Siege of Badajoz (1169)

The Portuguese-Leonese rivalry started with the Battle of Valdevez, in which Portuguese forces defeated the Leonese army. The successor of king Alfonso VII of León and Castile, king Ferdinand II of León, refused to acknowledge the Portuguese kingdom, as he proclaimed his right over Portugal, which led to the establishment of a fortress to conduct raids against the Portuguese. King Afonso sent his son Sancho to destroy the fortress; however, Ferdinand successfully routed the Portuguese army in 1167.[1]

In 1168, Afonso began plans to fight with the Moors by invading the city of Badajoz alongside Gerald the Fearless. In 1161, King Afonso launched his first attempt to capture the city in order to take revenge for previous Almohad raids into Portugal's dominions; however, the Almohads repulsed the attempt.[2]

In April 1169, Gerald marched to Badajoz with his army and attacked the city. The city was surrounded by strong walls, and the population of the city deserted due to civil discord. The Badajoz garrison was led by Umar ibn Temecelite. Umar saw that he could not defend the town, so he retreated to the Kasbah of the city. Umar then dispatched messages to Seville for aid. Afonso followed Gerald and entered the city; he began besieging the Almohads in their citadel. Afonso set a deadline for the Almohads to surrender the castle, but Umar was confident that he would last longer.[3][4]

However, the help came from the Leonese instead of the Almohads, and Ferdinand II marched to Badajoz to relieve the town as they were allied with the Almohads. As Ferdinand got closer to Badajoz, he dispatched a messenger secretly to the Almohad garrison, informing them that help had come and ordering them to guide him to a place where the Leonese troops could enter. Umar sent a group of his men to a section of the walls where the Portuguese were unaware; the Almohads climbed up the walls of that section and secretly began opening one of the gates of the city, allowing the Leonese to enter.[5][6]

Seeing this dangerous situation, Afonso abandoned the citadel and marched to meet the Leonese. The Almohads made a sortie against the Portuguese, attacking them from behind. The fighting was fierce, and both sides fought bravely until the Almohad-Leonese force decimated the Portuguese. Surprised by this tumult, Afonso began escaping, but as he was fleeing through the gates, his leg was crushed against one of the iron bolts, breaking his leg. He fell from his horse. His men carried him away, but the Leonese troops chased and captured him.[7][8]

Ferdinand treated the captured Afonso with great respect and ordered his doctors to treat him. Ferdinand then released Afonso in exchange for giving up territories he captured in Galicia. For Gerald the Fearless, either he ran away from the battlefield or he was captured alongside his king and released. The rout of the Portuguese forces happened on May 21; the Almohads captured weaponry, baggage, and supplies left by the Portuguese, which were many.[9][10]

• Muhammad Abdullah Enan, The State of Islam in Andalusia, Vol. III: The Era of Almoravids and Almohads, Part 2, p. 35-39
• Edward McMurdo, The History of Portugal, From the Commencement of the Monarchy to the Reign of Alfonso III, p. 224-6