Battle of Uclés (1108)
This article includes a improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (May 2013) ) |
Battle of Uclés | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Reconquista | |||||||
Battlefield of Uclés | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Almoravid dynasty |
Kingdom of Castile Kingdom of León | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Abu Tahir Tamim ibn Yusuf Muhammad ibn Aysa Abdallah ibn Fatima Muhammad ibn Abi Ranq |
Sancho Alfónsez † García Ordóñez † Álvar Fáñez Martín Flaínez † Fernando Díaz † | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
>2,300 | ~2,300 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Few, incl. the imam al-Jazuli |
Severe, incl. Sancho and seven counts |
The Battle of Uclés was fought on 29 May 1108 during the
Sources
The Arabic sources for the battle are an official letter from Tamim and the narrative history
Preliminary moves
Tamim, leading the forces of
The Historia Compostelana says that it was the heir, Sancho, who initiated a counter-attack. This is plausible in light of the fact he had already been granted the rule of Toledo by his father, who was in the north of the kingdom at the time of the Almoravid offensive. Sancho had probably moved south with a sizable army in April in preparation for a summer of campaigning. His army included eight Leonese counts and Castilian magnates (los ochos condes of legend), who, with their
Battle joined
The Christians arrived near Uclés and set up camp on 28 May. Tamim assembled his force with the Córdobans under Muhammad ibn Abi Ranq in front, his own Granadans behind them; the Valencians and Murcians made up the flanks. Battle was joined the next day with a Christian cavalry charge. Though initially successful against the Córdobans, the charging Christians were quickly surrounded while engaging the Granadans and the main force retreated to their camp. The Murcians and Valencians meanwhile attacked the baggage. The infantry was dispersed; the cavalry was caught in their own camp and slaughtered. Sancho, his horse killed and with a small force of seven of his own men, escaped and fled towards Belinchón, but was killed by his Muslim subjects, who took advantage of the battle to revolt. The only count to escape was Álvar Fáñez, who led a large body of horse north to organise the defence of the upper Tagus. In the aftermath the Muslims lured the garrison of the Uclés into sallying from the alcázar and defeated them. The Almoravids followed up their success by taking the castles of Huete and Ocaña, and a few small others.
The identity of the seven dead counts must be patched together from various sources. Crónica Najerense records the death of
References
- Barton, Simon (1997). The Aristocracy in Twelfth-century León and Castile. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Reilly, Bernard F. (1989). The Kingdom of León-Castilla under King Alfonso VI, 1065–1109. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
- Slaughter, John E. (1974/79). "De nuevo sobre la batalla de Uclés". Anuario de estudios medievales, 9:393–404.
39°59′00″N 2°51′00″W / 39.9833°N 2.8500°W