The weapon of the Moor is not mere steel, for he does call forth the great billows of fire, and they consume the host with a great cacophony and a most awesome terror. He brings forth great spouts and cupolas that are said to contain the breath of dragons, yea, that it is said their wise men have tamed, and have found a means to capture their flame and cast it forth. In this way it is not merely sail and steed that do deliver victory to the Moor, but also alchemy.
- Memoirs of Ilduin de Becerrea, 1419
~
Excerpt: Sail, Steed and Alchemy: Reflections on the Andalusian Experience During the War of the Navarrese Succession - Jean-Marc Laframboise, for the Journal of Transpyrenean Histories, 2018
For more than one reason, the War of the Navarrese Succession is considered the war that marked the definitive transition from the Middle Ages to a new age. It is the first war in which blackpowder weapons were widely used (predominantly by one side) and it is the first war in Iberia in generations to include massive changes in territory and balance of power. For Andalusian history, it is important because it marks a definitive transition out of old paradigms and into a new, more stable position.
Much of Andalusian history following the Berber Revolt was marked by periods of economic prosperity balanced by gradual territorial decline and border stagnation. Gains in the Atlas Islands and discoveries in the Western World were counterbalanced by the expansion of Christian powers into the so-called Duero Desert, a former no-man's-land left behind as the Andalusian border gradually receded southward. Into that gulf had moved Normando and Iberian settlers, establishing motte-and-bailey fortifications and new towns and expanding the Christian universe.
But the Andalus across the Central System of mountains was not the same Al-Andalus that existed in the Great Plague period. In the aftermath of that mass die-off, society had been reshaped by a massive transition of institutional power from Saqaliba and Arabo-Andalusians to indigenous Andalusis. The need to rely on mercenary armies almost exclusively was greatly diminished, mitigated by the ability of the Hizamids to raise citizen soldiers and produce weaponry, and enabling slave-soldier castes to be reduced to mere elite soldiers rather than holding an absolute monopoly on the use of force. The prosperity and expansion of trade which followed the Plague, together with the transmission of Chinese technology to Andalusia both through existing Islamic trade routes and Andalusian contact with India and the Arabian Peninsula, resulted in the region experiencing a flying leap in technological sophistication, particularly in terms of shipbuilding, metallurgy and the use of blackpowder.
Perhaps for the first time in centuries, Al-Andalus found itself in the position of having prohibitive military advantages over its northern neighbours. The conditions existed in which Abd ar-Rahman the Seafarer could break the ancient stalemate in the Iberian Peninsula and begin to roll back the slow decline of Al-Andalus's territorial boundaries.
*
Al-Andalus's entrance into the War of Navarrese Succession was fumbling, with an advance force humiliated at the Battle of Tardelcuende. With the fortifications at Al-Mazan besieged, Abd ar-Rahman hustled to raise his forces in defense.
Working to his advantage was that overtures between Santiago and France were slow. The recent death of Queen Clarimonde saw her son, Jocelyn II, seeing first to his coronation and the pacification of his more restive vassals. While Jocelyn was seen as likely to come to the aid of Santiagonian King Alfonso II, married as he was to Jocelyn's sister Melisende, it would take him time to consolidate himself in Paris and Rouen - time in which Abd ar-Rahman hoped to decide the fate of Navarre as a continued tributary to the Caliph and his agent.
Seeking to quickly turn the tide of the war, Abd ar-Rahman looked to the advantages Al-Andalus had over its rivals: Technology and mobility. Mustering his armies, he sent a force northward to relieve Al-Mazan, managing to break the Santiagonian siege after some months. This force largely consisted of Andalusian infantry and cavalry led by the remnants of the Saqaliba guard, eager to avenge the loss of their kinsmen. Santiagonian troops withdrew from Al-Mazan after dealing significant damage to the city's fortifications, but failed to capture it, and the Andalusian army swung to attempt to liberate a few Navarrese border towns.
But this would not be all of Abd ar-Rahman's forces. The Hajib personally joined a more select force of men, consisting primarily of the Black Guard and numerous Berber auxiliaries brought up from Al-Maghrib. Mustering a hundred ships from harbours along the southern coast - mostly of the
tur type - the Hajib and his key field commanders set sail from Isbili with an army of several thousand men.
Muslim ship technology had begun to filter northward, but by and large, most navies at this time consisted of coast-hugging galleys. Santiago's own experiments with
saqin-type ships were in their infancy. As such, Alfonso was totally unprepared when, in mid-1388, a hundred sail ships came sweeping out of the open ocean, made landfall at Corunna and captured a city that was supposed to be fully behind the lines and unassailable. The Andalusian army had simply sailed out into the ocean, looped around any potential interference by Santiago's coast-hugging galleys and dropped an army of thousands off behind the lines.
The sudden capture of Corunna put Moorish forces within striking distance of Santiago de Compostela, throwing Alfonso's war plans into chaos. Santiago struggled to mount a response, and a clumsy attempt by local forces to restore the city was beaten back with little difficulty. Abd ar-Rahman declined to advance on Santiago de Compostela directly, holding back the Black Guard and sending his Berbers out in mounted war parties to raid towns and villages throughout the northwest of the kingdom. Betanzos and Ferrol were captured in short order, while an attempt by Santiagonian galleys to destroy the Andalusian ship fleet was thwarted when the sailships revealed that they could fight: Galleys attempting to get close and ram found themselves barraged with fire arrows launched from the faster sailships' castles, while a contemporary report also documents the first use of fireballs (
kurat naria) in the Iberian theatre.[1] These early fireballs were not dissimilar to the old
naft weapons known among Muslims for centuries through contact with the Eastern Roman Empire, but adapted to utilize blackpowder - a design more akin to Chinese-style weapons, likely transmitted via steppe nomads like the Tabans through trade with Egypt and Ar-Rumaniyah.
Alfonso's efforts to break the naval link between Al-Andalus and the Bay of Corunna failed, and his troops began to pull back to try and mitigate some of the damage Abd ar-Rahman's select force was causing. By the end of 1388, the Berbers had burned much of Lugo and sacked villages and towns throughout the northwest, and troops and supplies continued to flow into Corunna as Andalusian ships simply swung wide of the coast to avoid entanglements with Alfonso's galleys. The Christian navy managed to retaliate in 1389 by attacking and burning the harbour of Porto, in Muslim hands for several years, an attack answered by a similar sacking of Vianna later that year.
By that point, the main army under the Andalusi general Abdullah ibn Gharsiya al-Marchuni had joined up with that of King Milian to break the Santiagonian siege of Soria and retake San Semilio. The Navarrese and Andalusian armies divided from there, proceeding on a steady march westward. Al-Marchuni's army swung down the Duero Valley, capturing several cities and laying siege to the key fort of Valladolid.
It was here that Al-Marchuni would be intercepted by a large force headed up by the Knights of Saint James. The Battle of Valladolid would prove decisive - and it would demonstrate just how far Andalusian technology had come.
*
The numbers involved at the Battle of Valladolid are a bit vague, but likely come down to about 15,000 Christians against a similar number of Muslims. Of these two forces, the Santiagonian force had the advantage of training and discipline: Leading the army were 2,000 Knights of Saint James, well-equipped Church Knights armed with high-quality horses and armour and well-trained in their effective use. While the Andalusian army was led by some thousand Saqaliba, their numbers had been thinned by the catastrophic loss at Tardelcuende, and most of their force consisted of Andalusi regulars and auxiliaries.
What the Christians were not counting on was the effectiveness of new weapons. These are famously attested by the historian Ilduin de Becerrea, who was along with the Santiagonians as an archer and had a good view of most of the field.
Al-Andalus had made use of the firelance in prior wars, but advancements in the technology resulted in the weapon becoming somewhat more widespread by this time: The fire lances utilized at the Battle of Valladolid boasted metal barrels. The cavalry engagement turned decisively towards the smaller number of Saqaliba as repeated attacks by firelance-wielding ranks left the Knights of Saint James disoriented and caused their horses to buck and come up short in panic. Crossbow fire similarly took its toll on the Knights as their attacks on the centre faltered.
The Christian infantry advance, meanwhile, found itself confronting something entirely new: A weapon described by Ilduin de Becerrea as a spout containing dragon's breath, and by other sources as the "infernal machine" or "Mahomet's organ." Indeed, the Andalusian name for the tool was the
tanin - a series of roughly ten iron barrels set up on a wheeled base, capable of firing salvos of ten anti-personnel iron pellets with explosive force.[2] It's likely that Al-Marchuni's army had more than one
tanin on the field, with sufficient blackpowder to fire numerous volleys.
On its own, the use of the
tanin would not stop an army - but it proved to be both frightening and damaging when it was employed. The Santiagonian centre rapidly crumbled under sustained blackpowder attack, decimating the Knights of Saint James. The repeated noise and fire of the attacks terrified many of the Santiagonian levies: Ilduin reports that hundreds of otherwise brave men fled rather than face what they assumed to be sorcery.
The Battle of Valladolid proved decisive, shattering Santiago's main army and leading to the surrender of Valladolid itself and of nearby Valdestillas. Through 1389 and into 1390, Al-Marchuni swept up the Duero, capturing towns and storming cities as he went, splitting off several detachments to besiege Salamanca while he set his sights on Zamora. Meanwhile, in the northwest, a Santiagonian attempt to recapture Arzua from Berber occupants bogged down. Pressure had been taken off of Navarre, bringing Santiago rapidly close to surrender.[3]
In the autumn of 1390, however, Alfonso got the news he needed: A missive from his brother-in-law, Jocelyn II of France, promising to secure the Way of Saint James and drive the Moors back over the mountains.
After years of anxious stalemate, Andalusia's biggest war in the north in generations had become a romp against a much smaller and less sophisticated foe. But France was an entirely different animal, outnumbering Andalusia in manpower, with a significant amount of wealth to pour into its armies, and a new king with his roots in the most powerful and prosperous part of the kingdom. Abd ar-Rahman viewed the entry of France into the war grimly and set to work trying to find some way to emerge victorious against what Al-Andalus had dreaded for centuries: A grinding war against one of the great powers of Christian Europe.
SUMMARY:
1388: Abd ar-Rahman the Seafarer surprises King Alfonso II of Santiago by swinging a large fleet out into the ocean, bypassing Santiago's galley fleet and landing a force behind Alfonso's lines. This force of crack troops takes Corunna and Ferrol and proceeds to wreak havoc through the Santiagonian countryside, forcing Alfonso to pull his troops back from Navarre.
1389: The Battle of Valladolid. An equally-sized Andalusian army defeats a better-trained Santiagonian force through the use of firelances and multi-barrel eruptors, demonstrating the effectiveness of blackpowder weapons. The victory results in towns throughout the Duero Valley beginning to surrender to the army of Andalusian general Al-Marchuni, while the King of Navarre proceeds to push the front westward with sieges in Palencia and the northern coast.
1390: France enters the War of the Navarrese Succession.
[1] The name used for a grenade.
[2] The Andalusians roll out the ribaldequin. OTL, Granada had cannon by the 1330s, and the English had a ribaldequin by 1340 and trotted them out during the mid-1400s as well, so this isn't too much of a stretch in my mind.
[3] This stretch of story and some of what's ahead may slake the thirst of those in the audience who like decisive battles.