Battle of Calatañazor
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Calatañazor was a legend
ary battle of the Reconquista
that supposedly took place in July 1002 at Calatañazor
between an army of invading Saracens under Almanzor and a force of Christian allies led by Alfonso V of León
, Sancho III of Navarre
, and Sancho García of Castile. Almanzor, who historically died the night of 10–11 August, is said to have died of wounds received in the battle. Its ahistoricity was first demonstrated by Reinhart Dozy
in 1881. The French Arabist Évariste Lévi-Provençal
attributed the destruction of San Millán de la Cogolla by the Saracens to the campaign of Calatañazor.
make mention. Both the Annales Compostellani
and the Chronicon Burgense
place it in the Era MXL
, that is, 1002. The first says only that he died (mortuus es Almozor), but the latter adds that he is in hell (et sepultus est in inferno). The notice of his death is amplified in the chronicle
s. Towards the beginning of the twelfth century the anonymous author of the Historia Silense
wrote that he was killed in Medinaceli
. Late that century the Chronica Naierensis
added that he was at war with Sancho García of Castile at the time of his death, which occurred while he was in retreat at the village of Grajal
. He was buried in Medinaceli, but his body was later moved. The final story, of Almanzor's receiving wounds in battle with the Christians, and subsequently dying, is found in its earliest version in the Chronicon mundi of Lucas of Tuy. Lucas erroneously names the Christian leaders as Vermudo II of León (died 999) and García Fernández of Castile (died 995). Both Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada
in his De rebus Hispaniae
and Alfonso X
in his Estoria de España
follow Lucas in every detail save that of the fisherman-apparition.
The only substantial Islamic account of the battle is that found in the seventeenth-century historian al-Maqqari, based primarily on the medieval Spanish tradition. He adds that Almanzor ordered a large contingent of North African troops to join with those of Toledo
for the campaign. He proceeded to devastate the Ribera del Duero
before heading deeper into Castile. He was surprised by a Christian army in his camp near the castle called "The Eagles" (Las Águilas). He fell ill shortly after his defeat, perhaps from wounds received at the battle, but he continued to fight against Castile until he was being carried about on a litter. He was brought to Medinaceli, but the physicians were unable to diagnose his infirmity. He called his son, Abd al-Malik al-Muzaffar
, to his bedside to give him instructions, but when he fled his father's tent in tears the dying general uttered the prophetic words, "This appears to me the first sign of the decadence that awaits the empire."
Under cover of darkness he fled with his retinue. The next day Vermudo marched on the Muslim camp at dawn, but found it abandoned and collected instead an enormous booty. García Fernández, having pursued the fleeing Muslims, came away with a large number of prisoners.
The same day as the battle in another part of Spain a fisherman was seen exclaiming, first in Arabic then in Spanish, "In Calatañazor Almanzor lost the drum". Many Muslims came from Córdoba
to see the fisherman, but every time they approached him he disappeared before their eyes only to reappear elsewhere repeating the same lament. Lucas of Tuy believed it was the devil lamenting the disaster of Calatañazor (el diablo que llorava la cayda de los moros). Almanzor never ate or drank after his defeat, and dying in Medinaceli he was buried there.
Legend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
ary battle of the Reconquista
Reconquista
The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...
that supposedly took place in July 1002 at Calatañazor
Calatañazor
Calatañazor is a municipality located in the province of Soria, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2010 census , the municipality has a population of 70 inhabitants. The municipality is named after the tiny fortified city on top of a hill...
between an army of invading Saracens under Almanzor and a force of Christian allies led by Alfonso V of León
Alfonso V of León
Alfonso V , called the Noble, was King of León from 999 to 1028. He was the son of Bermudo II by his second wife Elvira García of Castile. The Abbot Oliva called him "Emperor of Spain"....
, Sancho III of Navarre
Sancho III of Navarre
Sancho III Garcés , called the Great , succeeded as a minor to the Kingdom of Navarre in 1004, and through conquest and political maneuvering increased his power, until at the time of his death in 1035 he controlled the majority of Christian Iberia, bearing the title of rex Hispaniarum...
, and Sancho García of Castile. Almanzor, who historically died the night of 10–11 August, is said to have died of wounds received in the battle. Its ahistoricity was first demonstrated by Reinhart Dozy
Reinhart Dozy
Reinhart Pieter Anne Dozy was a Dutch scholar of French origin, who was born in Leiden...
in 1881. The French Arabist Évariste Lévi-Provençal
Évariste Lévi-Provençal
Évariste Lévi-Provençal was a French medievalist, orientalist, Arabist, and historian of Islam.Born 4 January 1894 in Constantine, French Algeria, as Makhlóuf Evariste Levi, his name already revealing Gallicized tendencies in his North-African Jewish family...
attributed the destruction of San Millán de la Cogolla by the Saracens to the campaign of Calatañazor.
Sources
Of the death of Almanzor only two Christian annalistsAnnals
Annals are a concise form of historical representation which record events chronologically, year by year. The Oxford English Dictionary defines annals as "a narrative of events written year by year"...
make mention. Both the Annales Compostellani
Annales Compostellani
The Annales Compostellani or Anales castellanos terceros are a set of Latin annals found in, and named after, Santiago de Compostela...
and the Chronicon Burgense
Chronicon Burgense
The Chronicon Burgense is a collection of Latin annals that, together with the Annales Compostellani and the Chronicon Ambrosianum, may form a group of related histories sometimes called the Efemérides riojanas because they may have been compiled in La Rioja...
place it in the Era MXL
Spanish era
The Spanish era, Hispanic era or Caesar era refers to the dating system used in Hispania until the 14th century, when the Anno Domini system was adopted. It began with year one in what is 38 BC, probably the date of a new tax imposed by the Roman Republic on the subdued population of Iberia....
, that is, 1002. The first says only that he died (mortuus es Almozor), but the latter adds that he is in hell (et sepultus est in inferno). The notice of his death is amplified in the chronicle
Chronicle
Generally a chronicle is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order, as in a time line. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the...
s. Towards the beginning of the twelfth century the anonymous author of the Historia Silense
Historia silense
The Historia silense, also called the Chronica silense or Historia seminense, is a medieval Latin narrative history of the Iberian Peninsula from the time of the Visigoths to the first years of the reign of Alfonso VI of León and Castile...
wrote that he was killed in Medinaceli
Medinaceli
Medinaceli is a municipality and town in the province of Soria . Its name derives from the Arabic toponym madīnat sālim . The town is named after one Salim bin Waral, head of a Masmuda Berber family which settled there in the 8th century....
. Late that century the Chronica Naierensis
Chronica Naierensis
The Chronica Naierensis or Crónica najerense was a late twelfth-century chronicle of universal history composed at the Benedictine monastery of Santa María la Real in Nájera...
added that he was at war with Sancho García of Castile at the time of his death, which occurred while he was in retreat at the village of Grajal
Grajal de Campos
Grajal de Campos , Grayal de Campos in Leonese language, is a municipality located in the province of León, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2010 census , the municipality has a population of 246 inhabitants....
. He was buried in Medinaceli, but his body was later moved. The final story, of Almanzor's receiving wounds in battle with the Christians, and subsequently dying, is found in its earliest version in the Chronicon mundi of Lucas of Tuy. Lucas erroneously names the Christian leaders as Vermudo II of León (died 999) and García Fernández of Castile (died 995). Both Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada
Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada
Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada was a Navarrese-born Castilian Roman Catholic bishop and historian....
in his De rebus Hispaniae
De rebus Hispaniae
De rebus Hispaniae or Historia gothica is a history of the Iberian peninsula written in Latin by Archbiship of Toledo Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada en the first half of the thirteenth century on behalf of King Ferdinand III of Castile....
and Alfonso X
Alfonso X of Castile
Alfonso X was a Castilian monarch who ruled as the King of Castile, León and Galicia from 1252 until his death...
in his Estoria de España
Estoria de España
The Estoria de España, also known in the 1906 edition of Ramón Menéndez Pidal as the Primera Crónica General, is a history book written on the initiative of Alfonso X of Castile "El Sabio" , who was actively involved in the editing...
follow Lucas in every detail save that of the fisherman-apparition.
The only substantial Islamic account of the battle is that found in the seventeenth-century historian al-Maqqari, based primarily on the medieval Spanish tradition. He adds that Almanzor ordered a large contingent of North African troops to join with those of Toledo
Toledo, Spain
Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...
for the campaign. He proceeded to devastate the Ribera del Duero
Ribera del Duero
Ribera del Duero is a Spanish Denominación de Origen located in the country's northern plateau and is one of eleven 'quality wine' regions within the autonomous community of Castile and León...
before heading deeper into Castile. He was surprised by a Christian army in his camp near the castle called "The Eagles" (Las Águilas). He fell ill shortly after his defeat, perhaps from wounds received at the battle, but he continued to fight against Castile until he was being carried about on a litter. He was brought to Medinaceli, but the physicians were unable to diagnose his infirmity. He called his son, Abd al-Malik al-Muzaffar
Abd al-Malik al-Muzaffar
Abd al-Malik al-Muzaffar was hajib of Cordoba from the death of his father Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir in 1002 until his own death in 1008. He was succeeded by his half-brother Abd al-Rahman Sanchuelo....
, to his bedside to give him instructions, but when he fled his father's tent in tears the dying general uttered the prophetic words, "This appears to me the first sign of the decadence that awaits the empire."
Legend
Almanzor was finishing a campaign in Galicia when he decided to invade Castile. He assembled a large army at Calatañazor, where the Leonese and Castilians met him. Thousands of Muslims were slain and Almanzor himself escaped only because of nightfall:
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Under cover of darkness he fled with his retinue. The next day Vermudo marched on the Muslim camp at dawn, but found it abandoned and collected instead an enormous booty. García Fernández, having pursued the fleeing Muslims, came away with a large number of prisoners.
The same day as the battle in another part of Spain a fisherman was seen exclaiming, first in Arabic then in Spanish, "In Calatañazor Almanzor lost the drum". Many Muslims came from Córdoba
Córdoba, Spain
-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...
to see the fisherman, but every time they approached him he disappeared before their eyes only to reappear elsewhere repeating the same lament. Lucas of Tuy believed it was the devil lamenting the disaster of Calatañazor (el diablo que llorava la cayda de los moros). Almanzor never ate or drank after his defeat, and dying in Medinaceli he was buried there.