that battle. See Crónica Geral de Espanha de 1344, op. cit., cap. DCCLX, p. 323-324.

(46) And in the “Letter of Arnaldo Amalarico, archbishop of Narbonne", called Miramolím. See SÁNCHEZ-ALBORNOZ, Claudio (org.). La España Musulmana, op. cit., p. 361-367.

(47) Crónica Geral de Espanha de 1344, op. cit., cap. DCCLXII, p. 326.

(48) Crónica Geral de Espanha de 1344, op. cit., cap. DCCLXII, p. 327.

(49) It is curious to observe how peculiar it is the fact that the angel was represented as a shepherd. For the issue of angelical representations see COSTA, Ricardo da and VENTORIM, Eliane. “Entre o real e o imaginado. Prolongamentos apocalípticos angélicos na tradição filosófica medieval: Ramon Lull e o Livro dos Anjos (1274-1283)”. In: Estudos de Religião 23. Revista Semestral de Estudos e Pesquisas em Religião. São Bernardo do Campo: UMESP, 2002, Ano XVI, n. 23, dezembro de 2002, p. 200-228. Still, a pious legend about the conquest of Cuenca says that the shepherd Martín Alhaja (or Alhaxa), who had received the visit of the Virgin Mary, helped the Christians to pass through the Gates of Aljaraz (nowadays known as Puerta de San Juan), from where the upper part of the town begins and through which there penetrated Castilians, the Leonese and Aragonese, reinforced with the knights of the Order of Santiago. See Historia de Cuenca.

(50) In the Middle Ages, the ‘az’ was a combat unit (‘az,’ from the Latin word ‘acies’: the Roman army in formation along the battle line. The term is found in Julio Caesar’s De bello Gallico [I, 51, 1]. Apud: CARCOPINO, Jérôme. Júlio César. Lisboa: Publicações Europa-América, s/d, p. 233-372). It corresponded to approximately 700 to 1.000 spears, or 2.100 to 3.000 men. Generally, the Moslems employed the ‘az de cunha,’ a formation in the shape of a wedge, triangular, with the pointed end facing forward. In the case in point, the Almohades preferred the ‘az de curral,’ a defensive formation, similar to a corral, in the shape of a square, that was meant to help reorganize the forces that had been dispersed about the battlefield. See COSTA, Ricardo da. A Guerra na Idade Média, op. cit., p. 244-245.

(51) The reference to the sun in the Chronicle is not accidental. In the medieval perspective, every combat is like a ray of light that breaks through the darkness, beaming and ushering in the good news, the demarcation between the end of an obscure time and the emergence of a new one, that of the redemptive Christ. See DUBY, Georges. O Domingo de Bouvines. 27 de julho de 1214. Rio de Janeiro: Paz e Terra, 1993.

(52) The Iberian medieval municipalities (‘concelhos’) were administrative circumscriptions organized by rural people, especially those submitted to Moslem governance, that recognized formally the representativeness of Jewish and Christian communities. Each municipality possessed its own assembly of notable gentlemen, small land proprietors, or rich merchants. They elected various magistrates, who had administrative and military duties. Those communities enjoyed privileges e immunities in relation to the rest of the governmental system, which made the Iberian Christian society quite distinct, from a juridical standpoint, from the rest of the European feudal society. See COSTA, Ricardo da. A Guerra na Idade Média, op. cit., p. 80.

(53) Crónica Geral de Espanha de 1344, op. cit., cap. DCCLXIII, p. 329. A sign from God’s in the sky is a leitmotiv of the medieval narratives: remember, for example, keeping to the Iberian Peninsula only, the combat in the clouds that the crusaders saw in the skies and that was taken for a portent signaling the conquest of Lisbon. See Conquista de Lisboa aos Mouros em 1147 - Carta de um cruzado Inglês. Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, 1989.

(54) DUBY, Georges. O Domingo de Bouvines. 27 de julho de 1214, op. cit., p. 38.

(55) “The Portuguese word for crossbow is ‘besta’ (literally, ‘beast,’ or, also, ‘balestra,’ or arbalest), and the warriors who fought with them were called ‘besteiros.‘ The cross-bow was a portable weapon for shooting bolts, extremely efficient to penetrate maile armor, shields and plate armor. Essentially, the crossbow was a weapon “consisting of a bow mounted on a wooden stock, the bowstring being pulled and stretched by a winding device, whereby enough energy would be accumulated and used, after being released by a triggering mechanism, to discharge heavy bolts with great precision across long distances. After having disappeared with the Roman Legions, the crossbow only made its return to the European scene in the battle of Hastings (1066). Deadlier than the simpler longbow, it was capable of, within a range of 100 mts., knocking a knight off his saddle. However, owing to its weight, it was difficult to operate and took long to reload, since it required the use of both hands and one foot to do it. From the XI century onward, the Catholic Church tried to regulate the practice of warfare. An attempt, then, was made at restricting the use of the crossbow. Pope Urban II condemned it in 1096 as “hateful to God”. Finally, it was banned by Pope Innocent II in 1139, at the II Lateran Council, being threatened with excommunication anyone who used it against Christians. Hence, the crossbow was implicitly permitted only in combats against Moslems, but naturally this rule was not complied with by the European soldier.” - COSTA, Ricardo da. A Guerra na Idade Média, op. cit., p. 113. In order to translate this quotation into English we resorted to Mr. Brian Jones’ webpage.

(56) According to the archbishop of Narbonne, it was “...a very strong formation, so they believed, inside which it was said that there stood Miramolim himself.” – "Letter of Arnaldo Amalarico, archbishop of Narbonne." In: SÁNCHEZ-ALBORNOZ, Claudio (org.). La España Musulmana, op. cit., p. 365.

(57) Crónica Geral de Espanha de 1344, op. cit., cap. DCCLXIV, p. 330.

(58) “...and he began to speak out in a very loud voice, telling them to be good and be back into battle...” - Crónica Geral de Espanha de 1344, op. cit., cap. DCCLXIV, p. 331.

(59) “…friends and vassals, here today is our good day. And now we will forever win appraise and will be rich and honored.” - Crónica Geral de Espanha de 1344, op. cit., cap. DCCLXIV, p. 333.

(60) For a brief characterization of a medieval cavalry charge see PRESTWICH, Michael. “A Era da Cavalaria”. In: A Arte da Guerra. Série História em Revista. Rio de Janeiro: Abril Livros / Time-Life Books, 1993, p. 55.

(61) Crónica Geral de Espanha de 1344, op. cit., cap. DCCLXIV, p. 333.

(62) DUBY, Georges. O Domingo de Bouvines. 27 de julho de 1214, op. cit., p. 110.

(63) Crónica Geral de Espanha de 1344, op. cit., cap. DCCLXV, p. 335.

(64) It is common practice among historians to consider the figures presented by medieval chroniclers, generally, as greatly exaggerated, with the purpose of producing admiration and awe on the reader, thereby forgoing fidelity to facts.

(65) Crónica Geral de Espanha de 1344, op. cit., cap. DCCLXVII, p. 338-339.

(66) Crónica Geral de Espanha de 1344, op. cit., cap. DCCLXIX, p. 341.

(67) RODRÍGUEZ LÓPEZ, Ana. La consolidación territorial de la monarquía feudal castellana. Expansión y fronteras durante el reinado de Fernando III. Madrid, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1994, p. 85-86.

(68) "Anónimo de Copenhage". In: SÁNCHEZ-ALBORNOZ, Claudio (org.). La España Musulmana, op. cit., p. 354-361.

(69) "Anónimo de Copenhage". In: SÁNCHEZ-ALBORNOZ, Claudio (org.). La España Musulmana, op. cit., p. 359.

(70) "Anónimo de Copenhage". In: SÁNCHEZ-ALBORNOZ, Claudio (org.). La España Musulmana, op. cit., p. 358.

(71) IBN ABI ZAR. Rawd al-quirtas (ed. de A. Huici Miranda), Valencia 1964. Recogido por Cristina Segura. INTERNET: “La Batalla de las Navas de Tolosa segun los musulmanes”.

(72) Castle of la Cuesta, nowadays Castro Ferral (see image 7).

(73) 16 July 1212.

(74) IBN ABI ZAR. Rawd al-quirtas (ed. de A. Huici Miranda), Valencia 1964. Recogido por Cristina Segura. INTERNET: “La Batalla de las Navas de Tolosa segun los musulmanes”.

(75) DUBY, Georges. O Domingo de Bouvines. 27 de julho de 1214, op. cit., p. 159.