On August 10, 997 there was one of those events that represent a before and after in historical processes. The looting, by Almanzor, of the city where one of the most important Christian relics in Europe was found, the remains of the Apostle Santiago, was a turning point in the so-called "Christian Reconquest" of the Iberian Peninsula. The terrible events of those days in Santiago de Compostela, did nothing but corroborate the fear that at the arrival of the year 1,000, and the worst prophecies would be fulfilled with the end of the known world. But no, for Christians the world did not end in the year 1,000, rather as we will see, it was the opposite.
Almanzor.
First, we will briefly meet the person responsible for the greatest scourge, that the Christians of the Peninsula had known until that moment. Our character, with the very complete Arabic name of Abu Amir Muhammad ibn Abi Amir, was born in the province of Malaga, into a noble family settled in said territory since the time of the Islamic conquest of the Peninsula. Although the first years of his life go largely unnoticed by historiography, we know that he was educated in the splendid caliphal Córdoba. We also know that around the year 967 he was already fully installed in the court of Caliph Alhakén II, whom he faithfully served in the education of his children, and according to gossips in the care of his favorite wife, the exuberant Basque slave Subh .
Almanzor in Catalañazor
After the death of said caliph in the year 976, he begins his unstoppable political rise. In a few years he gets rid of the main enemies within the court; the hayid al-Mushafi in 978 and three years later, the best general the caliphate had ever known, Galib. Both died under the threatening shadow of Almanzor, who since then feels free in the government of al-Andalus. The panorama in Córdoba pointed to it, with the new caliph Hisham II, only 13 years old, praying in Medina Azahara, a prominent position in the bed of the Basque Subh now turned queen mother, and especially with the control of the powerful caliphal army, after to displace the Umayyad aristocracy from command posts, and place their faithful Berber mercenaries in their place.
Nothing could stop his endless desire to subdue the Christian kingdoms in the north of the Peninsula. A whopping 56 oil companies have been counted in the 25 years that Almanzor remained at the head of the Caliphate. From the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, few corners were left without receiving visits from the looting hosts of the new master of Córdoba. Of all of them, the one that concerns us today, numbered 48, was the most painful.
The Count García Fernández.
To begin the story we go back to the beginning of the summer of the year 995, that is, two before Almanzor's hosts devastated Santiago. Those days the only one of the Christians who was capable of coming face to face with the hayid died. Cordovan. García Fernández, the Count of Castile, who had recently led the resistance against the caliphate. Of his determination there is evidence that he managed to steal the powerful Gormaz Fortress from the Cordovans, which remained in the hands of the Castilian count between 978-983.
Count García Fernández in Salamanca
As is often said about the death of the courageous García Fernández "there have been rivers of ink". In the first place, we will leave aside the curious legends about a fat horse or the alleged infidelities of his wife with Almanzor himself, by the way, allow me a paragraph, the Cordovan leader must have been as courageous at the head of the caliphal armies as in bed. Once these legends have been discarded, today historiography opts for a fortuitous error that cost him his death.
In one of the last Almanzor oilfields, the caliphal troops became strong in some of the most important towns of the Count of Castile, see Osma, Gormaz or Clunia. García Fernández's response was to attack the heart of the Cordovan caliph's power, the city of Medinaceli, at that time the capital of the Middle March of al-Andalus. In this context, before or after said attack, it is not clear, the confrontation with a Muslim detachment occurred.
For the Christian sources a battle, for the Caliphate a fortuitous encounter near the castle of Peñaranda de Duero. Most likely, it was a fall from Count García Fernández's horse, hence the legend of the horse fattened by his wife, Almanzor's lover. With a blow to the head he was arrested and transferred to Medinaceli by his enemies, where he died four days later. His head arrived in Córdoba in the following days as a trophy from Almanzor.
Gate of the caliphal fortress of Gormaz
The misgovernment of the Kingdom of León.
The Kingdom of León at the end of the 10th century was a true political gibberish; Bermudo II ruled over it, if one can say so. But it is clear that those who held power were the nobles who exercised territorial power. Castile, we have already seen that it was practically heading towards its emancipation, Galicia, Portugal, Asturias, and even León had become tributaries of Almanzor.
The king was not going through his best moments, a few years ago he had given his own daughter to the Cordovan caudillo with the intention of getting rid of the Muslim aceifas, neither were they paralyzed, nor did they decrease of number, for Almanzor the delivery of a daughter was not a reason for loyalty, but for submission.
The mismanagement was evident, not even Bermudo II's own neighbors respected him as king. The Banu Gómez aristocratic family settled around Carrión de los Condes continuously attacked the capital of the kingdom, to displace the nominal king from power. This was even defended by Almanzor himself, as was necessary in the medieval pacts that emerged around the feudal political system; “I pay you, you defend me”. In one of these, the Muslims razed Carrión and the monastery of San Román de Entrepeñas, the family seat of that family.
In this context the rebellion of Bermudo II was born. If we have to look for reasons for this, we get a few; It was the weakest moment of his neighbors the Banu Gómez, the death of García Fernández as a Christian hero before the Muslims could also serve as an incentive, not to forget the hatred towards the man who had taken his daughter without compensation in exchange . In addition, on the other side of the border, problems surfaced for Almanzor, revolts in the Maghreb and palace intrigues led by the Basque Subh.
In short, Bermudo could have thought that it was the right time to travel the kingdom in search of help to throw off the Muslim yoke. The first to join are the neighbors Banu Gómez, who abandon the quarrels for a good reason. That year the men of Almanzor left the capital of the kingdom, without the usual tributes that the king of León regularly delivered.
Aceifa number 48 is heading to Santiago de Compostela.
Almanzor did not let a day go by, the audacity of Bermudo II had to be counteracted. The following aceifa could not be one more, recovering the chess simile of our title, the Cordovan leader had to strategically move his pieces on the board to "kill the king". This was not Bermudo II, but the supposed sacred origin of the "Christian Reconquest", the tomb of Santiago the apostle, the true point of union of the Christian kingdoms through their pilgrimage routes.
The caliphal troops left Córdoba on July 3. They did not go directly to Santiago, they passed through the Portuguese towns of Viseu and Coria to collect the help of the Portuguese counts. These put their desire for power before their faith, they did not mind crossing the Miño alongside the Muslims and destroying all the monasteries they found in their path. Hundreds or thousands of men were imprisoned to become a luxury product, from the Andalusian markets.
The supposed harem of Almanzor.
On August 10, the caliphal and Portuguese troops arrive in Santiago de Compostela. According to mainly Muslim sources, the city was deserted, its inhabitants had abandoned it for fear of Almanzor. As the legend, that an old monk was waiting for the leader next to the tomb of Santiago. He did not flinch at the arrival of the great Almanzor, before the interrogation to which he was subjected, his only response was that he remained there to honor the remains of the apostle. Both were pardoned by the leader, neither the life of the monk, nor the remains of Santiago were profaned. Superstition? Do I respect his colleagues in aceifa?
The holy city did not suffer the same fate, which was razed to the ground. The old pre-Romanesque church was burned down and the loot from the aceifa was the most succulent in memory; silks, dresses, pieces of gold or large tapestries head for Córdoba. The bells of the church transported on the shoulders of Christian slaves, rather seem like a legend, by the way, back and forth, since they returned 238 years later on the shoulders of Muslim slaves, pushed by the hosts of Fernando III.
The response of the Christian kingdoms.
We return to our chess simile; “if you can turn your check into checkmate, do it, otherwise you may regret it”. We can draw that conclusion from the following events.
That the news spread across Europe could be one of the reasons for the reaction of the peninsular Christian kingdoms, feeling the need not to fail their European co-religionists again, in short Around the turn of the millennium, the tomb of the apostle Santiago was becoming a heritage of European Christianity.
Only two years later, in 999, Bermudo II died of a gout attack. His heir the young Alfonso was only five years old, de facto the kingdom fell into the hands of his mother Elvira, daughter of the remembered Castilian count García Fernández. Well, she achieved something that seemed unthinkable at the time. The great nobles of Castile, León and Galicia decided by consensus to protect the figure of the young king. Soon this purpose was joined by the lower nobility and the clergy. What was happening?; the memory of García Fernández reincarnated in that of his grandson Alfonso V, or the discomfort due to the events of Santiago de Compostela.
Soon the last guest would join the coalition. That same year Almanzor's troops repeated the operation on Pamplona. The Kingdom of Navarre joins its religious allies, not in vain it was the first geographical place that received European pilgrims who went to Santiago, then passed through Castilla, León and arrived in Galicia. All the territories united by the Camino de Santiago set out to protect the reconstruction of the Holy City.
We arrived at the dreaded year 1000. The caudillo prepared a new olive oil, that year it was Castile's turn. He headed north from the capital Medinaceli, but did not reach his destination. On the hill of Peña Cervera, which rose 170 m above the level of the Castilian plain, the united Christian armies awaited him for the first time in several decades. To "last bull" we can think that it was the battle of mutual fear. Before the arrival of the Muslim hosts, the Christian army deployed its best strategy, nullifying the flanks of the Muslim attack, historically its best combat weapon. Almanzor's surprised men fled to the opposite hill, possibly looking for an escape route. The Castilian armies thought that they would expect reinforcements from there. They both made a mistake, and they both headed back to their bases.
The views from Peña Cervera
The chessboard of the Battle of Cervera had ended with some unexpected “draws”. For some, accustomed to numerous defeats, it had an aftertaste of victory. On the other side, on the contrary, the caudillo rebuked the cowardice of his men. Two years later Almanzor "the victorious" died completely exhausted, after starring in the hardest years of the Christian kingdoms since the times of the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, keeping the so-called "Christian Reconquest" in check. But this ended up coming out stronger and ready to continue its path of victories.
Almanzor's death
More info:
History of Spain in the Middle Ages, Cood. Vicente Ángel Álvarez Palenzuela, Ed. Ariel, 2011.
Moors and Christians, the great adventure of Medieval Spain, Juan José Esparza, Ed. The sphere of books, 2011.
The Caliphs of Córdoba, Francisco Bueno García, Ed. Arguval, 2015.