The Almohad wars in the Iberian Peninsula were a series of conflicts that the Almohads had with the Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. The Almohads arrived in the Iberian Peninsula in 1146, after overthrowing the Almoravids. However, their dominance in the peninsula would be weakened after their defeat at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212.
Background
The Almoravid Dynasty had fallen in Iberia during the Second Crusade and the Second Period of Taifas had arrived. The Almohads arrived at Iberia in 1146 but Christians quickly conquered Santarém, Lisbon, Tortosa and Tarragona before them. It was not until 1172 that the Almohads finished conquering the Taifas.
Wars
First conflicts with the Christians: 1172–1189
Cuenca
In 1172, Yusuf I began a series of attacks in Castile and destroyed several small Castilian border garrisons. He also attempted to take Huete but failed and was forced to retreat. Alfonso VIII took the opportunity and began a counter-offensive in Cuenca, from which came great danger since the Almohads used it as an outpost in their continuous attacks against Castile. The city was well fortified so Alfonso VIII, with the help of Alfonso II of Aragon, carried out a long siege and captured it in 1177. Alfonso VIII also captured Alarcón in 1183.
Portuguese incursions in Almohad territory
In 1178, Prince Sancho of Portugal launched a campaign against the Almohad Caliphate. He raided Seville and burned Triana. A few years later, in 1182 or 1183, a new Portuguese expedition composed of local militias from Lisbon and Santarém plundered the Aljarafe, an area of villages and olive groves, taking a large number of captives.
Santarém
In the spring of 1184, Abu Yaqub Yusuf decided to attack Santarem, Portugal, which was defended by Afonso I of Portugal. Upon hearing of Abu Yusuf's attack, Ferdinand II of León marched his troops to Santarém to support Afonso I.
Abu Yusuf, thinking he had sufficient troops to maintain the siege, sent orders for part of his army to march to Lisbon and lay siege to that city too. The orders were misinterpreted and his army, seeing large contingents of men leaving the battle, became confused and started to retreat. Abu Yusuf, in an attempt to rally his troops, was wounded by a crossbow bolt and died on 29 July 1184.
Almohad campaigns: 1190–1197
Southern Portugal
The Almohad Caliphate launched a major offensive against the Kingdom of Portugal in the spring of 1190 that lasted into the summer of 1191. The Caliph Yaʿqūb al-Manṣūr crossed over from Africa to take personal command of his forces. The campaign of 1190 was underwhelming because of poor logistics, stubborn Portuguese resistance and assistance Portugal received from passing armies of the Third Crusade. The sieges of Tomar, Santarém and Silves had to be abandoned, but the caliph overwintered in Seville. The campaign of 1191 reversed Portugal's recent reconquests, captured Silves after a second siege and pushed the frontier north to the Tagus.
Yaʿqūb al-Manṣūr, the new Almohad caliph, decided to invade Portugal after they conquered Silves. Yaqub was joined by forces from Seville and Granada and laid siege to Silves but he left operations in the hands of local troops and took most of his expeditionary force to Córdoba. At Córdoba, the caliph met an embassy from Alfonso VIII of Castile and they signed a truce, this was good news for Yaqub as it meant he could focus on his campaign against Portugal. He invaded Alentejo and the town of Torres Novas surrendered. He began to besiege Tomar but failed to capture the city.
The main objective of al-Manṣūr was to capture Santarém, which he besieged in 1190 but he was defeated by Sancho I and English crusaders. This campaign was a failure.
In 1191, Yaqub launched a second attempt to reconquer Silves. He captured Alcácer do Sal, Torres Novas, and later the towns of Palmela, Coina and Almada. Leiria was destroyed and the Almohads raided as far north as the environs of Coimbra. He also recaptured the Castle of Alvor, whose population had been massacred in 1189. For his second siege of Silves, Yaqub brought four times as many siege engines as the defenders had. He started the siege in late June and ended in 25 July, as an Almohad victory. He also captured Beja.
After signing a five-year truce with Sancho, Yaqub returned to Africa. He had pushed the border north as far as the Tagus, leaving Portugal only one significant fortress to its south, at Évora.
Castilian campaign in Al-Andalus of 1195
Alfonso VIII, after his truce with the Almohads expired, he received news that Yaʿqūb al-Manṣūr was gravely ill in Marrakesh and that his brother Abu Yahya, the governor of Al-Andalus, had crossed the Mediterranean to declare himself king and take over Marrakesh. He took the opportunity and began an expedition to the region of Seville. Having successfully crushed his brother's ambitions, Yaqub al-Mansur was left with no choice other than to lead an expedition against the Christians, who were now threatening his empire in Iberia.
On July 4 Ya'qub and his army crossed the pass of Muradal (Despeñaperros) and advanced through the plain of Salvatierra. A cavalry detachment of the Order of Calatrava and some knights from nearby castles tried to gather news about the Almohad strength and its heading but they were surrounded by Muslim scouts and almost massacred, but managed to provide information to the Castilian king.
Alfonso gathered his forces at Toledo and marched down to Alarcos, a place which marked the Southern limit of his kingdom and where a fortress was under construction. The other Spanish Christian kingdoms feared that the Almohads would succeed, so Alfonso VIII received offers of help from Alfonso IX of León and Sancho VI of Navarre, which he accepted. But seeing that they were taking a long time to arrive, he decided to face the Almohads alone. When on July 16 the Almohad host came in view, Yaqub al-Mansur did not accept battle on this day or the day after, preferring to give rest to his forces; but early the day after that, on July 18, the Almohads formed for battle around a small hill called La Cabeza, two bow-shots from Alarcos.
It was a formidable army, whose strength Alfonso had badly underestimated. The Castilian king put most of his heavy cavalry in a compact body, about 8,000 strong, and gave its command to Diego López II de Haro. The king himself would follow with the infantry and the Military Orders.
Most of the knights turned to their left and after a fierce struggle they routed the al-Andalus forces of Ibn Sanadid. Three hours had passed; just afternoon, in the intense heat, the fatigue and the missiles which kept falling on them took their toll of armoured knights. Alfonso advanced with all his remaining forces into the melee, only to find himself assaulted from all sides and under a rain of arrows. For some time he fought hand-to-hand, until removed from the action, almost by force, by his bodyguard; they fled towards Toledo. The Castilian infantry was destroyed, together with most of the Orders which had supported them; the Lord of Vizcaya tried to force his way through the ring of enemy forces, but finally had to seek refuge in the unfinished fortress of Alarcos with just a fraction of his knights. The castle was surrounded with some 3,000 people trapped inside, half of them women and children. The king's enemy, Pedro Fernández de Castro, who had taken little part in the action, was sent by the Amir to negotiate the surrender; Diego López II de Haro and the survivors were allowed to go, leaving 12 knights as hostages for the payment of a great ransom.
After Alarcos: Castilian-Leonese War of 1196–1197
The Castilian field army had been destroyed. The outcome of the battle shook the stability of the Kingdom of Castile for several years and all nearby castles surrendered or were abandoned: Malagón, Benavente, Calatrava la Vieja, Caracuel, and Torre de Guadalferza, and the way to Toledo was wide open. However, both sides had considerable casualties, including the Almohads, who could not continue with their campaign. The Almohads obtained an alliance with King Alfonso IX of León, who was angry with Alfonso VIII, who did not wait for him to fight the battle in Alarcos.
After this, Alfonso IX of Leon (with Almohad and Navarrese help), declared war on Castile, which was supported by Aragon. Alfonso VIII of Castile launched an invasion to Leon, taking Castroverde de Campos, Alba de Tormes, Ardón, Coyanza and Castro de los Judíos de Mayorga. He also approached Benavente (where Alfonso IX and his army were), invaded as far west as Bierzo (Near Portugal) and tried to capture Astorga but failed. In 1197, Alfonso IX recovered Castro de los Judíos de Mayorga while Alfonso VIII took Bárcena de la Abadía, Carpio and Pozuelo. The Almohads also tried to invade Castile and laid siege to Toledo, Maqueda, Talavera de la Reina and Santa Olalla but only succeeding in the last one. These towns were defended by Diego López II de Haro and Fernando Ruiz de Azagra, lord of Albarracín. The Almohads also took Plasencia, Mount Angio and Turgelo.
This conflict turned out to be a Castilian victory but there were no territorial changes because the Papal states mediated the conflict and condemned both kingdoms for disapproving of the marriage between Alfonso IX and Berengaria of Castile (since it would lead to a peace between Castile and Leon). In the end, that marriage did take place and led to a peace between both kingdoms in 1197.
The Kingdom of Castile and the Almohads also signed a truce that lasted until 1211.
Crusade of 1211–1212
Preparation of the crusade
Alfonso VIII found himself in a dangerous situation: the disturbing possibility of losing Toledo and the entire Tagus Valley, which is why the king asked Pope Innocent III in 1211 to preach a crusade to which not only his Castilian subjects responded, but also king Peter II of Aragon, Sancho VII of Navarre, the military Orders such as the Order of Calatrava, Knights Templar, Santiago and Saint John, and crusaders from all over Europe.
Crusade
Hostilities began in 1211, when Alfonso VIII broke the truce he had with the Almohads and attacked Andalusian territory. Al-Nasir was forced to intervene and landed in the Iberian Peninsula that same year. While the Christians devastated the lands of Jaén, the Almohads surpassed Sierra Morena and the Fortress of Salvatierra, the most important fortress of the Order of Calatrava since the Almohads took the castle of Calatrava. In June 1212, Alfonso VIII took Guadalerzas, Malagón, Calatrava and Caracuel.
The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, known in Islamic history as the Battle of Al-Uqab (Arabic: معركة العقاب), took place on 16 July 1212 and was an important turning point in the Reconquista and the history of medieval Spain. The Christian forces were led by King Alfonso VIII of Castile, joined by his rivals, Kings Sancho VII of Navarre and Peter II of Aragon. The Muslim army was led by caliph al-Nasir (Miramamolín in the Spanish chronicles), ruler of the Almohad Caliphate, which included the southern half of the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco.
Navas de Tolosa (also called Las Navas) is a town and hamlet in southern Spain, in the municipality of La Carolina, in the province of Jaén, in the eastern part of the Sierra Morena region, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the border with the province of Ciudad Real.
In July 16, Alfonso VIII, Peter II of Aragon and Sancho VII of Navarre fought against Muhammad al-Nasir, the Almohad caliph, in Navas de Tolosa (near Santa Elena). The battle was fought at relatively close range, so that neither the Almohads nor the Christians could use archers in the melee-dominated fight.