Battle of Candespina

The Battle of Candespina was fought on 26 October 1110

Alfonso I of Aragon and those of his estranged wife, Urraca of León and Castile, in the Campo de la Espina near Sepúlveda. Alfonso was victorious, as he would be again in a few weeks at the Battle of Viadangos

.

The battle was the result of a power struggle between Alfonso and Urraca. Perhaps the latter had become too powerful, for one of her strongest vassals, her brother-in-law

Galicia and Portugal).^[2]

Battle was joined while Urraca was staying in

count of Castile, was killed by Henry.^[4] After the battle Urraca was joined in Burgos by the Castilian count Pedro González de Lara.^[3] Meanwhile, Henry of Portugal may have had second thoughts about his alliance with Alfonso. After the battle he was approached by some men of Urraca at Sepúlveda, where they offered him a better partition if he joined the queen. The Portuguese count's volte-face was leaked quickly, however, and the Aragonese forces retreated to Peñafiel. That "nearly impregnable fortress" was immediately besieged, unsuccessfully, by Henry and Urraca.^[5]

The date of the battle is reported differently in the early sources. The early narrative source called the

Annales Complutenses reads:^[7]

Era MCXLVIIII, VII kal. novembr. rex Adefonsus aragonensis et comes Enricus occiderunt comitem domno Gomez in campo de Spina.

Kalends of November [26 October]. King Alfonso of Aragon and count Henry killed count Don

Gómez in the field of Spina.

The even shorter account in the Annales Compostellani reads: Era MCXLIX occiderunt comitem Gometium ("Era 1149 they killed count Gómez").^[7]

References

^ Luis García de Valdeavellano (1968), Historia de España, vol. 1, pt. 2, pp. 401-402.
^ Bernard F. Reilly (1982), The Kingdom of León-Castilla under Queen Urraca, 1109–1126, (Princeton: Princeton University Press), 358 and n7, follows the assertion in the Crónicas anónimas de Sahagún that first Alfonso then Urraca purchased an alliance with Henry by offering to partition the realm with him, citing in support José María Lacarra (1947), "Dos documentos interesantes para la historia de Portugal," Revista Portuguesa de História, 3:291–305.
^ ^a ^b Reilly 1982, 74.
^ Bernard F. Reilly (1998), The Kingdom of León-Castilla under King Alfonso VII, 1126–1157 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press), 168.
^ Reilly 1982, 75.
^ Reilly 1982, 74 n100, citing Gonzaga de Azevedo (1940), História da Portugal, vol. 3 (Lisbon), 181–191, disagrees with his conclusion and casts doubt on the reliability of the Sahagún document. Other scholars are divided.
^ ^a ^b Quoted in Reilly 1982, 74 n100.

41°22′N 3°30′W / 41.367°N 3.500°W / 41.367; -3.500

[1] Luis García de Valdeavellano (1968), Historia de España, vol. 1, pt. 2, pp. 401-402.

[2] Bernard F. Reilly (1982), The Kingdom of León-Castilla under Queen Urraca, 1109–1126, (Princeton: Princeton University Press), 358 and n7, follows the assertion in the Crónicas anónimas de Sahagún that first Alfonso then Urraca purchased an alliance with Henry by offering to partition the realm with him, citing in support José María Lacarra (1947), "Dos documentos interesantes para la historia de Portugal," Revista Portuguesa de História, 3:291–305.

[reilly198274-3] Reilly 1982, 74.

[4] Bernard F. Reilly (1998), The Kingdom of León-Castilla under King Alfonso VII, 1126–1157 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press), 168.

[5] Reilly 1982, 75.

[6] Reilly 1982, 74 n100, citing Gonzaga de Azevedo (1940), História da Portugal, vol. 3 (Lisbon), 181–191, disagrees with his conclusion and casts doubt on the reliability of the Sahagún document. Other scholars are divided.

[reilly198274n100-7] Quoted in Reilly 1982, 74 n100.

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