The Castilian–Leonese War of 1196–1197 was a conflict between the kingdoms of Leon, Navarre and the Almohad Caliphate against the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon.
In the middle of the conflict, Alfonso IX of León was accused by pope Celestine III of allying himself with a Muslim to fight against a Christian kingdom and was excommunicated, causing Portugal to join the war against León. In the end, the Almohads signed a truce with Alfonso VIII of Castile and Alfonso IX, seeing that he was abandoned by his ally and his kingdom now was being invaded, had to ask for peace. Alfonso IX married Alfonso VIII's daughter, Berengaria of Castile, which eventually led to a peace between both kingdoms.
Background
After the Castilian–Leonese War (1188–1194), the Kingdom of Castile and the Kingdom of Leon, with papal mediation, signed the Treaty of Tordehumos, which also led to an alliance between both kingdoms and the Kingdom of Navarre to attack the Almohad Caliphate.
In 1195, Alfonso VIII of Castile launched a campaign against the Almohad Caliphate. The Almohad caliph, Yaqub al-Mansur, landed in the Iberian Peninsula in July of the same year to repel the invaders. The Kingdom of León and the Kingdom of Navarre, since they had an alliance with Alfonso VIII, offered to send an army commanded by their respective monarchs, Alfonso IX of León and Sancho VII of Navarre, which he accepted. But Alfonso VIII, seeing that they were taking too long to arrive, decided to face the Almohads alone at the castle of Alarcos, thus breaking the treaty they had signed a year earlier in Tordehumos.
However, Alfonso VIII lost the battle, which was very disastrous for his kingdom. Following the defeat of Castile, Alfonso IX, Sancho VII and Sancho I of Portugal tried to make an alliance with the Almohad Caliphate while the Crown of Aragon decided to support Alfonso VIII of Castile. The Pope tried to avoid this war by calling them to an alliance against the Almohad Caliphate. Although Navarre was initially willing to help Castile and Aragon, they made a plan to divide Navarre, which caused Sancho VII to ally himself with Yaqub al-Mansur. War was inevitable and in the year 1196, hostilities began.
War
1196
Abu Yaqub Yusuf, taking advantage of the fact that Castile was still recovering from the battle of Alarcos, began a campaign with Leonese support in the spring of the same year. He entered through Extremadura, conquering Escalona, Santa Olalla and Talavera de la Reina. After taking these towns, he besieged Toledo but was defended successfully by Alfonso VIII and 1,000 Aragonese men led by Peter II of Aragon. However, this did not make him give up and shortly after the siege of Toledo, he attacked Madrid, Talamanca de Jarama, Alcalá de Henares, Mount Angio and Turgelo but was unsuccessful in Madrid and Alcalá de Henares, which were defended by Diego López II de Haro. On the way back to Africa, he raided Guadalajara, Cuenca, Oreja, Huete and Uclés.
Seeing that Alfonso VII was occupied fighting with the Almohads, Alfonso IX and Pedro Fernández de Castro, with Almohad and Navarrese troops, invaded Castile from Tierra de Campos and reached Carrión de los Condes and Villasirga. Alfonso VIII, after defending Toledo from the Almohads, responded by invading the Kingdom of León from the same region. He had again the support of Peter II of Aragon. Alfonso VIII started his campaign by taking Coyanza and unsuccessfully besieging León between July 23 and 25. He took Castro de los Judíos de Mayorga and burned the synagogue of the town on July 25, enslaving its population the next day. He continued his campaign by conquering Castroverde de Campos, Valencia de Don Juan and Ardón, approaching Benavente and reaching as far as El Bierzo, near Portugal. However, he was not able to take Astorga.
While León and Castile were fighting in Tierra de Campos, Sancho VII of Navarre took the opportunity and started another campaign against Castile. He ravaged the lands of Logroño and reached the towns of Soria, Medinaceli and Almazán.
On 31 October 1196, Pope Celestine III accused Alfonso IX of León of allying himself with the Muslims to fight a Christian kingdom and ordered the archbishops of Toledo and Santiago de Compostela to publish the excommunication of the Leonese monarch. After seeing this, Sancho I of Portugal declared war on the Kingdom of León, invading Galicia in the same year.
1197
After a year of his last campaign, Yaqub al-Mansur decided to start another one. He left Córdoba and, upon reaching Castilian territory, attacked Talavera de la Reina and Maqueda, followed by another siege in Toledo that also failed. He continued his campaign by attacking Madrid, Guadalajara, Oreja, Uclés, Huete, Cuenca and Alarcón. This time, most of these cities were defended by Fernando Ruiz de Azagra, Lord of Albarracín. Some sources say that it was not such a disastrous campaign and that no towns were captured, while others say the opposite. In any case, Alfonso VIII signed a ten-year truce with Yaqub on June, which meant he could focus on his war against León.
Alfonso IX found himself in a difficult situation: his ally, Yaqub al-Mansur, had abandoned him and now he had no support from anyone. So Alfonso VIII and Peter II, now at peace with the Almohads, launched another campaign against León, this time invading the south. He took Alba de Tormes, Barruecopardo, Bolaños de Campos, Paradinas de San Juan, Carpio de Azaba, Monreal and Alpalio while Sancho I of Portugal conquered Tui and Pontevedra.
Peace
Finally, both kings agreed to a marriage between the Leonese monarch and Berengaria of Castile (daughter of Alfonso VIII) at Valladolid in October 1197, which was allegedly approved by Pope Celestine III who had already annulled the marriage between the Leonese monarch and Theresa of Portugal. According to the English chronicler Roger of Howden, the Pope connived this marriage as Pro bono pacis, "For the sake of peace". However, a letter from Innocent III confirms Celestine never knew about this marriage.
Aftermath
Although this marriage brought peace between Alfonso VIII of Castile, Peter II of Aragon and Alfonso IX of León, Portugal continued at war with the kingdom of León, in which Castile almost re-joined, this time supporting Alfonso IX. Tui and Pontevedra were recovered by the Leonese probably in 1199 and Alfonso IX launched an invasion of Portugal in the same year, besieging Bragança without success. Both kingdoms eventually signed a peace treaty in 1200.
The war between Navarre and Castile also continued. Alfonso VIII and Peter II, supported by Alfonso IX from 1200, agreed to divide the Kingdom of Navarre. Eventually, Navarre lost the war and had to cede much of its territory, including Guipúzcoa and Vitoria, to Castile and Aragon.
The peace between Alfonso VIII and his cousin Alfonso IX did not last long: they went to war between 1204 and 1206 and again in 1212, but this last war was short-lived as Alfonso VIII was in a crusade against the Almohads and Pope Innocent III forced them to make peace. The crusade was successful, starting the beginning the decline of the Almohad Caliphate, which would also cause its breakup in the Iberian Peninsula and the beginning of the Third Taifas period.
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