A House of Lamps; Part 1
"The whole world is like a house filled with lamps, rays, and lights through whom the things of the house are elucidated…"
Ibn Barrajan, 12th century CE
"The whole world is like a house filled with lamps, rays, and lights through whom the things of the house are elucidated…"
Ibn Barrajan, 12th century CE
This timeline will trace the latter history of the Reconquista, from the Moorish victory at Las Navas de Tolosas through the history of the Ayshunids, to the Islamic discovery of the New World, and the beginning of the imperial age.
The Point of Divergence: May 2nd, 1212 CE
The Sierra Morena, Southern Spain
The olives were doing well, this time of year. In the Sierra Morena, there was little else to worry about. On a pleasant day in early May, a haggard shepherd cussed at his sheep to follow the path from his hut on the hill to the pasture in the valley. One small lamb wandered off, as lambs do, and came to a spring nestled between crags of grey stone. The shepherd knocked his stick against the dusty road, pushing his flock down the path. He munched on some pine nuts from a bag slung at his waist. With a bit more grunting, and a fair few more curses, he goaded the flock to a rest in their pasture.
He ran a quick count, unos, duos, tre…and saw one was missing. With an exasperated clip to his stride, the shepherd worked his way up the path, tracing the mess of hoofprints that marked the main flock, looking for a straggler. The lamp was off to the side, its hoods marked with mud where it had carelessly romped through the wet dirt besides the path. It munched on some small shrubs near a little puddle of water bubbling up from the rocks. The shepherd called to it, but it didn’t listen. He sighed and stepped off the trail, throwing dirt over his fine, for a shepherd, leather boots. One step landed him on a little boulder buried in the grass, just slickened just enough by residual morning mist to send him stumbling forwards. With a loud crack he fell forward onto more stones, grey but now flecked with blood. He died quickly. The lamb didn’t seem to notice.
This shepherds name was Martin Alhaja, a Castillian. He was 36 years old.
His death in other circumstances would warrant little attention, but in this case, it would change the face of the Iberian Peninsula. Just across the gorges, through the Despeñaperros pass would come to be the war-camp of the Caliph Muhammad al-Nasir. At the head of a vast host drawn up from Africa, he was intent on waging war on the Christians, following up the victory at Alarcos in 1195. He would be countered by Alfonso VIII of Castille, and the combined knightly orders of all Spain, among others. In other times, he would be aided by Marin to cross the Despeñaperros and ambush the Caliphs camp, routing the Almohad army and crushing the dream of resurgent jihad in Iberia. Yet, thanks to a wandering lamb and a slicked stone he would have no such guide.
The next day, the Caliph would lead his force against the Christian coalition, crossing the Sierra Morena themselves and fighting south of the Guadiana. While not the crushing final battle either side was wishing for, the Almohad forces succeeding in causing a Christian withdrawal, and capitalized on their gains to fortify the territory on the north wall of the Sierra Morena.
The Christian armies were forced to withdraw to Toledo. The military orders suffered significant losses, including the master of the order of Santiago Pedro Arias, and the master of the famed Order of Calatrava, Ruy Diaz.
Muslims losses were not insignificant either. The Caliph himself was struck by a stray arrow during the assault on the Castillian center, and lost his right eye for it. For this he gained the Castillian nickname, el nudo, “the tree knot”, an insult on his new facial appearance. The Almohads also lost a significant number of Andalusian troops, which did not fare well with the southern emirs, already rankled by supporting troops to yet another Berber-led war. Still, it was a Muslim victory, and the battle was trumpeted throughout the mosques of Granada and the Maghreb during the khutbah.
The olives were doing well, this time of year. In the Sierra Morena, there was little else to worry about. On a pleasant day in early May, a haggard shepherd cussed at his sheep to follow the path from his hut on the hill to the pasture in the valley. One small lamb wandered off, as lambs do, and came to a spring nestled between crags of grey stone. The shepherd knocked his stick against the dusty road, pushing his flock down the path. He munched on some pine nuts from a bag slung at his waist. With a bit more grunting, and a fair few more curses, he goaded the flock to a rest in their pasture.
He ran a quick count, unos, duos, tre…and saw one was missing. With an exasperated clip to his stride, the shepherd worked his way up the path, tracing the mess of hoofprints that marked the main flock, looking for a straggler. The lamp was off to the side, its hoods marked with mud where it had carelessly romped through the wet dirt besides the path. It munched on some small shrubs near a little puddle of water bubbling up from the rocks. The shepherd called to it, but it didn’t listen. He sighed and stepped off the trail, throwing dirt over his fine, for a shepherd, leather boots. One step landed him on a little boulder buried in the grass, just slickened just enough by residual morning mist to send him stumbling forwards. With a loud crack he fell forward onto more stones, grey but now flecked with blood. He died quickly. The lamb didn’t seem to notice.
This shepherds name was Martin Alhaja, a Castillian. He was 36 years old.
His death in other circumstances would warrant little attention, but in this case, it would change the face of the Iberian Peninsula. Just across the gorges, through the Despeñaperros pass would come to be the war-camp of the Caliph Muhammad al-Nasir. At the head of a vast host drawn up from Africa, he was intent on waging war on the Christians, following up the victory at Alarcos in 1195. He would be countered by Alfonso VIII of Castille, and the combined knightly orders of all Spain, among others. In other times, he would be aided by Marin to cross the Despeñaperros and ambush the Caliphs camp, routing the Almohad army and crushing the dream of resurgent jihad in Iberia. Yet, thanks to a wandering lamb and a slicked stone he would have no such guide.
The next day, the Caliph would lead his force against the Christian coalition, crossing the Sierra Morena themselves and fighting south of the Guadiana. While not the crushing final battle either side was wishing for, the Almohad forces succeeding in causing a Christian withdrawal, and capitalized on their gains to fortify the territory on the north wall of the Sierra Morena.
The Christian armies were forced to withdraw to Toledo. The military orders suffered significant losses, including the master of the order of Santiago Pedro Arias, and the master of the famed Order of Calatrava, Ruy Diaz.
Muslims losses were not insignificant either. The Caliph himself was struck by a stray arrow during the assault on the Castillian center, and lost his right eye for it. For this he gained the Castillian nickname, el nudo, “the tree knot”, an insult on his new facial appearance. The Almohads also lost a significant number of Andalusian troops, which did not fare well with the southern emirs, already rankled by supporting troops to yet another Berber-led war. Still, it was a Muslim victory, and the battle was trumpeted throughout the mosques of Granada and the Maghreb during the khutbah.
Toledo; 1263
The brow of the crown-prince Ferdinand, once so clean and immaculate, was splashed with dirt and dust. The moors had tied him to his horse. Rope fetters bound his wrists together behind his back, and more ropes strapped him to his saddle. A guard pulled the reins ahead of him. He kept the nag at a steady pace with the rest of the vanguard. Muhammad Yusuf wished that the crown-prince would be visible to the entire city, not hidden behind a wall of dark faces and leathery shields. Ferdinand could barely see through the sunlight. The evening sun had begun its dip to the horizon, shining straight into his eyes, turning his bangs translucent as its rays pierced through to scratch his face.
Captivity did not suit him, he thought. The cuffs on his wrists felt odd, like a bad dream. Only just yesterday he was a free man. A prince of Castile, a warrior of Christ. The red and yellow, the white, the blacks and blues of Christian banners fluttering over the tawny fields. He could feel, if he just pretended this flea-bitten beast was his own proud Santiago, a horse of noble bearing. Deep brown, thick hide and smart eyes. Sharp hooves and a straight head, a war horse. A champion of jousts across every corner of Christian Iberia. Wherever that horse was now was little better than his sad state. A Moorish spear, thrust into his side and then a black-feathered bolt to his forehead. He died quickly, Ferdinand could at least console himself on that. A fly landed on his neck, but he couldn’t swipe it off. He felt its wings on his skin, its tiny mouth nibbling at his flesh.
“It seems these Christian flies are quick to turn on their own kind.” Someone spoke in a thick Moorish accent. Their foreign tongue laced each Castilian word with a southern must.
The Moorish king, on a horse far finer than his, casually trotted up to meet at Ferdinand’s side.
“They have eaten well in the past week. Perhaps they have remembered how sweet Christian blood can be.” He said.
There was little that distinguished their king from the rest of their kind. Unlike others Ferdinand had fought he wore little finery and dressed practically. Tall black riding boots and a short gambeson with just the hint of a gilded fringed tunic underneath. A long sword in Andalusian style, sheathed and bound with iron rings clapped against his saddle. He wore a large turban, as in the style of the Berbers, but kept his face unveiled to display an immaculate brown beard, clipped with a sharp edge around the chin. Long proud features with wide cheekbones and pale eyes betrayed a mixed background, between moor and Christian. Ferdinand could scarcely imagine that such a creature could ever have been descended from Christian men. The falcon of Seville, as he had become known, wore his title well. He carried himself with an avian sort of stance, a barely bent pose that held a seemingly infinite pool of waiting ferocity. Ferdinand hung his head low. In his weakness, he could not bear to face his captor, as so many moors had whimpered before him in his own past.
“Do not despair prince of Castile, I am not wasting a horse on you, so I can kill you somewhere else. You still have a mission to carry out for your kingdom.”
“What task will you compel from me, moor?” he asked, speaking down through his hair and sweat.
“God-Willing, you shall deliver me Toledo.”
Ferdinand couldn’t help but grin. The audacity of the moor continued to exceed his own ability to comprehend it.
The Timeline
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1214 - 5 CE
Muhammad Al-Nasir, intent on pressing his advantage further, sets his sights on Toledo. Almohad forces penetrate across the Guadiana at Merida and rampage through La Mancha, but cannot directly attack the city, settling to retake Talavera and many towns to the south and west. It is renamed Talabayra al-Majd Allah, to celebrate the success of the campaign. Alfonso VIII stays in Toledo, anticipating an imminent siege that does not arrive. He sends Sancho VII of Navarre with a significant force to cut the Almohads off from the south near Malagon. Sancho successfully pushes back local garrisons but is intercepted by the Berber commander Imen al-Din Farra. After a short engagement both parties withdraw. Amid a general stalemate Muhammad Al-Nasir and Alfonso VIII sign a 15-year peace, both sides left drained by the war. The landscape around Toledo is decimated, some argue by intention, and a bloated population due to refugees and low food production leads to riots within the city. Muhammad Al-Nasir returns to Morocco.
1216 CE
Miramoullin El Nudo, as the Christians had come to call the Almohad Caliph, busies himself with suppressing a Berber revolt in the Rif in Morocco. Increasing ethnic tensions in the South continue to peck at the Almohad power structure.
In Andalusia, the governor of Jaen Abd Allah Al-Bayyasi faces a significant challenge from the commander Imen al-Din Farra, who accuses him of negligence in stocking the border with Castille with garrisons. Backed by Muhammad Al-Nasirs brother, and a significant power-broker in Al-Andalus, Abu Muhammad ‘Abdallah, Farra is able to orchestrate Al-Bayyasis death in August of that year. He is given control of Jaen in return for an unofficial pledge of loyalty to Abu Muhammad. Muhammad Al-Nasir, alerted to this machination calls for his brother’s imprisonment. The emirs of Al-Andalus are faced with a potential political crisis between two foreign figures, equally disliked among them.
1217 - 20 CE
Abu Muhammad ‘Abdallah successfully wards off his brothers threats by swearing off his former plans off personal gain, having Farra publicly shamed and then hung for his ‘treachery’. Muhammad Al-Nasir, still unsatisfied with his brothers show of remorse has him assassinated as a precaution. Abu Muhammad ‘Abdallah is stabbed to death while taking a bath. Conscious of the need to restore loyalties among the Andalusian emirs, Al-Nasir promotes the son of Al-Bayyasi, Ahmed ‘Abdullah Yusuf to the governorship of Jaen. He is a popular figure among the emirs, and seen as a ready ear for their concerns. He is also palatable to the Masmuda sheiks as a pragmatist, not willing to tread on too many toes across the pillars of Hercules.
Portuguese raiders along with a force of Crusader volunteers take several towns on the Portuguese coast, sieging the keep at Alcácer do Sal. They are repulsed upon attempting to push farther inland however. There is otherwise, general peace in Iberia.
Gzennya Berbers stage a revolt in the Rif, attacking Almohad outposts on the coast. Mlila is even put under siege for several months, before Al-Nasir is able to lift the siege, executing 500 tribal sheiks.
1221 CE
Muhammad Al-Nasir dies in combat with a straggler force of Riffian rebels. He is immediately succeeded by the 20-year-old Yusuf II al-Mustansir, who wastes little time in putting down the last vestiges of rebellion in Morocco.
1223-24 CE
Yusuf II spends a significant amount of time and money refurbishing Mlila and Ceuta, signing an extensive trade accord with Genoa in November. Portuguese nobles, eager to take advantage of the absence of the Caliphs launch a wide ranging cabalgada raid into western Almohad holdings, capturing thousands of Muslim slaves and large herds of livestock. They swung north of Silves and put torch to the fields outside the city before returning to Portugal.
Incensed, Yusuf II crosses to Portugal and crosses the border with a significant force, taking Alcacer and Setúbal. Alfonso II of Portugal dies at Coimbra, leaving Portugal unable to levy an effective response force. 40 Portuguese nobles choose to pledge allegiance to the Caliph to preserve their holdings in the southern Estramadura.
Sancho II is declared King of Portugal, and immediately starts rallying troops for the reconquest of the Estramadura.
1225 CE
The First Battle of Palmela (Tal al-Balla)
Yusuf II gets notice of the Portuguese army advancing to the east of Setúbal, near the mount of al-Balla. He draws up his force southeast of Palmela, with the Sado estuary covering his southern flank and the fortress covering the north. He came to the field with 11,000 men, primarily Berber mushud levies with a large Andalusian cavalry contingent under the command of the Emir of Silves, Ibn Abnd al-Badie. His Christian mercenaries, the jund al-nasara bring up the very center.
Sancho II entered the campaign with 4,000 men at arms, 1,200 crossbowmen and 2,000 mounted religious volunteers, headed by the general Dom Ruy Fontes of Guimarães. He also commanded a sizable number of knights from the Order of Aviz. After supplying in the still-Christian towns east of Setúbal, he swung west towards the city, intent on retaking it. Initial scouting parties clashed in the early weeks of June, and the battle commenced on the 17th.
Sancho II sent his infantry at the center, who collided with Yusuf’s Christian mercenaries. The Portuguese crossbowmen screened the infantry’s advance, while he sent Ruy’s cavalry through the farmlands to the north to flank the bloated Almohad central line. Eager to press into the Christian center, Yusuf’s Berber troops crowded into the center, squeezing his Christians behind his levies and the Portuguese. Ibn Abnd al-Badie’s cavalry engaged with the Christian cavalry, and quickly pressed them back, forcing Sancho II to shift troops to the northern flank to ward them off. Seeing the battle and wishing to participate, a number of residents of the city of Setubal attempted to sally out to aid the Portuguese, but were promptly slaughtered by the Moorish garrison.
The entire Portuguese line began to curve northwards, pulling back in the center against the weight of the massive Almohad central line and twisting to protect the vulnerable northern flank. Ibn Abnd’s cavalry were able to rout the Portuguese cavalry, forcing them back. It was at this time that the Knights of Avis, held back in reserve were deployed to charge the Almohad southern flank, but they became bogged down in the estuarine flats, where archers were able to inflict significant losses before they could break through. The Andalusian cavalry after breaking fully Dom Ruy’s cavalry swung south and charged the Portuguese flank, instigating a rout that relieved pressure on the Almohad center. Sancho II attempted to rally his forces, charging forward into the fray but was pulled from his horse and taken prisoner.
Sancho II was later ransomed for a hefty sum, and returned to Lisbon in disgrace. Frustration over the defeat led to the nobility to request Sanchos younger brother Afonso take the throne, though at 15 he was aided by the regent Paio de Menezes until he could come of age. Sancho II accepted his removal and retired to Coimbra, where he would die of an intestinal infection in 1234.
1226 CE
Ferdinand III of Castile was aware of the difficulties faced by the Portuguese, but chose to reinforce his own position and to strengthen ties with Aragon and Leon in the event the Almohads withdrew south again, where he could then reverse their gains free from immediate reprisal. He understands that the Portuguese throne is in serious jeopardy, and schemes to strengthen his position as the premier regent of Christian Iberia, so in the event of a possible intervention within Portugal he could plausibly claim long-coveted Portuguese territory with some degree of legitimacy.
1229 CE
Yusuf II sieges Lisbon and enters the city in late spring. He signs a humiliating peace treaty with Afonso III soon after, who cedes all lands south of the Tagus. Yusuf II converts the Lisbon Cathedral back to a mosque (it was formerly on the site of the main mosque in Islamic Lisbon), commissioning a large minaret in Maghrebi style as a sign of the reconquest of the city. To punish the city for the difficulty of the campaign Yusuf II exiles the majority of the Christian population of the city, scattering them through the Algarve, and enslaving the rest. The city is repopulated by migrants from the south. He takes the title Al-Rasheed (The Rightly Guided) to commemorate his conquests.
James I of Aragon begins a naval invasion of Majorca in the Balearics. He quickly succeeds, taking the island from its Almohad governor Abu Yahya. Due to heavy casualties, he relents on moving to Menorca or Ibiza immediately afterwards.
Afonso III reaches age of majority and assumes full control of the Kingdom of Portugal. He chooses not to pursue the Reconquista immediately, rather to strengthen relationships with the Holy See and develop internal loyalties with the merchant houses who had been alienated in the previous decades.
1230 CE
Alfonso IX of Leon dies in September. Through negotiations Ferdinand is able to claim the crown of Leon, and is crowned as king of the united kingdom of Leon and Castile.
1231 - 33 CE
Yusuf II initiates a series of hardline religious reforms attempting to return Al-Andalus to the original Almohad creed, enforcing stringent restrictions on dhimmi, and banning Jews and Christians from the interior towns along the Guadalquivir, intent on gradually cleansing Granada of non-Muslims. He convenes the qadi’s of Al-Andalus, religious judges, in Seville and attempts to lay out an updated version of the Almohad Doctrine. There is also a purge of tax collectors deemed excessive in their activities as a return of the original policies of Ibn Tumart and of artistic figures and styles deemed overly decadent.
An Andalusian emir, Abdul Qadir Al-Nour emerges as the prime opponent to this new tact, and begins to gather supporters for an eventual uprising. He apparently solicits Ferdinand III, promising land concessions in return for military aid.
1234 CE
King Sancho VII of Navarre dies. By a pre-arranged agreement Navarre is supposed to be granted to James I of Aragon, but the Navarrese nobility elevates Theobald, Count of Champagne to the throne instead. James I disputes this, and after Papal intervention eventually James I accepts Theobalds ascension.
1235-36 CE
The fall of Lisbon to the Moors had seriously unsettled the Pope, who begins to enjoin Ferdinand and Afonso to work to increase the pace of the Reconquista to reverse the recent Islamic gains.
Zanata Berber tribes in Ifriqya begin to collect their own taxes, clashing with local Almohad officials. Yusuf II returns to Morocco.
Ferdinand goads Abdul Qadil Al-Nour into instigating his revolt, sending a large Castilian force under the raider Carlos de Alçaga towards Merida, where Al-Nours supporters rise up to take control of the city. The combined force marches on Cordoba. Shocked by the revolt, the other emirs of Al-Andalus flock to the city, bolstering its defenses and pushing Nour back. They are unable to prevent Ferdinand from retaking Talavera, who installs Nour, in exchange for his baptism, as governor. Nours supporters cede Merida to Ferdinand, and Caceras falls soon after. Ferdinand soon sweeps through the Extramadura, taking all territory north of Caceras and consolidating his gains.
Al-Nour, baptized as the Christian Joaquín, assumes the title of governor of Talavera.
The Andalusian emirs quickly break into camps, mutually accusing the other of aiding the coup by Al-Nour. Local Almohad governors are hard-pressed to contain the unrest. The strict religious restrictions of Yusuf II also add to strife in the area.
James I of Aragon completes his conquest of the Balearics, taking Ibiza in 1236.
Afonso III strengthens the city of Santarem, establishing it as a major border fortress guarding against Moorish raids that had been occurring despite the recent treaty.
1237 CE
Yusuf II falls from a balcony while in Marrakesh. He is crippled, and dies soon after. His eldest son, Abu Sa’id Al-Mājid, who served with distinction during the Estremaduran campaigns succeeds him, taking the regnal title al-Mu'tadid bi-llah, “Seeking Support in God”. Abu Sa’id attempts to quell the strife in Al-Andalus, lifting the religious burdens of his father and allowing a larger degree of freedom to separate from the puritanical ideology espoused by the previous few Caliphs. This causes rumblings among the tribal sheikhs of the Maghreb that he is insufficiently committed to the creed, who begin to complain of his moderate policies. Abu Sa’id breaks with a core principle of Ibn Tumart in establishing a unified religious order across the Islamic world, and establishes separate law codes for the Maghreb and Al-Andalus, one stricter and the other more liberal. This enjoys great support in Al-Andalus, and resentment in the Maghreb, but works in establishing some measure of peace in the turbulent empire.
Abu Sa’id exchanges letters with the Pope, who hoped to convince him to restore some measure of leniency to the dispossessed Christians of Andalusia. The Popes attempts to fully restore their status fails, but Abu Sa’id, conscious of the need to attract Christian commerce, does allow Christians to resettle in the larger cities and ports, he signs another trade agreement with Genoa in December.
1238 CE
Abu Sa’id sponsors a large expansion to the Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakesh, adding an adjoined Madrasa and significantly expanding its square-footage.
James I sets his sights on Valencia, amassing a significant force of Catalans, Aragonese, Navarrese and Crusaders. He invades the province, but is forced to withdraw by a severe bout of fever that renders him bedridden for several months.
Ferdinand III signs a peace treaty with Abu Sa’id.
1239-1240 CE
Abu Sa’id attempts to establish more direct control over the Saharan gold trade, but is decisively rebuked while campaigning near Essouk (Tadmekka), suffering grievous losses to local Berber fighters.
Afonso III redistricts much of Portugal for easier administration. He also convenes the Cortes of Portugal to outline new law codes, more favorable to the merchant classes
1242 CE
James I of Aragon carries out extensive negotiations in southern France, slowly working to extend Aragonese influence past the Pyrenees.
1243-45 CE
Alfonso III negotiates with Ferdinand for the exact boundary between Castile and Portugal.
Abu Sa’id deals with an internal insurrection from the Masmuda cleric Abu Yusuf al-Sayyar, who accuses him of breaking from the Almohad creed. Abu Yusuf publicly denounces Abu Sa’id in mosques in the Maghreb. Almohad officials attempt to capture Abu Yusuf but he flees to Egypt, where he is taken in by several nobles there, willing to sponsor him.
1246
Abu Sa’id extends his moderate reforms, renouncing the belief in Ibn Tumart’s infallibility, and re-allowing the study of legal texts officially suppressed since the rise of the Almohads.
Almohad forces campaign in the Sahara, and succeed in taking Tadmekka after failing six years ago, executing rebellious local chiefs.
Andalusian emirs reach a peak in the trade of Christian mercenaries, to the extent that the governor of Badajoz, fearful of Castilian invasion, stocks his entire palace with Portuguese slaves and bodyguards.
1247 CE
Frustrated by the apparent moral degradation of the Almohad court, Berber tribes under the leadership of the chieftain Musa Uthman Ibn Abd al-Yassin seize a portion of western Ifriqya south of Tlemcen and declare independence. He founds the Yassanid Dynasty as Uthman I, and takes Tlemcen as his capital soon after.
Yassanid armies negotiate the surrender of the garrison at Tlemcen, absorbing the garrison into their own force but forcing the Christian mercenaries stockade within to return to Iberia. Abd al-Yassin soon expands his territory to extend deep into the Sahara and marches on Sijilmasa to the west.
1249 CE
Abu Sa’id crushes the Yassanid armies outside Sijilmasa, but is unable to recapture any lost territory to the east.
Eager to retake Lisbon, Alfonso III invades Estremadura, laying siege to the city. Abu Sa’id is forced to withdraw from Morocco, seeing Lisbon as a more significant city to hold than to attempt to retake Yassanid territory.
Ferdinand III courts Mozarabs in Toledo amid a general unification of the Christian communities of Castile.
He leaves his younger brother Abdul Ghani to supervise the campaign in Morocco.
1250 CE
Ayyubid Egypt falls in a coup as the Mamluk Sultan Izz al-Din Aybak. Abu Yusuf loses his, short-lived, Egyptian backing. He finds a backer in the new-found sultan Uthman I, who has him join him at Tlemcen. Abu Yusuf exhorts other leaders of the Maghreb to rise in revolt.
Abu Sa’id lifts the siege of Lisbon, which has lasted for almost a year, from September of 1249 to May of 1250. Alfonso III returns back across the border having suffered casualties, and with a despondent army worn out from an extremely long siege. Abu Sa’id pushes into Portugal to take several border towns, but quickly returns to Morocco to deal with the rapidly expanding Yassanid rebellion. Abu Yusuf travels to Tunis to court the governor, Abu Hamdan, who had recently replaced the prestigious Abu Hafs after he had died after a bout of dysentery. Abu Hamdan was a known puritan, and was deeply uncomfortable with the moderate elements in Abu Sa’ids court. He also was constantly threatened by raids from the Banu Ghaniya tribes to the south, who now felt more loyal to the Yassanids to the west, of similar descent, than the Arab Abu Hamdan (whose family was Syrian in origin).
Abu Hamdan tentatively sides with Abu Yusuf, feeling confident enough in the absence of nearby Almohad forces to show some open signs of dissension.
The bishop of Pamplona attempts to excommunicate Theobald of Navarre, but is unsuccessful.
1251 – 52 CE
Abu Sa’id stays to reinforce the Portuguese border and to rally support in Al-Andalus among the wavering emirs. Abdul Ghani is unable to make significant headway against the Yassanids, though he is able to retain the frontier east of Sijilmasa.
The Riffian tribes, encouraged by the growing weakness of Almohad power in eastern Morocco sweep down from the hills, raiding towns and extorting local governments into paying taxes towards them. They are led by the sheikh Idris ibn Nas Al-Qarayn, a fanatical, elderly warlord. Drained for the fighting in the south, regional garrisons collapse, and the Riffian armies quickly occupy as far as Mlila on the coast.
Abdul Ghani moves north to restore the trade routes along the Moroccan coast. Genoese traders negotiate with Al-Qarayn in the event his coup remains permanent.
Ferdinand III of Castile dies. He is succeeded by his eldest son Alfonso X.
1253 CE
The Battle of Oujda
Abdul Ghani marches from Sijilmasa with a force of 12,000 weary Almohad infantry and cavalry to reconquer Mlila and restore the Riffian ports. While passing by Oujda on the passes between the south and the Rif he attempts to call to the city commander to open the gates, so his entourage can rest within. The commander opens the gates and invites Abdul Ghani within. When his retinue reaches the center of the city the guards toss down the Almohad banners and throw up the banner of Al-Qarayn. A ferocious melee ensues wherein Abdul Ghani dies attempting to flee, along with his entire bodyguard.
The Almohad force, able to hear the melee from within the city, attempt to rally for an assault. However, Al-Qarayn sallies forth with his cavalry and routs the majority of the force.
The Almohad army is scattered and Abdul Ghani’s head is carried back to Mlila as a trophy. Al-Iqarayn declares himself the founder of the Qaranid Dynasty. They immediately claim the eastern Rif past the Atlas to Taourirt and east to Oujda.
Alfonso X is eager to press the Reconquista. He is intent on conquering the remaining elements of La Mancha still in Muslim hands, marching on Puertollano and easily defeating the Moorish forces guarding the frontier. He razes the Almohad castles in the region, erecting his own line of fortifications along the Guadiana and scattered along the interior. The conquests of Al-Nasir beyond the Sierra Morena are entirely erased in the matter of a few months.
1254 CE
Abu Hamdan joins the Yassanids on the agreement he is able to retain his position as governor of Ifriqya. Uthman I agrees, and moves the Yassanid capital to Tunis. He embarks on a war to consolidate Almohad Libya under his rule.
Al-Qarayn moves west, razing Taza and setting his sights on Tangier. Abu Sa’id receives word of Abdul Ghani’s death. He is despondent by the collapse of eastern Almohad territory as well as the imminent invasion across the Sierra Morena by Alfonso X. Abu Sa’id suffers a mental breakdown and withdraws to his tent, leaving his army quartered in the Algarve.
1255-57 CE
Amid Abu Sa’ids despondency, an Andalusian general within his army begins to consolidate his own position. Yusuf Muhammad Ibn Ayshun, originally from Seville, is able to ingratiate himself with Abu Sa’id with unusual quickness. He ends up in command of much of the Almohad army after Abu Sa’id succumbs to a fever in April.
The Masmuda sheikhs attempt to select the next Caliph, quickly placing Abu Sa’ids son Umar on the throne, despite being only 14. He is given the laqab “Al-Nasir”.
Yusuf Muhammad clashes with the Almohad governors in Al-Andalus. They are suspicious of his rise and of the circumstances of Abu Sa’ids demise. He is able to outmaneuver them by allying with the landed Andalusian aristocracy, willing to take the bet that the Almohad forces in the Maghreb will be unable to mount an effective response.
Al-Qarayn takes Tangier and commandeers the Almohad fleet stationed by the city. Qaranid armies raid deep into western Morocco, some going as far as the outskirts of Marrakesh itself. Al-Qarayn conscripts the Christian contingents within Almohad forces into his own armies, while ruthlessly purging tribes loyal to the Masmuda.
The premier loyalist Almohad commander in Libya, Falysal Al-Awjila fights the Yassanids to a standstill outside Tripoli.
Alfonso X crosses the Sierra Morena and lays siege to Jaen, entering the city in September.
James I renounces his claims to Toulouse in exchange for Louis VIII renouncing his own claims to Barcelona. He returns to Aragon to deal with internal turmoil among the noble families there.
Uthman I sieges Tripoli, starving the city out until the residents sue for peace in October of 1256.
1258 CE
The Battle of Bujalance
Yusuf Muhammad attacks Alfonso X as the latter marches towards Cordoba. Alfonso’s army of 9,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry was ambushed by Muslim skirmishers near the town of Bury al-Hans (Bujalance). The town is surrounded by dense olive groves which conceal the movements of the Moorish fighters and prevents an effective cavalry counterattack. Yusuf Muhammad waits until the Castilian army is drawn out into a long convoy and has broken out of the olive groves into the more open ground west of the town. He then attacks with the bulk of the Almohad army, routing the Castilian vanguard and killing Alfonso’s second eldest son Sancho. Alfonso rallies the Castilian forces and counterattacks Almohad cavalry attempting to flank the rear, leading a courageous fighting escape back towards Jaen.
Yusuf Muhammad chases Alfonso to the gates of Jaen. He reconquers the city after a short siege. The townspeople, eager to reassert their independence chase the remaining Castilians out of the city. Alfonso returns to his fortresses along the Guadiana.
Al-Nasir II, advised by the elderly regent Ibn Muharib, faces a challenge from Abu Sa’ids uncle Tariq Bin Qays. Tariq begins minting coins listing his name as Caliph Tariq Bin Qays Nasir al-Dawla, “Defender of the State”. His base of territory is between Agadir and Essaouira. Despite holding more outright military power than Al-Nasir II, he lacks the approval of the Masmuda sheikhs and remains intent on establishing his legitimacy as the true Caliph.
Abu Yusuf establishes a rigid system of Zahirite law in Yassanid territories, built on an adherence to Almohad traditions. He proclaims Ibn Tumart as the Mahdi, and Uthman I as the true successor of his rule through descent from Ibn Al-Baqqal, one of the original companions of the Mahdi.
1259-60 CE
Yusuf Muhammad pushes Alfonso back across the Sierra Morena but stops short of marching to the Guadiana. Instead, he consolidates his own position inside Al-Andalus. Andalusian leaders show less and less respect for Almohad orders as the Almohad powerbase fragments. Yusuf Muhammad stops short of taking official titles, preferring to work inside of informal arrangements between noble families. Almohad loyalists begin to be pressured to realign towards Yusuf’s interests, and many find themselves quietly stripped of wealth and power.
James I prepares for a campaign into Valencia to take advantage of the infighting within the Almohad regime. He assembles a grand army of Catalans, Aragonese and Navarrese to finish the aborted campaign of 1238. Morella falls, followed by Peniscola in August. He lays siege to Valencia proper in May of the next year, and enters in August.
Alfonso III builds up Coimbra, rebuilding its fortifications and erecting a monastery along the Mondego river.
1261-62 CE
Tariq Bin Qays clashes with Al-Nasir II as the former tries to recover the coast. Al-Nasir II is defeated.
Al-Qarayn marches further west, taking Fes, Sale and Rabat with little resistance.
The ruler of Sijimasa Mousa Bin Haidar Al-Jabbour declares independence, throwing out Almohad loyalists within the city. He is able to negotiate for peace with Al-Qarayn in exchange for allowing Qaranid forces to move through his territory.
Yassanid armies complete the conquest of Almohad Libya, pushing the boundary of the new kingdom as far east as Adjabiya, constructing an imposing fortress within the town.
Yusuf Muhammad marches north, pushing past the Guadiana and razing Castilian border castles. He takes Talavera in a midnight raid and routes a Castilian army sent to intercept him.
James I moves south to consolidate the remaining portions of Valencia under his control.
1263 CE
Alfonso X rallies for the defense of Toledo, expecting Yusuf Muhammad to attack the city from Talavera. The prominent Almohad governor of Gibraltar Nusayr al-Garnata is assassinated, removing the last prominent loyalist Almohad in Al-Andalus.
Yusuf Muhammad leads his army around Toledo, capturing Madrid and cutting off a main artery of supplies to Toledo. He sends his ally Badr al-Gasani to burn the farmlands on the outside of the city, both to deprive food supplies and to send clouds of smoke into the city. Alfonso X asks for aid from James I, who halts the conquest of Valencia and marches west.
The Battle of the Villasequilla Marshes / The Battle of Muballah
July 16th - 23rd
Yusuf Muhammad leads the Almohad army of 12,000, supplemented by mujahidin recruited for the conquest of Toledo, to attack James I near the village of Villasequilla. He arrays his forces behind the salt marshes west of the town, spread in a long line with his personal cavalry on the north flank.
The elderly James I set up camp inside the village, sending the bulk of his army to array on the opposite side of the marshes, with his Catalan crossbowmen making up the center. He brings 2,000 knights and 6,000 men-at-arms, as well as 9,000 almogavar skirmishers. He also has 1,500 French volunteers brought to aid in the conquest of Valencia.
Alfonso X marches from Toledo with the remnants of his army, 7,000 strong with a few remaining knights. His eldest son Ferdinand leading the Castilian cavalry.
July 24th
Moorish cavalry swarm the countryside, intercepting couriers between Alfonso and James as they attempt to plan a joint attack on Yusuf’s position. James I receives word that Yusuf’s forces are maneuvering to attack Alfonso X from the north. He marches his army north to attack Yusuf from the rear. This is confirmed by the appearance of large moorish troop movements on the far side of the marsh away from Villasequilla. James I waits on attacking across the marshes, waiting for the bulk of the Almohad army to begin the march to meet Alfonso before trying to take their positions with his infantry.
Alfonso X, aware of the Moorish numerical advantage, sets up his line east of Yusuf with Toledo to the rear, erecting stockades and defensive trenches. He plans on having James I superior army press Yusuf against his line where they can be held and broken by the Aragonese cavalry.
Yusuf sends a Murtadin courier, a Muslim convert dressed in captured Castilian heraldry, to James I, telling him that Yusuf has already attacked the Castilian line and to send the cavalry southwards to engage the Almohad rear. James I marches out at the head of the Aragonese cavalry, moving past the marshes and towards where he believes the Almohad forces are currently engaged in fighting Alfonso. In reality, Yusuf’s infantry had done little but skirmish with the Castilian line, the bulk of his army had actually withdrawn south, leaving a gap between his infantry and his cavalry force where James I moved through.
July 25th
James I leads the Aragonese cavalry during the early morning hours to charge the Almohad line, but once he arrives at Alfonso’s line, he is shocked to see there is no sign of the Almohad army, and Alfonso’s defenses in good condition. Sensing a trap, he attempts to withdraw back to Villasequilla, but it is too late. Yusuf’s cavalry attack from the north while his infantry move from the south, catching the Aragonese in a trap. Alfonso can only watch as the Aragonese cavalry are wiped out to a man. James I dies in the melee, as well as his eldest son Peter. Reportedly James’s final words were the Latin, “Ego perdidi”. Simply, “I have lost.”
July 26th
Yusuf pivots his force to attack Alfonso, overrunning his defenses but suffering heavy casualties. Alfonso attempts a charge with his knights, but they fail to rout the large Moorish army, and the king is killed in the melee, while Ferdinand is captured. The Castilian army fights almost to a man, though some attempt to flee to Toledo. By late evening the Castilian army is completely destroyed.
Leaderless, and without any knowledge of the fate of James or the whereabouts of Yusuf’s army, the Aragonese generals elect to fortify the town and wait for word of any messengers. At midday a small number of Catalan knights led by the Count Hugo Gardenes ride into Villesequilla, wounded and exhausted. He carries a scrap of the king’s robe, emblazoned with the standard of his house. He describes the ambush of the Aragonese cavalry and the supposed death of the king.
July 27th
The Aragonese generals hunger for revenge and move across the marshes to take the Moorish positions. While suffering some casualties from missile fire, they take the other side easily, and slaughter the garrison there. The Almogavars move west to counter Yusuf’s own skirmishers, and to harass the Moorish army.
Yusuf decides to ignore the remaining Aragonese forces, and dispatching his light cavalry to ward off James’s almogavars marches to Toledo with Ferdinand displayed as a prisoner.
July 28th-29th
Yusuf negotiates the surrender of Toledo and enters in triumph on midday of the 29th of July. Ferdinand is delivered to the nobles of Castile in exchange for his agreement to pay tribute to Yusuf. He is crowned as Ferdinand IV of Castile.
1264-66 CE
The Aragonese army slowly filters to Aragon after several unremarkable skirmishes with Moorish cavalry. James’s second eldest James is recalled from his capital in the Balearics and crowned as King James II.
Yusuf, free from retaliation from either Aragon or Castile ravages Christian lands along the Tagus, reconquering Caceras, Merida and even as far east as Tarancon. He stops short of taking his war to the recently conquered territories of Valencia, aware of the difficulties posed by managing such a large and restive Christian population in his new conquests. Yet, for the first time in almost 200 years Muslim flags are again visible over Toledo, and Muslim rule has been restored as far north as Madrid.
Yusuf grows confident in his recent successes and sheds the last vestiges of Almohad title. He takes on the laqab al-Fadl, “the prominent”, and gives himself the full regnal title of Yusuf Muhammad ibn Ayshun ibn Walid ibn Al-Aban Ibn-Muhammad al-Fadl I. He is also nicknamed by his troops Saqr Ishbiliyya, “The falcon of Seville”. He takes Toledo as his capital and takes Al-Andalus as his own personal sultanate, though he does not proclaim himself Caliph. The Andalusian emirs swear loyalty soon after, though not without reservations about the legality of his rise to power. After all, it was only too well known that the most prominent opponents of Yusuf before the Toledo campaign had suffered unfortunate accidents in rapid succession.
The Castilian nobility is furious by the thought of paying tribute to a Moor, and outright rejects Ferdinands offered peace treaty. Ferdinand attempts to consolidate a peace with Yusuf but finds himself essentially stripped of power at court. The Castilian nobility begins to bicker about how best to counter the recent Moorish successes. Some argue an alliance, like the one constructed in 1212 is necessary to recover Toledo while others argue for peace.
James II carries out an extensive purge against Morisco’s living in his territory, to minimize the chances of a popular rebellion in the new territories of Valencia. Count Hugo is rewarded with an addition to his already sizable estates and is recognized as a hero throughout Aragon.
Al-Qarayn attempts to outright conquer the Masmuda heartland in the High Atlas but is unable to establish control in the old Almohad seat of power. He settles to freely raid the foothills and fortify his newly captured ports at Ceuta and Tangier.
Despite Yusuf’s victories on land, the Almohad fleet remains scattered and weak, allowing Aragonese pirates to freely attack Maghrebi and Andalusian ships. Al-Qarayn attempts to gain control over the bulk of it but cannot use it effectively to curb piracy.
Uthman I is captured by Christian mercenaries, intending to ransom him to Al-Qarayn, but is killed while attempting to escape. He is succeeded by his son Abdullah, who becomes Uthman II. Abdullah executes his father’s captors and expels Christian mercenaries from the Yassanid armies.
1267 CE
James II marries Elena of Arborea. Through the marriage, he acquires a sizable estate in Sardinia and an alliance with the house of Arborea, a powerful Sardinian family dating back to the 11th century.
A coalition of nobles backs the claim of the infante Peter of Ledesma, with the added support of Alfonso Ferandez, one of Alfonso X bastards, but considered an impeccable strategist. Alfonso had been in Toledo and had counseled against riding out of the city, before being forced to flee himself upon Yusuf’s advance.
Tariq Bin Qays dies of old age, leaving Al-Nasir II in control of a unified, but drastically shrunken Caliphate. Al-Nasir II is an ineffectual, and garrulous ruler. He spends most of his time among his harem, leaving Qaranid armies to inexorably gain more and more territory each year.
The emir of Sijilmasa expands his influence over the Saharan trade routes at the expense of the Almohads. He begins to mint his own coinage. Sijilmasa rapidly becomes an immensely wealthy city as it oversees a stable corridor between Mali and the Algerian coast.
1268 CE
Yusuf Muhammad puts down a rebellion by the Christians of Extremadura, massacring thousands of Castilians between Madrid and Toledo. He appoints his nephew Ali to oversee the northern border.
Uthman II fights a short-lived, but catastrophic war with the Mamluks of Egypt. In the ensuing counter-campaign, led by the Oghuz Mamluk Chormakhan the Yassanids are routed from Cyrenaica.
Abu Yusuf dies, but his followers continue to dominate internal Yassanid politics.
Al-Qarayn moves his capital to Tangier, beginning a public works project to expand the walls of the city.
1269 CE
Portuguese nobles secretly back the claim of Peter to the Castilian crown, in exchange for concessions in Galicia to Portugal. Ferdinand IV marries Patricia de Caboat. Patricia negotiates and schemes to build up Ferdinands position in the court, restoring him to some modicum of authority.
She calls on the Pope decides to intervene and, but he eventually backs Peter’s claim, awarding Ferdinand a large territory in Burgundy as a compensation for him abandoning the throne. Ferdinand reluctantly accepts and cedes the crown to Peter. He is crowned as King Peter I of Castile. He cedes large estates in Zamora to Portugal, which irritates the same nobles who had backed his position previously.
Al-Nasir II marches out of Marrakesh to reconsolidate the ravaged territories to the north under his rule. He is murdered by his own men, who switch sides to Al-Qarayn on the road to Fes. The sheikhs elect his eldest son Tariq Ibn Nashri as-Sadr, who becomes the Caliph Tariq Al-Ma’mun. He is faced by a pretender from the Hhaha tribe, ‘Abd al-Aziz.
1270-71 CE
Al-Qarayn finally embarks on a campaign south, grinding down the remaining Almohad mountain fortresses and laying siege to Marrakesh proper in July. Qaranid armies break into the city by late September. Tariq Al-Ma’mun is sent to live in exile in Mauretania. ‘Abd al-Aziz withdraws to the Sous and attempts to negotiate with Al-Qarayn. Unwilling to tolerate a potential claimant to the Almohad throne Al-Qarayn has him executed instead during his conquest of the Sous. The Almohad Caliphate officially ceases to exist, but pockets of loyalists remain well in the 1270’s, mostly in the High Atlas and southern coast.
Yusuf Muhammad presses Peter I, attacking Caceras and razing multiple Castilian castles, moving west to gather slaves in Portugal before retreating to Lisbon.
Uthman II signs a trade deal with the Genoese, opening up the Libyan ports again to European traders.
Peter I signs an alliance with Alfonso III, agreeing to aid the other in the case of Moorish invasion. He is rebuffed by James II, who feels more loyalty to Ferdinand and is unhappy with his exile. James II is also attempting to expand his holdings in Sardinia and the Balearics, and decides not to incur the wrath of Yusuf Muhammad.
Peter I attacks Menorca, taking it after a prolonged siege. It was still ruled by the Almohad appointee governor Abû 'Uthmân Sa'îd ibn Hakam al Qurashi, who surrenders the island in September. He deports the entire Muslim population of the island except for a few families.
Louis IX of France invades Tunis as part of the Eight Crusade. Dysentery sweeps through the French camp, killing Louis soon after the siege began. The Crusaders withdraw, but not before negotiating free trade with Tunis and privileges for Christians in the Algerian ports.
1272 CE
Al-Qarayn dismantles much of Marrakesh, intent on eliminating the Masmuda from the political scene. He has the Masmuda sheikhs purged to a man. Returning to Tangier, he declares himself the first Caliph of the Qaranids, but receives little recognition outside his own territories. Bricks from the Almohad palace in Marrakesh are shipped to Tangier and incorporated into his sprawling citadel there.
Almogavars raid Castile, creating a brief diplomatic row between Peter I and James II, who is forced to curb their influence and punish those responsible.
Yusuf Muhammad reorganizes the Andalusian army, training a large number of jinetes and reducing the size of the traditional mounted Andalusian knights. He organizes numbers of raiders who can take territory quickly and use scorched earth tactics to put pressure on the enemy before the main force arrives.
Yusuf Muhammad enslaves or deports much of the Jewish population of Toledo as part of an organized purge of Jews in Al-Andalus. It is a response to the criticism of some firebrand imans, who had been attacking him as overly tolerant of non-Muslims in the conquered northern territories. Most flee to Christian lands while those who are more Arabized flee to Egypt.
A Mamluk army under Shurayh Ibn Muhammad marches past Benghazi to solidify the frontier in Cyrenaica. Yassanid forces don’t even engage the Mamluks in battle, making a hasty retreat west to the safety of Tripoli.
1273-74 CE
Yusuf Muhammad tests his new army in Portugal, moving across the Tagus and into the Centro region. They avoid assaulting the numerous hilltop castles in the area and instead burn large swaths of farmland, slaughtering cattle and covering whole areas in smoke. Alfonso III marches from Coimbra to repel the moors but by design the Andalusian army is too wide-spread and dispersed to be easily pinned down. Yusuf Muhammad and a small entourage return to Lisbon, allowing much of his army to slowly trickle past the Tagus over a period of months, drawing out the raid.
Alfonso III, now in his mid-60s, is unwilling to fight a high-speed, aggressive war against the Moors. He calls on Peter I for aid, who responds by marching west from Caceras, damaged but still in Castilian hands. Together, Portuguese and Castilian forces defeat the remaining raiders in Portugal, and push Yusuf Muhammad out of Portugal. Alfonso III erects imposing castles at Leiria, Torres Vedras, and another at Santarem. He suspends trade with the Islamic Algarve, and expels any Moors living in southern Portugal, accusing them of aiding the raiders.
1275 CE
Al-Qarayn, now well past his 70’s, dies after a prolonged sickness. His eldest son, Ahmad al-Dani attempts to succeed him, but is pushed out by the sheikh Muhammad Sa’d. Ahmad al-Dani is pushed out of Tangier and forced to flee to Al-Andalus.
Uthman II invades Qaranid territory, but is defeated at Bejaia by Muhammad Sa’d.
James II moves to expand his holdings in Sardinia, displacing native communities and vassalizing local nobles. He comes into conflict with the Pisan and Genoese noble families that controlled much of the island. Aragonese forces begin to trickle into the region of Logudoro, but face intense resistance from the local population.
Peter I oversees a growing and deep relationship between the Portuguese and Castilian nobility. Nobles from the house of Lara oppose the move but are outmaneuvered and sidelined. They see this as a betrayal, considering they were the ones originally backing his claim for the throne.
1276 CE
Yusuf Muhammad attempts to reopen the western Mediterranean, dispatching his fleet from Gibraltar to intercept Aragonese pirates south of the Balearics. His fleet is unable to catch the enemy fleets, and eventually has to withdraw to Gibraltar. He is able to negotiate a deal with Genoa, promising significant concessions and a reduction of Almohad tariffs.
Emir Mousa Bin Haidar of Sijimasa successfully plays the Qaranids against the Yassanids, retaining his own independence. He extends his influence as far south as the old Almohad frontier of Tadmekka, installing a friendly client ruler.
Yusuf Muhammad begins his second campaign into Portugal, capitalizing on his recent raids and the ailing health of Alfonso III. He sieges Santarem, surrounding the city with siege weapons he hauled across the Tagus in a flotilla of rafts. Soon after he takes the territory south of Peniche on the coast, attaching Lisbon to the bulk of Al-Andalus after many decades of isolation. Leiria falls soon after, its unfinished citadel breached during a nighttime raid. A long string of towns in southern Portugal capitulate to Yusuf, on the conditions that they will not be forcibly converted nor enslaved, like what happened to the population of Lisbon after its own surrender.
Yusuf lays siege to Coimbra itself, but is repulsed after several assaults. He decides to move east to reconquer Extramadura, taking Caceres and Merida. Peter I, who had been in Burgos, quickly mobilizes and attacks Yusuf at the Almonte.
The Battle of Haza de la Concepción
Peter I deploys on the far side of the Tietar river, northwest of Caceres. Yusuf, plagued by supply difficulties in the rocky terrain of the Sierra de Gredos attempts to move quickly to friendly territory to the east, but finds his path blocked by a large Castilian army.
Multiple attempts to break the Castilian defenses result in high Moorish casualties, Yusuf’s infantry being bogged down in the river and picked off by crossbows and archers. He attempts to ford the river at another point, but is ambushed by knights under Peter’s son Ferdando. Yusuf escapes the melee, and in a fit of frustration attempts to counter-attack again, before retreating south to the village of Haza de la Concepcion, called Bayt al-Jabal in Arabic. Peter fords the Tietar, and chases Yusuf towards Caceres, but heavy rains prevent him from fording the Tagus proper quickly enough to catch him.
Yusuf suffers heavy casualties. His new army, while more mobile, was unable to break heavy infantry in an open battle, causing Yusuf’s first major defeat. Furious, he withdraws south, but not before ransacking the churches in Caceres in a fit of anger.
1277-78 CE
Emboldened by Peters victory against Yusuf, already a rallying cry throughout the Christian territories, recently conquered towns in Portugal rise up in revolt. Militias cast out local officials and chase Andalusian garrisons out of the towns. Yusuf is forced to march back to Portugal, crushing the rebels and massacring thousands of Christian peasants. Between constant raids and Yusuf’s purge, much of the Centro is depopulated. Thousands of peasants from the Algarve are sent in to repopulate the territory.
Uthman II is strangled by a slave in his sleep. He is succeeded by his brother Idris ibn Uthman Al-Khalid, who is rightly suspected as being behind the coup. Idris ibn Uthman Al-Khalid, now Idris I, imprisons most of the former followers of Abu Yusuf as possible threats to his new rule.
Muhammad Sa’d shows interest in Sufism, entertaining prominent Imans from Syria and Egypt at Tangier.
James II is humiliated by a Sardinian rebel force in Logudoro, suffering a major defeat where Sardinian militias ambush a Aragonese force in the mountains of Gennargentu.
1279 CE
Alfonso III dies, succeeded by his eldest son Denis. Denis attempts to increase Portuguese self-sovereignty at the expense of Castile, which frustrates Peter. He centralizes the judiciary and promotes Portuguese as a court language.
Peter I remarries, taking Ingrid of Bayonne, and tries to curry better favor with the French while simultaneously competing with Navarre for the favor of Philip III. Navarre, which had long been frustrated on its attempts to recapture territory lost to Castile, was growing increasingly restive, and while it was enjoying an economic boom free from the warfare in the south, was still small, and not of significant threat. However, the close relations between Theobald and Louis IX had concerned Peter, and on Louis death in Tunis, Peter saw an opportunity to bypass the Navarrese.
Yusuf enjoins the governor of Cordoba, Haroun Ibn Tayyib, to build up the Andalusian navy. He scuttles parts of the old navy, degraded beyond repair, and orders the planting of large forests in Granada to provide new lumber for ships.
1283 CE
Yusuf enters an alliance with Muhammad Sa’d, who is eager to make good with what had rapidly become the most powerful western Islamic kingdom. Yet, before Yusuf can do anything with the alliance he falls of his horse while hunting and dies of a pierced lung several days after.
He gives the bulk of his territory to his eldest son Sulayman al-Aswad Ibn Yusuf, while giving control of the conquered Portuguese territories and the Algarve to his second-eldest ‘Abd al-Aziz. Sulayman rules as Sultan Sulayman Sayf al-Andalusi I of the Ayshunids.
Idris I becomes involved in a diplomatic row with Genoa, as he is unwilling to hold to the trade concessions signed by Uthman II. A Genoese fleet, with the aid of Philip III, attacks Tripoli and is able to batter Idris’s fleet into submission. He reopens the Libyan ports soon after.
The Situation in the Maghreb and Iberia in 1283, on Muhammad Yusuf's Death:
[Thats it for this installment. This is my first timeline here, so any feedback is appreciated.]
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