1.
Reconquista
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The Reconquista ended just before the European discovery of the Americas—the New World—which ushered in the era of the Portuguese and Spanish colonial empires. The concept of a Christian reconquest of the peninsula first emerged, in tenuous form, a landmark was set by the Christian Chronica Prophetica, a document stressing the Christian and Muslim cultural and religious divide in Iberia and the necessity to drive the Muslims out. Nevertheless, the difference between Christian and Muslim kingdoms in early medieval Spain was not seen at the time as anything like the clear-cut opposition that later emerged, both Christian and Muslim rulers fought amongst themselves. Alliances between Muslims and Christians were not uncommon, blurring distinctions even further were the mercenaries from both sides who simply fought for whoever paid the most. The period is looked back upon today as one of religious tolerance. In fact previous documents from the 10th and 11th centuries are mute on any idea of reconquest and their rebellious pursuit was thus a Crusade for the restoration of Churchs unity, where Franco stood for both Pelagius of Asturias and El Cid. Many recent historians dispute the concept of Reconquista as a concept created a posteriori in the service of later political goals. A number of historians have called it a myth, One of the first Spanish intellectuals to question the idea of a reconquest that lasted for eight centuries was José Ortega y Gasset, writing in the first half of the 20th century. However, the term is widely in use. In 711, Muslim Moors, mainly North African Berber soldiers with some Arabs, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, from their stronghold of Narbonne, they launched raids into the Duchy of Aquitaine. At no point did the invading Islamic armies exceed 60,000 men and these armies established an Islamic rule that would last 300 years in much of the Iberian Peninsula and 770 years in Granada. After the establishment of a local Emirate, Caliph Al-Walid I, ruler of the Umayyad caliphate, tariq ibn Ziyad, the first governor of the newly conquered province of Al-Andalus, was recalled to Damascus and replaced with Musa bin Nusair, who had been his former superior. Musas son, Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa, apparently married Egilona, Roderics widow and he was suspected of being under the influence of his wife, accused of wanting to convert to Christianity, and of planning a secessionist rebellion. Apparently a concerned Al-Walid I ordered Abd al-Azizs assassination, Caliph Al-Walid I died in 715 and was succeeded by his brother Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik. Sulayman seems to have punished the surviving Musa bin Nusair, who soon died during a pilgrimage in 716. In the end Abd al-Aziz ibn Musas cousin, Ayyub ibn Habib al-Lakhmi became the emir of Al-Andalus, the conquering generals were necessarily acting very independently, due to the methods of communication available. Old rivalries and perhaps even full-fledged conspiracies between rival generals may have had influence over this development, in the end, the old successful generals were replaced by a younger generation considered more loyal by the government in Damascus. A serious weakness amongst the Muslim conquerors was the tension between Berbers and Arabs
2.
Second Crusade
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The Second Crusade was the second major crusade launched from Europe as a Catholic holy war against Islam. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa the previous year to the forces of Zengi, the county had been founded during the First Crusade by King Baldwin of Boulogne in 1098. While it was the first Crusader state to be founded, it was also the first to fall, the armies of the two kings marched separately across Europe. After crossing Byzantine territory into Anatolia, both armies were defeated by the Seljuk Turks. Louis and Conrad and the remnants of their armies reached Jerusalem, the crusade in the east was a failure for the crusaders and a great victory for the Muslims. It would ultimately have a key influence on the fall of Jerusalem, the only Christian success of the Second Crusade came to a combined force of 13,000 Flemish, Frisian, Norman, English, Scottish, and German crusaders in 1147. Travelling from England, by ship, to the Holy Land, after the First Crusade and the minor Crusade of 1101 there were three crusader states established in the east, the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Principality of Antioch and the County of Edessa. A fourth, the County of Tripoli, was established in 1109, Count Baldwin II and future count Joscelin of Courtenay were taken captive after their defeat at the Battle of Harran in 1104. Baldwin and Joscelin were both captured a second time in 1122, and although Edessa recovered somewhat after the Battle of Azaz in 1125, Joscelin was killed in battle in 1131. His successor Joscelin II was forced into an alliance with the Byzantine Empire, Joscelin had also quarreled with the Count of Tripoli and the Prince of Antioch, leaving Edessa with no powerful allies. Meanwhile, the Seljuq Zengi, Atabeg of Mosul, had added to his rule in 1128 Aleppo, both Zengi and King Baldwin II turned their attention towards Damascus, Baldwin was defeated outside the great city in 1129. Damascus, ruled by the Burid Dynasty, later allied with King Fulk when Zengi besieged the city in 1139 and 1140, in late 1144, Joscelin II allied with the Ortoqids and marched out of Edessa with almost his entire army to support the Ortoqid army against Aleppo. Zengi, already seeking to take advantage of Fulks death in 1143, hurried north to besiege Edessa, manasses of Hierges, Philip of Milly and others were sent from Jerusalem to assist, but arrived too late. Joscelin II continued to rule the remnants of the county from Turbessel, Zengi himself was praised throughout Islam as defender of the faith and al-Malik al-Mansur, the victorious king. He did not pursue an attack on the territory of Edessa, or the Principality of Antioch. Events in Mosul compelled him to home, and he once again set his sights on Damascus. However, he was assassinated by a slave in 1146 and was succeeded in Aleppo by his son Nur ad-Din, the news of the fall of Edessa was brought back to Europe first by pilgrims early in 1145, and then by embassies from Antioch, Jerusalem and Armenia. Bishop Hugh of Jabala reported the news to Pope Eugene III, Hugh also told the Pope of an eastern Christian king, who, it was hoped, would bring relief to the crusader states, this is the first documented mention of Prester John
3.
Lisbon
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Lisbon is the capital and the largest city of Portugal, with a population of 552,700 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km². Its urban area extends beyond the administrative limits with a population of around 2.7 million people. About 2.8 million people live in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area and it is continental Europes westernmost capital city and the only one along the Atlantic coast. Lisbon lies in the western Iberian Peninsula on the Atlantic Ocean, the westernmost areas of its metro area is the westernmost point of Continental Europe. Lisbon is recognised as a city because of its importance in finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, education. It is one of the economic centres on the continent, with a growing financial sector. Humberto Delgado Airport serves over 20 million passengers annually, as of 2015, and the motorway network, the city is the 7th-most-visited city in Southern Europe, after Istanbul, Rome, Barcelona, Madrid, Athens and Milan, with 1,740,000 tourists in 2009. The Lisbon region contributes with a higher GDP PPP per capita than any region in Portugal. Its GDP amounts to 96.3 billion USD and thus $32,434 per capita, the city occupies 32nd place of highest gross earnings in the world. Most of the headquarters of multinationals in the country are located in the Lisbon area and it is also the political centre of the country, as its seat of Government and residence of the Head of State. Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world, julius Caesar made it a municipium called Felicitas Julia, adding to the name Olissipo. Ruled by a series of Germanic tribes from the 5th century, in 1147, the Crusaders under Afonso Henriques reconquered the city and since then it has been a major political, economic and cultural centre of Portugal. Unlike most capital cities, Lisbons status as the capital of Portugal has never been granted or confirmed officially – by statute or in written form. Its position as the capital has formed through constitutional convention, making its position as de facto capital a part of the Constitution of Portugal. It has one of the warmest winters of any metropolis in Europe, the typical summer season lasts about four months, from June to September, although also in April temperatures sometimes reach around 25 °C. Although modern archaeological excavations show a Phoenician presence at this location since 1200 BC, another conjecture based on ancient hydronymy suggests that the name of the settlement derived from the pre-Roman appellation for the Tagus, Lisso or Lucio. Lisbons name was written Ulyssippo in Latin by the geographer Pomponius Mela and it was later referred to as Olisippo by Pliny the Elder and by the Greeks as Olissipo or Olissipona. The Indo-European Celts invaded in the 1st millennium BC, mixing with the Pre-Indo-European population and this indigenous settlement maintained commercial relations with the Phoenicians, which would account for the recent findings of Phoenician pottery and other material objects
4.
Crusades
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The First Crusade arose after a call to arms in a 1095 sermon by Pope Urban II. Urban urged military support for the Byzantine Empire and its Emperor, Alexios I, the response to Urbans preaching by people of many different classes across Western Europe established the precedent for later Crusades. Volunteers became Crusaders by taking a vow and receiving plenary indulgences from the church. Some were hoping for apotheosis at Jerusalem, or forgiveness from God for all their sins, others participated to satisfy feudal obligations, gain glory and honour, or find opportunities for economic and political gain. Many modern Historians have polarised opinions of the Crusaders behaviour under Papal sanction, to some it was incongruous with the stated aims and implied moral authority of the papacy and the Crusades, to the extent that on occasions that the Pope excommunicated Crusaders. Crusaders often pillaged as they travelled, while their leaders retained control of captured territory rather than returning it to the Byzantines. During the Peoples Crusade thousands of Jews were murdered in what is now called the Rhineland massacres, Constantinople was sacked during the Fourth Crusade rendering the reunification of Christendom impossible. These tales consequently galvanised medieval romance, philosophy and literature, but the Crusades also reinforced the connection between Western Christendom, feudalism, and militarism. Crusade is not a term, instead the terms iter for journey or peregrinatio for pilgrimage were used. Not until the word crucesignatus for one who was signed with the cross was adopted at the close of the century was specific terminology developed. The Middle English equivalents were derived from old French, croiserie in the 13th–15th centuries, croisade appeared in English c1575, and continued to be the leading form till c1760. By convention historians adopt the term for the Christian holy wars from 1095, the Crusades in the Holy Land are traditionally counted as nine distinct campaigns, numbered from the First Crusade of 1095–99 to the Ninth Crusade of 1271/2. Usage of the term Crusade may differ depending on the author, pluralists use the term Crusade of any campaign explicitly sanctioned by the reigning Pope. This reflects the view of the Roman Catholic Church that every military campaign given Papal sanction is equally valid as a Crusade, regardless of its cause, justification, generalists see Crusades as any and all holy wars connected with the Latin Church and fought in defence of their faith. Popularists limit the Crusades to only those that were characterised by popular groundswells of religious fervour – that is, only the First Crusade, Medieval Muslim historiographers such as Ali ibn al-Athir refer to the Crusades as the Frankish Wars. The term used in modern Arabic, ḥamalāt ṣalībiyya حملات صليبية, campaigns of the cross, is a loan translation of the term Crusade as used in Western historiography. The Islamic prophet Muhammad founded Islam in the Arabian Peninsula, the resulting unified polity in the seventh and eighth centuries led to a rapid expansion of Arab power. This influence stretched from the northwest Indian subcontinent, across Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, southern Italy, tolerance, trade, and political relationships between the Arabs and the Christian states of Europe waxed and waned
5.
Battle of Clavijo
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The Battle of Clavijo is a mythical battle, to a serious historian, the existence of the Battle of Clavijo is not even a topic of discussion. However, it was believed for centuries to be historical, in the legend, the apostle Saint James, an associate of Jesus Christ who died a 800 years earlier, suddenly appeared and led an outnumbered Christian army to gain its victory. He became the saint of Spain and is known to Spaniards as Santiago Matamoros. Aspects of the historical Battle of Monte Laturce were incorporated into this legend, the date originally assigned to the battle,834, was changed in modern times to 844 to suit the inherent contradictions of the account. The day is given as 23 May. The legend as it survives was first written down about 300 years after the event on a spurious charter. The history of the cult of Saint James is rich in such frauds, historian Jean Mitchell-Lanham says, While this event is based on legend, the supposed battle has provided one of the strongest ideological icons in the Spanish national identity. Saint James appearance at Clavijo has been a theme in art. Among those artists who portrayed him there are Aniello Falcone, Paolo da San Leocadio, Evaristo Muñoz, Mateo Pérez de Alesio, Martin Schongauer, Corrado Giaquinto, lo viejo y lo nuevo sobre el origin del Reino de Pamplona. Saint Jamess Catapult, The Life and Times of Diego Gelmírez of Santiago de Compostela
6.
Alfredo Roque Gameiro
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Alfredo Roque Gameiro was a Portuguese painter and graphic artist who specialized in watercolors. When he was ten years old, he went to live in Lisbon with his oldest brother, Justin and he studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon, where José Simões de Almeida was one of his professors. After receiving a scholarship from the Portuguese government, he attended the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst in Leipzig and studied lithography with Ludwig Nieper. Upon returning to Portugal in 1886, he became the Director of the Companhia Nacional Editora and and he was a frequent contributor to several weekly and monthly periodicals and worked with Manuel de Macedo to provide illustrations for a deluxe edition of The Lusiads, published in 1900. From 1910 to 1920 he created 10 watercolors and 90 lithographs for what would be his most popular work, Lisboa Velha and he also illustrated several popular novels by Júlio Dinis. In 1919, he became the first Director of the Escola Secundária Artística António Arroio, the following year, he and his daughter Helena had a successful joint exhibition in Brazil. He was elected a member of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in 1923, a majority of his works are on display at the municipal museum there, including many on loan from the Gulbenkian Foundation. Some of his designs appear on Portuguese postage stamps, all five of his children became artists, Raquel Roque Gameiro Ottolini, also a watercolorist, Manuel Roque Gameiro, who worked with diverse materials. His sculptures may be seen in Portugal and Mozambique, maria Lucília Abreu, Roque Gameiro, o homem e a obra, ACD Edições,2005, ISBN 972-8855-17-6 Thereza Leitão de Barros, Exposição retrospectiva da obra de Roque Gameiro, Lisbon,1946. A Tribo dos Pincéis a book issued on the occasion of a conference held at his home in Amadora and it includes his postage stamp designs and book illustrations by his entire family. A Tribo dos Pincéis a website devoted to Roque Gameiro and his family, biographies and critical material compiled @ jcabral. info
7.
Afonso I of Portugal
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Afonso I, nicknamed the Conqueror, the Founder or the Great by the Portuguese, and El-Bortukali and Ibn-Arrink by the Moors whom he fought, was the first King of Portugal. Afonso I was born in Coimbra, Guimarães or Viseu and he was the son of Henry of Burgundy and Theresa, the natural daughter of King Alfonso VI of León and Castile. The pair reigned jointly as Count and Countess of Portugal until Henrys death, Afonso was slightly more than two years old when his father, Count Henry, died on 22 May 1112 during the siege of Astorga. In an effort to pursue a share in the Leonese inheritance, his mother Theresa joined forces with Fernando Pérez de Trava. The Portuguese nobility disliked the alliance between Galicia and Portugal and rallied around the infant Afonso, in 1122, Afonso turned fourteen, the adult age in the 12th century. He made himself a knight on his own account in the Cathedral of Zamora, raised an army, in 1128, near Guimarães, at the Battle of São Mamede Afonso and his supporters overcame troops under his Count Fernando Peres de Trava of Galicia. Afonso exiled his mother to Galicia, and took rule of the County of Portugal. He also vanquished his mothers nephew, Alfonso VII of León, who came to her rescue, on 6 April 1129, Afonso Henriques dictated the writ in which he proclaimed himself Prince of Portugal. Afonso then turned his arms against the persistent problem of the Moors in the south, the first assembly of the Portuguese Cortes convened at Lamego is a 17th-century embellishment of Portuguese history. Independence from Alfonso VII of Leóns suzerainty, however, was not a thing he just could achieve militarily, the County of Portugal still had to be acknowledged diplomatically by the neighboring lands as a kingdom and, most importantly, by the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope. Afonso wed Mafalda of Savoy, daughter of Amadeus III, Count of Savoy and he succeeded in renouncing the suzerainty of his cousin, Alfonso VII of León, becoming instead a vassal of the papacy, as the kings of Sicily and Aragon had done before him. In 1179 the bull Manifestis Probatum accepted the new king as vassal to the pope exclusively, in Portugal he built several monasteries and convents and bestowed important privileges to religious orders. He is notably the builder of Alcobaça Monastery, to which he called the Cistercian Order of his uncle Bernard of Clairvaux of Burgundy. In 1143, he wrote to Pope Innocent II to declare himself, bypassing any king of León, Afonso declared himself the direct liege man of the papacy. Afonso continued to distinguish himself by his exploits against the Moors, from whom he wrested Santarém and he also conquered an important part of the land south of the Tagus River, although this was lost again to the Moors in the following years. Meanwhile, King Alfonso VII of León regarded the independent ruler of Portugal as nothing, conflict between the two was constant and bitter in the following years. Afonso became involved in a war, taking the side of the Aragonese king, to ensure the alliance, his son Sancho was engaged to Dulce, sister of the Count of Barcelona and Infanta of Aragon. Finally after winning the Battle of Valdevez, the Treaty of Zamora established peace between the cousins and the recognition by the Kingdom of León that Portugal was a sovereign kingdom
8.
Norwegian Crusade
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The crusaders did not lose a single battle during the Norwegian Crusade. Sigurd and his men sailed from Norway in the autumn of 1107 with sixty ships and perhaps around 5,000 men, in the autumn he arrived in England, where Henry I was king. Sigurd and his men stayed there the entire winter, until the spring of 1108, after several months they came to the town of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia where they were allowed by a local lord to stay for the winter. However, when the winter there was a shortage of food. Sigurd then gathered his army, attacked the castle and looted what they could there. During the journey, the Norwegians encountered a pirate fleet of galleys which were seeking peaceful trading ships to rob. However, Sigurd set his course straight for the pirates and stormed their ships, after a short time all the pirates had been either slain or escaped, and Sigurd acquired eight ships from them. After this they came to a castle in Muslim Al-Andalus called Sintra and they took the castle, and killed every man there, as they had refused to be christened. They then sailed to Lisbon, a half Christian and half heathen city, there they won their third battle, and acquired great treasures. Their fourth battle was won in the town of Alkasse, where they killed such a number of people. After another victorious battle against pirates when sailing through the Strait of Gibraltar they sailed further along the Saracen land into the Mediterranean, the Balearics were at the time perceived by Christians to be nothing more than a pirate haven and slaving center. The Norwegian raids are also the first recorded Christian attacks on the Islamic Balearic Islands, the first place they arrived at was Formentera, where they encountered a great number of Blåmenn and Serkir who had taken up their dwelling in a cave. The course of the fight is the most detailed of the entire crusade through written sources, after this battle, the Norwegians supposedly acquired the greatest treasures they had ever acquired. They then went on to successfully attack Ibiza and then Minorca, tales of their success may have inspired the Catalan–Pisan conquest of the Balearics in 1113–1115. In the spring of 1109, they arrived at Sicily, where they were welcomed by the ruling Count Roger II, in the summer of 1110, they finally arrived at the port of Acre, and went to Jerusalem, where they met the ruling crusader king Baldwin I. They were warmly welcomed, and Baldwin rode together with Sigurd to the river Jordan, the Norwegians were given many treasures and relics, including a splinter off the True Cross that Jesus had allegedly been crucified on. This was given on the condition that they would continue to promote Christianity, later, Sigurd returned to his ships at Acre, and when Baldwin was going to the Muslim town of Sidon in Syria, Sigurd and his men accompanied him in the siege. The town was taken and subsequently the Lordship of Sidon was established
9.
Battle of Covadonga
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The Battle of Covadonga was the first victory by Christendom military forces in Iberia since the Islamic conquest of Hispania in 711–718. It was fought at Covadonga, most likely in the summer of 722, as a result, the Battle of Covadonga has been credited by historians with catalyzing the Reconquista or the reconquest of Christian rule to the entire peninsula. According to texts written by Mozarabs in northern Iberia during the ninth century, from the beginning of the Muslim invasion of Iberia, refugees and combatants from the south of the peninsula had been moving north to avoid Islamic authority. Some had taken refuge in the mountains of Asturias in the northwestern part of the Iberian peninsula. There, from among the dispossessed of the south, Pelagius recruited his band of fighters and his first acts were to refuse to pay the Jizya to the Muslims any longer and to assault the small Umayyad garrisons that had been stationed in the area. Eventually, he managed to expel a provincial governor named Munuza from Asturias and he held the territory against a number of attempts to re-establish Muslim control, and soon founded the Kingdom of Asturias, which became a Christian stronghold against further Muslim expansion. For the first few years, this rebellion posed no threat to the new masters of Hispania, consequently, there was only a minor perfunctory reaction. Pelagius was not always able to keep the Muslims out of Asturias but neither could defeat him. Islamic forces were focused on raiding Narbonne and Gaul, and there was a shortage of manpower for putting down an insurrection in the mountains. Pelagius never attempted to force the issue, and it was a Umayyad defeat elsewhere that probably set the stage for the Battle of Covadonga. On July 9,721, a Muslim force that had crossed the Pyrenees and invaded the Kingdom of the Franks was defeated by them in the Battle of Toulouse and this was the first serious setback in the Muslim campaign in southwestern Europe. In 722, forces commanded by the Umayyad commanders Al Qama and Munuza, as Al Qama overran much of the region, folklore suggests that Oppas attempted to broker the surrender of his fellow Christians, but he failed in the effort. Pelagius may have had as few as three hundred men with him, Al Qama eventually arrived at Covadonga, and sent forward an envoy to convince Pelagius to surrender. He refused, so Al Qama ordered his best troops into the valley to fight, the Asturians opened fire from the slopes of the mountains, and then, at the climactic moment, Pelagius personally led some of his soldiers out into the valley. They had been hiding in a cave, unseen by the Muslims, the Christian accounts of the battle claim that the slaughter among the Muslims was horrific, while Umayyad accounts describe it as a mere skirmish. Al Qama himself fell in the battle, and his soldiers fled from the battlefield, in the aftermath of Pelagius victory, the people of the conquered villages of Asturias now emerged with their weapons, and killed hundreds of Al Qamas fleeing troops. Munuza, learning of the defeat, organized force. At some later date, he confronted Pelagius and his now greatly augmented force, again Pelagius won, and Munuza was killed in the fighting
10.
Day of Zamora
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The battle ended with in victory for the citys defenders. The troops of Ahmed-ben-Moavia surrounded the city of Zamora in July of 901, the battle lasted four days, finally resulting in victory for the citys Christian defenders. After the victory, the chronicles describe how the Asturian defenders severed the heads of Muslim leaders, a portion of the wall south of the citys main cathedral lies next to a street called Calle Balborraz. This denomination originates from the Arab word bab al ras where bab means door, the Hispano-Muslim chroniclers of this battle include Ibn Hayyan, who followed the account written by Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Razi. He attributes the attack to the Shia movement under the authority of the prophet Ibn al-Quitt, battle of Alhandic - The battle of the same nickname which took place outside the city walls in 939 and resulted in Muslim victory. Zamora, Spain Alfonso III of Asturias Reconquista
11.
Battle of Roncevaux Pass (824)
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The Battle of Roncevaux Pass was a battle in which a combined Basque-Qasawi Muslim army defeated a Carolingian military expedition in 824. The battle resulted in the defeat of the Carolingian military expedition, the clash was to have further reaching consequences than those of the 778 engagement, the immediate establishment of the independent Kingdom of Pamplona. The Basque lords both sides of the Pyrenees rebelled but were subdued in Dax by the Carolingian king Louis. Lupus Centullo was then appointed duke, but this too was deposed after he rebelled. Meanwhile, in Aragon the pro-Frankish count Aznar Galindez was overthrown by Enneko´s allied count Garcia Malo in 820, all Vasconia remained at this point in a shaky state of rebellion and the Frankish tenure on the Hispanic Marches was shifting out of control. In 824 an expedition was mustered by the Carolingian king in the Vasconia remaining under Frankish overlordship, the military force was headed by the Duke of Vasconia Aznar Sanchez, who led Basque troops hailing from current Gascony, and count Aeblus, commanding a Frankish army. The military force headed south with a view to quashing the Basque rebellion centred in Pamplona, the expedition arrived in the Basque stronghold, but found no resistance and with the expedition having accomplished its goals they made their way back north with goods looted on the town. However, on the narrow passes of the region of Cize. The Basques engaged the two columns in their terrain and the Carolingian forces were severely crushed, not only were the troops routed, but the two commanders of the expedition were captured by the assailants. Enneko Aritza came up victorious after the battle and became the ruler of Pamplona. The Development of Southern French and Catalan Society, 718–1050
12.
Battle of Golpejera
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The Battle of Golpejera also known as Golpejar, was an internecine battle among Christian kingdoms fought in early January,1072. King Sancho II of Castile defeated the forces of his brother Alfonso VI of León near Carrión de los Condes and it is notable as being one of the battles in which El Cid participated. In the 11th century, the three kingdoms of Castile, León and Galicia had been united under the ruler, King Ferdinand I of León. But his elaborate plans for succession led to years of infighting among siblings, if Ferdinand had followed the Navarrese Succession Law, then his elder son, Sancho of Castile, should have receive either all or the most of the inheritance. The nobility of León, however, saw itself as the heir of the ancient Hispanic-Gothic kingdom. Castile until recently had been merely frontier county of León, ultimately, in a King Lear-like compromise, Ferdinand elected to divide among his sons his domains into three kingdoms. Alfonso would inherit León, García, Galicia, and Sancho, to his two daughters, Urraca and Elvira, he granted the towns of Zamora and Toro. After his fathers death, Sancho made claims on his brothers domains, Sancho II of Castile defeated his brother, Alfonso VI of León over the Carrión River. The battle started at dawn and after a fight and the Castilians were driven from the field. Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, El Cid, managed to encourage both King and army, and lead them in a new attack the following morning, Alfonso was captured, but released into exile, where he sought refuge in Toledo, which was then in Moorish hands. Despite this outcome, Sanchos victory was short lived, he was assassinated by treachery while besieging Leonese nobles who had sequestered with Sanchos sister Urraca in the town of Zamora. Alfonso was able to return and rule the joint Kingdom of León-Castile and this battle is featured as part of the series of the El Cid campaign in Age of Empires II, The Conquerors Expansion as Brother Against Brother. Short synopsis of the Battle of Golepejera and Llantada Date of Golpejera
Portugal
Crusaders
