Part V: The Consulate War
The maintenance of Order is a constant struggle, but in it I found the meaning of a throne.
--Ortiz Araman the Great, King of Spaña
The name of the First Consulate War, sometimes known as the War of the Consulate is something of a distraction. It was at its root the product of the success of both Abd ar-Rahman and Charles the Frank in making their states powerful and stable. The wealth and power seemed naturally attractive to many though that wealth and power also kept them safe from foreign intervention. That the kings now held the prestigious title of Roman Consul only serves as a way to describe the power of the two states that had arisen during the 8th Century.
The seeds of rebellion had been sown in the time of Abd ar-Rahman when he legitimized his son, Salamon and when Charles delegitimized his son Pepin. While Salamon and his half-brother Peio had been close, their younger brother Jon was more distant due to his age. Jon resented that when Peio died it was Salamon who had become king and he also resented the attention Abd ar-Rahman lavished on his older sons giving them responsibilities and taking them to war while Jon remained in the capital and later at Zaragoza. Pepin meanwhile was a more genial man by nature, but he was also easily influenced. Angered at Charles growing power and his intention to further centralize the state, the Frankish nobility particularly of the southwest looked to him as a man that could manipulated. But Pepin resented his younger brothers. While he performed well in the responsibilities given him, his talents were neglected simply because of his physical stature.[1] Despite their success, the joint management of the area around the Ebro and Zaragoza had caused both disgruntled princes to feed off the grievances of the other. It was later suspected they began to plot as early as the capture of Granada.
Besides Jon and Pepin, the major architect of the great rebellion at the dawn of the Ninth Century can be laid at the feet of one man: Eder Abarran the Count of Oviedo.
The Count of Oviedo
The first clear memory Eder Abarran ever had was the execution of his grandfather Elipando. Dragged to Toledo by Abd ar-Rahman after his capture in Lisboa, his blood had fallen on the child. Raised in the lands of old Asturias, Eder had grown up in the middle of some of the most pointed criticisms of Abd ar-Rahman and after learning more about his grandfather had begun to fall under the influence of the more stringent Christians. They preferred to deal with the Muslims harshly now that they had the upper hand. Still he had given well enough service being an adequate administrator of Oviedo which had been the capital ever so briefly. When Salamon fostered increasing contacts with the east, he had been one of those who had spoken of a more subtle Muslim invasion. But for him, its personal aspect was even greater: his father Vermudo had fallen in battle for Abd ar-Rahman against the Idrisids. When he was required to serve under the Muslim generals Gayan and Amrus he displayed a great potential but became more resentful for he felt he could better them with only a little work. He cultivated his friend Prince Jon who was also disgruntled with Salamon. His own lordship of Oviedo was not an especially powerful one: not like Sevilla with its control of the south, or Valencia with its ports or Luz with its domination of the Maghreb.
In the opening weeks of the rebellion, the relationships Jon and Pepin had built were realized at last. In the peninsula, the ancient Mauregato who felt he was cheated out of a kingdom by Abd ar-Rahman joined Jon. North of the mountains, much of the south rose in revolt almost all the way to the border with Bavaria. Toulouse was a surprise for the Franks since it had bee ruled by Martinus but Martinus was far away in the north dealing with the Saxons while his father was in Rome.
More ominously for the kings, Alboin Adalgia immediately abandoned his previous promises and the Lombard Duchies did the same after learning of the chaos in the Frankish realm. Pope Leo III actually considered flight, but the question was to where. Constantinople was still the goal of Harun ar-Rashid, the Lombards and rebel Franks were no friends of his, and Salamon was still not sure just what condition his state was in. In the end, Charles and Salamon persuaded Leo to remain in Rome while the two of them swore to fight the rebels to their last breath.
When Salamon boarded his ship for the west, he offered Charles passage but was refused--the route through the Alps was most direct to lands where he could contest the rebels. In 802 the two kings parted ways into an uncertain future as a Europe which had seemed on the verge of new age two years before was about to tear itself to pieces.
Preparations for Fratricide
Unsure how widespread the revolt was to his throne, Salamon put in at Serdenía to assess his situation more closely and was informed of the true extent of the disaster from his Vali there, Abdallah ibn Ibrahim ibn Al-Aghlab.[2] Since just as much if not more of the Frankish realm was in revolt, Salamon consigned himself to no help from that quarter for the time being. Instead he thanked Abdallah for remaining faithful and at the local capital of Caliastra pronounced anathema on the rebels. Salamon new his position would be strong if he waited to do so at Toledo but there was no time. All the lands and titles and authority of the rebels was revoked and he would reward all those who sided with him to depose them.
At the time the population of Serdenía was a mixed one of which the largest plurality were Greek-speaking but with significant Muslim minorities. Still there were more than a few who were willing to take the chance to improve their lot and aside from the garrisons he already had there, a number of volunteers were joined to him. By the time he left, he also had some contingents from Corsega. While he gathered what troops he could in the islands, Abdallah’s brother Abu Iqal was sent on recruiting journey in the east while Abdallah contacted his father Ibrahim. Ibrahim ibn Al-Aghlab had replaced Maura at Tanga after the later took charge of Luz.
The Maghreb consisted of Islamic, Christian and Pagan Berbers, Christians and Islamic Arabs from all the various disciplines of that faith. While in the beginning the pressures he had built in the land toward Christianity worked against him, the most opposed had long ago sided with Idris and his heirs and Salamon was able to point towards other Berbers who had risen high. Like the Muhallabids these were not required to adopt Christianity or foreign personal customs. The clear divisions into ranks that had marked the Arab administrations prior to Abd ar-Rahman’s arrival were decaying and the cultural superiority that had been a feature of the groups toward each other had suffered its first setbacks under Abd ar-Rahman and more importantly, Salamon’s decade of rule.
So too one of the generals that appeared late in Abd ar-Rahman’s reign chose to side with Salamon. Gayan Al-Muhallahi the aging son of Muhallah still commanded authority and respect from his own governorship at Nicora. When Salamon arrived in Mersa he was met by easternmost of his governor there Abdel.[3] Salamon ordered him to fortify and provision Mersa from attack while he went on to Melila to await the gathering of the armies of the Maghreb. As he waited in Melila, his greatest concern was for his son, Ramiro, born the year of the death of Idris ibn Abdallah and whowith his mother Aliza, was still in Toledo.
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For Charles the journey north from Rome had the trapping of a nightmare.
The rulers of north Italy had not long been under Frankish rule and as the news of the revolt spread, they rose up and drove their Frankish overlords out. Many of these garrisons and their new lords were destroyed, the rest were left largely leaderless until Charles arrived. As he traveled north he collected the garrisons that remained and by the time he reached the Po River he had a significant force behind him. Though he desired to exact a price for their treachery, his main concern remained reaching his capital and assembling his forces to secure the kingdom.
Almost immediately after the revolt, Pepin had sent messengers to the Lombards offering them an alliance against his father and half-brothers. When they learned that Charles was approaching the Alps, these cities hastily assembled in a league to try and capture the Frankish king. The Battle of Verona was a hard fought victory for the Frankish king. Largely outnumbered, he managed to escape Italy though most of his forces were destroyed in the battle. On his way north through the mountains however, he was injured and had to take refuge with his friend the abbot of St. Gallen. Yet with the abbey so close to Italy, the rebels and the questionable Duke Odilo II of Bavaria, Charles and the abbot endeavored to keep his presence as secret as possible.
The defense of the Frankish realm fell on Charles’s son and heir Martinus. Martinus who had been created as the “King of Oriental Aquitaine” by Charles when he came of age was absent. When Charles had returned to Italy and established Frankish dominion there, it fell to his heir to take charge of the campaigns against the Saxons which were finally bearing fruit. When the revolt came the news took some time to reach him and by the time he managed to extricate himself from old Saxony, Pepin had already seized Toulouse to made it his temporary capital dealing a blow to his prestige.
With Charles rumored dead, Martinus took all the army that remained to him over the winter and reached Aachen but did not claim the crown. As long as his father might still be alive, his name would inspire more confidence than his own. Keeping the fealty of his remaining vassals became his goal over the winter. Never the less as the year 803 began, it was Martinus who prepared and planned a southern campaign to execute his older brother.
The Iohannin Advance Begins
The greatest hope for Prince Jon was for a peaceful capture of Toledo. The best way to ensure that was to awe any dissent into submission on the way. While the capital itself was not the heart of the kingdom as it after became--under Abd ar-Rahman the capital had generally been wherever he was--Salamon had begun all his campaigns from Toledo, returning there after being in the field. The exception was in the colder months when he stayed at Sevilla. Toledo was the best way to secure the kingdom though Jon doubted he would retain the loyalty of the Maghreb.
Even that hope was destroyed by Husayn of Valencia. Being one of the closest lords to Zaragoza and rejecting Jon several times when he tried to claim a kinship because of Peio and Banucca, Husayn had begun to secret agents in Zaragoza. He noted the provisions and vast amount of arrows being imported from the north and stock piled quietly around the region. Very little of it was sailing east and with Salamon absent, and Pepin and Jon meeting with lords almost constantly he suspected rebellion. When Jon rose in revolt and announced his kingship at Zaragoza, Husayn had already mustered his men and was visiting his Vali at Tortosa. Officially to conduct military training and root out bandits, he also had prepared a small quantity of siege engines. Collecting the loyalists north of Tortosa, Husayn hurried to Zaragoza to arrest Jon before he had a chance to gain the support of the other lords.
When Husayn arrived at Zaragoza, Jon was already gone and meeting with Enigo II Berenguez, Arista of Pampleo and other lords of his mother’s people. Launching a surprise attack he quickly gained the walls and took control of the city, with only the citadel resisting him. While he kept the citadel under guard, he began to expel and repress any supporters of Jon that he could find along the southern Ebro, preparing an expedition to Lleida.
Caught by surprise, Jon was reported to have become extremely worried. That Zaragoza itself had been captured by a loyalist to Salamon in the opening months of the revolt was exactly the kind of event that could dissipate his own support. Husayn was famous throughout the peninsula. The story of his faithfulness to Abd ar-Rahman at Rio Carbones was well known--as were his original claims to Zaragoza. Jon was desperately trying to convince a reluctant Enigo not to abandon his cause when Eder Abarran arrived from Oviedo with the news of Mauregato's support. Seeing that the Prince was afraid, Eder strongly urged Jon to continue to Oviedo and the forces gathering there to acclaim.
“I will regain Zaragoza by the time you reach them. Have no fear, for it will be as if it had never been lost,” the Count of Oviedo said.
When Eder advanced south he carried Jon’s banner, white and red, with a blue stripe signifying his heritage from Abd ar-Rahman, Vasconia, and his association with the Franks. It was for this reason that he was known as Jon “Al-Vasco.” Believing Jon had returned to contest Zaragoza, Husayn left a small guard around the citadel to meet Eder Abarran in the field. Eder crushed Husayn’s army near Alagón and captured Husayn as he attempted to flee. Returning to Zaragoza with Husayn, he entered the city and executed Husayn as a traitor to the new King of All Hispania, Jon. As he had expected the soldiers left around the citadel surrendered and he gave them a chance to serve him, slaughtering those who did not. Regaining the loyalty of the surrounding region, after the campaign season of 802 he met with the Frankish counts of the region to plot an advance down the coast to take advantage of leaderless Valencia.
When Jon and Arista of Pampleo arrived at Oviedo it had been just as Eder had claimed. An army had assembled from Galicia and Asturias. There he was acclaimed as king under the successor of Bishop Aurelius who had been a moderating force. With Mauregato and Arista, he hurried down the Via de la Plata following the route Abd ar-Rahman had taken to Toledo 41 years before.
He did not achieve the same success.
Abd ar-Rahman made Salamanca a Free City subject only to the crown and allowed them great autonomy. With peace in the kingdom traffic had increased along the Via de la Plata enriching the city. When Jon arrived at its gates he found them shut tight and well defended. A parley availed nothing for the council of Salamanca said to him:
“You claim to be king but you have neither crown nor throne and were acclaimed in a mountain fastness like a robber. Return when you are not a thief.”
Frustrated at their recalcitrance but unwilling to besiege the city when Toledo beckoned he agreed to depart but swore that if he became king, he would remember their words. He avenged himself by pillaging the countryside along the river obtaining a large number of supplies and turned east to continue down the mountain passes to Toledo after some delay.
To the Capital
The Marquio of the Marca Lisboa was Mutamidos, the son of Bedr who had spirited Abd ar-Rahman from Damascus. When Salamon was left behind to administer the land for his father while the latter went on campaign, it was Bedr who had advised him. Reward by the dynasty, Mutamidos had grown up with Salamon for some years in Toledo and repaid that trust now. Upon learning of the uprising he bid his family good bye and with whatever troops he could gather in haste set out for the capital to safeguard it for Salamon and more importantly, to his children: the 10 year old heir, Ramiro and his 6 year old sister Uzmia.
As he approached the Tagus Mutamidos was surprised by an armed force going the same direction. But this was no ambush, for Salamon’s brother-in-law, Asmunidos of Coimbra had the same idea as Mutamidos. Hurrying east, they were able to impede Jon’s progress so he was forced to expend time and effort on the fortified compounds constructed in the central mountains. Initially built to provide a place to retreat to if the capital had fallen in the early days of Abd ar-Rahman, they now served to deter invasion from the north.
When they reached the capital they were met by Queen Aliza and Abd ar-Rahman’s general, Amrus b. Yusuf. As they discussed plans, Amrus made it clear that he considered attempting to meet Jon in the field north of the mountains was a mistake. A defeat now would almost certainly leave the capital undefended and open to capture before Salamon could return. Instead he suggested preparing for a siege. With his long experience his advice was heeded and that winter the capital was re-fortified and those who could fled south heading to Mérida, Sevilla or points beyond.
Queen Aliza was determined to remain in the capital for she was adamant that the patrimony of her husband be protected. She did however order her children away for their own safety after the news of Husayn’s execution at Zaragoza reached them. Mutamidos was given charge of the royal children and leaving his troops under the command of Amrus, he took them south to Sevilla. In the southern capital, he waited for more troops to arrive from his own Marca Lisboa and for Al-Conin to assemble the rest of the southern levies the next year.[4]
The year 803 was a year of campaigns.
Eder Abarran continued south from Zaragoza along the eastern coast, supplied by ships. Absent Husayn and many of its local troops there was only light resistance until he reached Valencia itself. After learning of his father’s demise, Said ibn Husayn gathered his own forces in Denia and rushed to Valencia to protect what had passed to him after his father’s death. When Eder reached the city, Said defied him and Eder was forced to lay siege to Valencia though he was unable to cut off supplies from the port for some time.
Jon Al-Vasco, king of however much of Hispania cared to acknowledge him was determined to take the capital. Capturing the forts in the mountains the previous year he descended on Toledo with his thousands but his initial assault after being refused entry was repulsed and as he had dreaded, he began to lay siege to the capital itself. As would be expected in any siege, he also pillaged the length of the Tagus to find supplies for his army as the Siege of Toledo began.
The Siege of Toledo
When Salamon landed at Algeciras, he was not alone. He had gathered several thousands of troops with the promise of the deposition of the northern rebels. With him were Gayan the Muhallabid once again in command, Abder ibn Abdel from Mersa and Abdallah charged with supplying the army. On his way north he was met by Al-Conin from Granada with troops from the cities of the south and they arrived at Sevilla where Salamon embraced his children. It was also at Sevilla where Mutamidos was able to outline just what the rebellion was about and that Valencia was also threatened. Determined to honor the memory of Husayn and equally determined to stop Jon and rescue his wife, he sent Gayan with Abdallah east to relieve Valencia while the rest of his forces marched north to face his half-brother. Mutamidos was left behind in Sevilla for he was the only man Salamon would trust to safeguard his family and Sevilla was guarded by troops from the Marca Lisboa.
By the time he arrived at Toledo, Jon had blocked any river traffic along the Tagus and was making progress on sapping the walls of the city. Salamon ordered an immediate attempt at relief but Jon had fortified the closest crossings to Toledo and the attack was turned back with heavy loss. Despite the numerical superiority of the king’s forces, neither army cared to risk disaster in attempting to cross the river and defeat the other. Both settled down to conduct raids and testing attacks while Jon continued his attempts to capture the city, now significantly slowed by Salamon’s arrival. The king was supplied by boats navigating the river or flat barges dragged along the landward side as the siege continued. To gain supplies and try and draw off some of Salamon’s forces, Mauregato’s men launched a series of raids into the land between Coimbra, Porto and Salamanca but they were unsuccessful thanks to the intervention of Gonsalus who having risen into prominence in the region of Portugal, organized the defense of the land. Thus was the countryside denuded of life as both armies stripped it bare and famine began to visit the center of the peninsula for the first time since Abd ar-Rahman’s capture of it.
When the siege of Valencia was broken, Gayan and his forces returned to the king. According to Gayan, his arrival coincided with that of Abu Iqal with more troops from, Seredenía and Corsega and a small group of mercenaries known to the Spaniards and Berbers as the Amasiga who roamed the northern most reaches of the great desert. A fierce people, under their leader Ayuba, they brought some of the first camels seen in the peninsula with them and joined the king for the hope of plunder and wealth. Together Gayan, Abu Iqal and Ayuba broke the siege of Valencia and saved Said ibn Husayn. While Abdallah and Said chased Eder north with the intention of retaking the coast, Ayuba had brought his mercenaries west and eagerly anticipated the wealth of a city as great as Toledo.[4] Reinforced, Salamon could now push Jon’s forces harder and the raids and attacks were increased substantially as Gayan took charge of the assault.
Gayan planned and executed a bloody crossing of the Tagus at two points west of the city while pretending to cross the bridge closest to Toledo. Securing a route of the river, Salamon turned east and rode to the rescue of his queen and his capital as fast as he could. But Jon finally succeeded. Even as Salamon crossed the river, his sappers brought down several small sections of the wall and his men were pressing the defenders hard. Once the king saw it he ordered an all out assault to save the city and a furious battle was joined in and around the walls of Toledo.
The siege had taken its toll on the defenders. The soldiers Asmunidos and Amrus led were weak, hungry and sick. There were fewer each day and though they gave a tremendous effort they fell back before Jon’s assault. Barely gaining the citadel in front of the prince, they regrouped enough to repel an attack on the central residence. It was during this attack that a stray bolt chanced to strike the queen and she hovered near death as the battle raged outside.
With the failure to take the citadel, even Jon had to admit he had lost the battle but not the war. To distract from their escape his men set the city aflame. As destruction and smoke rose around the battered defenders of the residence, Jon led his men out one of the gates and launched an attack to break out from around his half-brother’s army. Salamon contained it with some difficulty and forced his brother back into the city, trapping him against the citadel amid the flames he had set. Perhaps it was Salamon’s intent to be merciless to the rebels or Jon’s own hatred of his brother but a number of Jon's forces refused to surrender and many died as Salamon’s men and Jon’s hunted each other through the burning and ruined streets of the city. Mauregato did escape with a sizable contingent while Salamon was engaged in capturing Jon and trying to save what he could of the city. Jon was never captured. Cornered at last near the city’s main church, he took refuge in it and with a dwindling band of followers forced Salamon to burn of the few buildings that remained and died in the flames.
So passed Prince Jon Al-Vasco, the traitor.
The siege was over but by the time the king reached the citadel his wife was dead. Throwing caution to the wind he ordered Amrus to take whatever forces could be supplied and raze Oviedo to the ground to even the tally. The protests made by the general fell on deaf ears for once ordering the attack, Salamon sunk into grief over his dead wife in the midst of a city of ash.
A Question of Worth
Amrus ibn Yusuf had not wanted to go north. Anyone could see that even with a few days, the exhaustion of a great conflict like the Siege of Toledo would not be easily dispensed with. Worse was the manner it ended in a victory so bitter it would be remembered for generations. Still he had long served the house of Abd ar-Rahman and it was not long before Amrus was crossing the central mountains. He first rested at Salamanca which had been proven right over its response to Jon’s claims. He continued up the Via de la Plata into the Duero with his eyes on Oviedo and all Asturias.
While wary, Amrus expected the rebellion to founder without Jon but he had not counted on the skill of Eder Abarran. Hating the family of Abd ar-Rahman, he had sworn to triumph or to die on the grave of his father. While the Frankish counts had left him to go north, Eder was carefully enticing the forces of Abdallah and Said ibn Husayn north. Once in the mountains south the Ebro, he divided his forces confusing his pursuers into believing his army had dispersed in panic and they spread out to hunt him down. Instead Eder descended on them individually, defeating each smaller contingent so thoroughly that he was threatening Tortosa when the news came of Jon’s death. Fearing the rebellion south of the mountains was about to crumble, Eder took only his mounted men and rode west as hard as he could to save the revolt.
By the time he arrived in the west, Amrus was besieging Lejón.[5] Built on the site of an old roman military encampment it had seen its population dwindle until Abd ar-Rahman conquered Toledo. Now it was a small fortification on the way north to Oviedo and Amrus anticipated an easy capture. He was right, but it delayed him enough for Eder to get his own plans in place.
As has been said before, Eder had served under Amrus. During the campaigns on the islands Eder had been his agent directing matters in the field while Amrus remained in the tents. In this as in other matters Eder had hidden his displeasure at being subordinate to a man he felt was a mediocre talent and too committed to achieving his initial objective.
“Circumstance changes in any campaign. To make use of the chances Fate presents us we must be wedded toward advantage, not simple obedience.”
Now he made Amrus pay. When Amrus resumed his march toward Oviedo in 805, Eder used small units of light cavalry to strike at Amrus and retreat causing intense confusion. Allowing his men to vanish he made it seem as if Amrus had driven them away to urge the general on. In one of the passes before Oviedo when Amrus had relaxed his guard, Eder blocked the roads in the night. When the morning came, he launched his true assault. Trapped, Amrus ibn Yusuf was captured and his army destroyed so that few returned to Toledo. Amrus was brought before Eder where he took the chain of his office from him and threw it to the ground.
“You were never for it old man," he said before slicing the throat of the general. “But it is not fit for me."
He left it lying there as he returned to Oviedo.
The Kingdom of Tolosa
Toledo was in ruins. The eastern coast was festering in a low conflict. In the west raids from Galicia reached almost as far as the Guadalquivir spreading terror in Mérida and surrounding areas. Amrus b. Yusuf was dead and so was the queen. As the inhabitants of Toledo slowly began to rebuild, to avoid plague and provide a quick response to attacks from the rebel, a permanent military encampment was constructed on the ruins of a Visigothic village. Through it ran the Manzanares and it was there the king received the news about Amrus. Other bad news also came to the king such as when Corsega and Serdenía abandoned any allegiance to him. Those volunteers who had come from the islands or were mercenaries from farther east in Italy, Sicily or the Ahmarid domains, though not much more than 1000 all together either remained with the king having no where else to go, or turned to banditry in the region and had to be hunted down. In fact the king spent much of 805 engaged in restoring order in the areas he could after the disastrous events of the past few years.
In the north with the death of Jon any kind of greater unity broke down among the nobility though Eder and Mauregato were able to retain control of the west through the use of force and Eder’s defeat of one of the longest serving generals of the kingdom. Eder was reluctant to support Mauregato in any attempt as king and the rest of Alfonso’s family were dead. Indeed the closest link left to Jon was himself--as his friend and confidant for some time, Jon had betrothed his daughter to Eder when the girl was born. Both children were young and it would be over a decade before anyone could even think of marrying them. Surrender or negotiation remained out of the question for Eder personally and because the king had publicly vowed to destroy the rebels and take their lands. In looking for a solution Eder and the lords of the north looked beyond the mountains to another prince: Pepin the Hunchback.
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The capital of the Frankish realm at the time was Aachen in the north. With the distance involved and his own deformity, Pepin knew he would never be able to take most of the Frankish lands with him. In fact it was only with Jon’s own revolt that he had taken the chance to rebel since Jon would prevent any help from their increasingly powerful southern neighbor. Pepin though less masterful than any of the other major personalities involved was also less volatile. With the nobles supporting him their first step was the capture of Toulouse, that is Tolosa. The seat of Martinus, it was also admirably situated for campaigns farther north. Pepin seized it in 802 and that alone was enough for the nobles in Septimania-Gothica, Arles, and Burgundia to rise in his support.
In 803 when his half-brother planned a southern campaign, Pepin planned a northern one. Departing from Arles, he marched north alone the Rhone then left the river for Aachen even as Martinus and his full brother Pepin the Younger left the capital. Pepin the Hunchback reached Metz before his brothers. This city which had almost been the capital of the Frankish Realm under Charles resisted him fiercely and Pepin was forced to lay siege to it. Known as the Battle of Metz, or the Battle of the Princes, the battle fought that day in 803 was one of the largest of the war. When the three sons of Charles fought each other, it was Pepin the Hunchback who emerged victorious. Capturing Metz and Pepin the Younger, he wintered in Metz preparing for the final capture of Aachen.
Martinus reeling from his defeat faced an increasingly difficult situation that was only saved by the return of Charles to Aachen. Escaping from the south at last and healthy once again, the king’s arrival brought tremendous relief to loyalists. Now at last clearly Pepin was unlawfully attempting to destroy his father’s kingdom. Still more of the great lords were trying to remain uncommitted to either side in the war and with Pepin’s forces in Metz, Charles needed a victory and he needed soldiers to achieve it. He got both by seeking out the most un-likeliest of alliances: the Bretons and the Saxons.
Upon his return, Charles sent Martinus to the Bretons where he met with several chieftans and gained the friendship of one of the most prominent who had established a fortified settlement at Prizaig. Nominally overlords of the Bretons, Charles was forced to acknowledge that with Pepin threatening the capital he would have to rely less on coercion. In return Charles and Matrinus agreed to name Morman the Prince of Brittany, elevating his domain and guaranteeing it more autonomous status. It was left to Bretons how to arrange a succession whether by election, hereditary authority or some other method. In this way Charles hoped that after defeating Pepin would once again be able to establish his dominance there as they fought amongst themselves.
Charles himself went to the Saxons. Pressured by Ongendus II and Charles and with many migrating to Greater Albaney, they people were in danger of disappearing and their lands were badly ravaged. Charles offered them the chance to take lands and titles from the rebels in the south. The richness of the southern lands and his own fierce reputation among the Saxons convinced many to join his forces and experience victory. It later became apparent that this departure combined with Danish control of the eastern bank of the Elbe are what finally set in motion the disappearance of the Saxons as a people in the early 9th Century. His armies reconstituted, Charles held off Pepin’s advances in 804 and 805 and retook Metz not long after Eder Abarran defeated Amrus b. Yusuf south of Oviedo. The victories of 805 solidified the rest of Charles’ vassals to his side but it also caused a weakening in Pepin’s support.
When Eder Abarran appeared in Tolosa in 805 both rebellions were in danger. The rebel Spaniards wanted to continue fighting but needed a king, the rebel Franks needed new support to strengthen their resolve. Eder Abarran and the rebel Spaniards swore to Pepin the Hunchback joining both rebellions. Thus the year 805 was regarded as the founding year of the Kingdom of Tolosa.
The Galician Campaign
Raids are a cost-effective way of war. Spreading fear, deriving supplies and loot from the enemy and bolstering your own side without undue expenses. It was in fact, a mainstay of war on the peninsula between Al-Andalus and the Christians of Asturias until the arrival of Abd ar-Rahman. In the western region of Portugal, it became a way of life once again. Beginning in 803 to help supply and support the Siege of Toledo, the land between the cities of Salamanca, Portugal, Coimbra and Mérida was subjected to endless attacks by the forces of Mauregato the Count of Iria and bastard son of Alfonso.
For all his great age, he was still physically hale enough to accompany Jon to Toledo and it was Mauregato alone who survived the breaking of the siege. Too old to lead more than one or two raids himself despite his own vigor, he never the less planned and executed a great many through his subordinates. Such was the damage these caused--not least because of the presence of the Coimbran troops at Toledo--that a great part of the population of these areas fled to the cities or to the safer regions of Andalucia and of course to the chief city there, Sevilla.
Sevilla was also where Salamon had ordered Mutamidos to safeguard his children. As he looked out over the city he was learning to administer and the growing slums outside it, Ramiro resented his father’s order while seeing the need for it. His death would make whoever his sister married the new king. By the year 806 he was fifteen years old and while a clever practical young man he was also as strong-willed as any person his age. Seeing the plight of his subjects in 806 he began to organize counter-raids to contest the region from the upstart Kingdom of Tolosa. On one of these expeditions Ramiro disguised himself so as to participate, a ruse that was only revealed when by chance the expedition encountered one of the rare raids Mauregato was accompanying. Captured by the commander of the raid, Ramiro revealed himself to take charge of the political situation.
Marquio Muatamidos was furious when they returned to Sevilla, but the capture of one of the rebel leaders was of too great importance for Ramiro to be disciplined or upbraided by anyone except the king. When Salamon arrived in Sevilla to see the execution of the traitor, the only possible legitimate pretender to the throne, he declined to exercise parental discipline though he reminded his son to think of the future of the monarchy in a private conversation. Ramiro immediately pointed out that for the monarchy to have a future at all more direct action had to be taken and Salamon agreed. With the most powerful man in Galicia dead without heirs, that land seemed the most likely place for an offensive to be made and one was planned for the next year.
To his frustration Ramiro would not be in combat. Salamon did make the concession of placing him in operational command. In practice he would be advised by Gayan Al-Muhallahi and the other lords and captains Salamon asked to accompany him such as mercenary Ayuba. This took advantage of his talents for while he was only an average soldier, he had shown growing skill at administration and organization and by the time the assault began he was in charge of those aspects of the campaign in truth as well as title.
The campaign coincided with diversionary attacks led by the Count of Valencia, Said ibn Husayn along the eastern coast. Advancing north the western army swept Portugal clear of bandits and raiders and arrived at the crossing of the River Miño.[6] The disorganized Galician nobility was in no mood to simply swear to Salamon again and a fierce battle commenced that resulted in no advantage gained by either side, but was a Tolosan victory by preventing a crossing the river.
Confronted by an impasse, Gayan and the others concocted a daring or perhaps foolhardy scheme that might have given even Eder Abarran pause. Boats would be gathered along the coast from Lisboa to Porto and an army would sail up the coast to launch an invasion into the heart of the region. Chief among the supporters of this plan was Gonsalus, who had held Abd ar-Rahman in high regard during his boyhood days in Galicia. It was Gonsalus who convinced the others that if given a chance, the people of Galicia would once again back the family of Abd ar-Rahman over a Frankish overlord and his rapacious Asturian vassals. It fell to the Amasiga Ayuba to wonder if Gonsalus still understood a region he had been absent from for so long. In the end, Gonsalus left his 14 year old son Pero behind in Porto and with the Marquio Mutamidos they sailed north.
The chief city at the time of rebellion in Galicia was as it has always been: the city of Iria where Mauregato had ruled. The people Iria disliked their ruler intensely for he had long opposed Abd ar-Rahman and his impotence in the wider affairs of the peninsula led him to become a harsh master in the lands he ruled. When the Spaniards sailed up the the bay and arrived at Iria, the populace rose up against their oppressors and dragged the officials of Mauregato through the streets of the city. Opening the gates they welcomed the Spaniards inside.
When Iria fell so quickly and potentially Galicia with it, Eder Abarran himself returned south of the mountains. There he had matched the Frankish armies stroke for stroke despite his lack of numbers. Arriving in Galicia in the year 808 with 2,000 men under his command, he also unveiled the new banner he had crafted after the birth of the Kingdom of Tolosa. On a bright blue field was the Latin word Invictus, Unconquered. When he returned it was said he was tempted to execute the Galician nobility for their own incompetence but by now Gayan Al-Muhallahi was across the Miño at last and heading north to join Matumidos and Gonsalus in Iria.
In fact, only Gonsalus was in Iria. After the capture of the city they had discovered that while there was no love for Mauregato, neither was their regard for the family of Abd ar-Rahman who had left them to the mercies of the former for 50 years. When Eder appeared in Galicia, Mutamidos was engaged in reducing the small castle of Negreira as a way to opening up the northern regions to royal control. When he learned of Eder Abbaran’s arrival, Mutamidos razed the castle to the ground and turned south to join with Gayan. The Battle of Compostela followed and once again, Eder Abarran was victorious in the field, breaking up the royal armies so that the way was opened to Iria.
The Siege of Iria occupies a unique place in the history of the peninsula. Eder’s victory at Compostela saw the king’s armies scattered or broken with some lords dead. As the major representative of King Salamon in Iria, Gonsalus refused to surrender the city. Eder launched several attacks and even constructed some siege equipment. But the attacks were beaten back and the siege engines fired. But help would not arrive any time soon and the Galician expedition seemed destined for failure.
Then God intervened.
At least, that was how it was interpreted. Owing to the terrain and size of the city, Eder found it difficult to fully surround it. As such there were weak spots and holes in his lines and it was through these that some citizens of Iria either escaped or foraged for food out in the countryside an extremely dangerous occupation. It was during one of these excursions that a young girl named Uxia discovered a mysterious grave site. Running back to the Bishop of Iria, she begged him to investigate the matter. When he returned to Toledo the Bishop announced the discovery of the bones of St. Iago who had made the journey to the peninsula in the distant past. Overcome, the girl prophesied God would deliver the city. The fervor was incredible and the morale of the city lifted immensely, so much so that they demanded Gonsalus followed the prophecy. The gates were opened and the men and women of Iria emerged, led by Uxia holding some of the bones before them.
By chance when the gates opened Eder Abarran had taken ill with one of the many diseases that are common in armies laying siege. By the time he realized what was going on, his army was taken by surprise and it was all he could do to avoid capture for himself and his banner. When news of the victory, the discovery of the bones and the humiliating defeat of the “Great Commander” reached the rest of the province the Galicians rose at last in favor of the king for clearly God had commanded them to resist.
Thus began the careers of St. Uxia and Iria as a Holy City.
The Bright Mirror and the Road to Albi
As he grew to manhood in Aachen, it was whispered that Aldric's birth was a miracle.[7] In fact, his mother had died moments before his birth, and he had been forcibly cut out of her belly to be saved--thus he was born in more blood than most. As a boy his initial desire was to be a man of the church and his facility with learning and study even at a young age seemed to mark him for a bright future serving God. But then had come the Consulate War and with it, his youthful desire ended.
His first battle was in attendance on his father at Rheims (806) where the forces of Tolosa had barely been turned back. Serving as an aid to his father because of his young age, he managed to avoid dying and after the fight repudiated his early inclinations to the church. In such times he said with uncommon solemnity, men must fight so God still has souls over which to triumph. But his actions betrayed an eagerness to fight for his father and his king. A loyal man eager to fight was welcomed by Charles into his forces no matter his age. Involved first in small skirmishes or raids his strength grew quickly and by the age of 16 he had been sent by Charles to replace the late Bishop of Beauvais as caretaker of the city since no other could be sent. Though the city was far from the border with the rebel Pepin, it was still a tremendous show of faith by Charles in one so young.
Thus began the career of Aldric of Beauvais.
In administration Aldric showed himself virtuous: his honestly and fairness quickly became a cause for both annoyance and pride for the people of Beauvais. He showed his civic spirit by repairing and restoring damaged Roman infrastructure such as aqueducts, and used his profits from raids against Tolosa to ransom back captives from the area he ruled over.
When the great summons of 810 came, Aldric had been sent east to the border with Bavaria where Sorb raids were menacing both lands. Though having no personal interest in the region, he had fought well enough to be remarked on by the Bavarians and it was with some real regret that they saw him leave for Aachen.
Arriving in the capital, the young man was amazed at the vast army that was assembling. In the years since the proclamation of the Kingdom of Tolosa, the war between Pepin and his father had surged back and forth. The creation of the kingdom and the arrival of Eder Abarran had brought about a tremendous surge in their success and while the Count of Oviedo could not capture Metz, under the Invictus banner he rampaged through the land almost the length of the Loire capturing several cities even though Rheims was denied him. Had he remained in the north he might have been able to break the Bretons from their alliance with Charles. From his own letters it was clear that Eder intended on launching a campaign that would bring the land west of the Seine under the control of Pepin followed by vague designs on Austrasia itself.
But then had come the invasion of Galicia. If Galicia was captured his own Oviedo would be threatened and both pride and the maintenance of his own reputation compelled him to return home and relieve the pressure on the south. It was one of Eder’s few mistakes. Even if the Galician campaign had succeed earlier, even had Oviedo itself fallen, it would have been impossible for Salamon and the Spaniards to capture Zaragoza until after Eder had reached the Seine. Even so, Pepin’s forces could have held the mountains for a long time. Instead he was humiliated by a priest and a girl, and the absence of a man whose reputation was becoming a useful as an army by itself allowed Charles to establish his control back to Poitiers. Thus did Charles come to the aid of the Bretons and ensure the allegiance of Prince Morman.
In the end, while Eder kept the invasion of Galicia from collapsing the rebels south of the mountains, his absence allowed Charles to launch his Great Campaign of 810 that culminated in the great battle of war, Albi.
Eder Abarran returned to Tolosa after an urgent summons from King Pepin in 809. Charles was gathering the greatest army he possibly could summoning allies and vassals from all of Europe to march on Tolosa and destroy his son. There was a palpable feeling of fear in the city and when Eder looked on the faces of the Tolosan nobility he saw only fear. He castigated them.
“You sons of Lupus of Gascony! What right have you to feel fear whose father destroyed Hunald and met Charles the Frank as an equal? And you Berenguer! Who saved Narbona after Raymond Raphinel died at Metz! You are said to be wise yet you council cowardice? How will any of us survive if we cower in fear? No we have set our course along a narrow mountain road and the only way out is to remain on the path. To stray is to fall. Have I not returned to lead you? I do not fear Charles the Frank, king of a wilderness that never knew the hand of Rome.”
But words could only save the situation for so long. Instead he thought back to the days of pain where he saw his father dead and remembered the tales of a holy man who was also a leader--and the conqueror he had fought against. In 809 ships were sent, both to the Lombards and to the Maghreb where Ilyas b. Salih resented the Spaniards and Idris ibn Idris contested the east with the Ahmarids serving ar-Rashid.
But it would never do to underestimate Charles. Charles felt himself growing old even as Abd ar-Rahman had done a generation previous. His son Matrinus was capable enough to rule a kingdom at peace but in this kind of war he was not the man to triumph and he had no other sons unless he wished to reconcile with the deformed Pepin. Instead he called on all his allies and vassals and after a moment of doubt went to the great fortress on the Elbe known as the Murenborg[8] and in return for support against his cousin Gudfred, brought Ongendus who the Franks called Ogier, the Dane to his side.
Charles marched in 810 with Aldric leading one company of his horsemen among hundreds. But Eder’s plan to prepare for the battle worked and when he and Pepin left Tolosa, it was with men from Oviedo and Zaragoza and Enigo II Berenguez as well as the lords of the north and a great Lombard force who saw in this their chance to remove the threat of Charles forever. When Eder saw the size of the army Charles had brought he is said to have laughed for he too had a great army and he relished the coming battle.
The two armies met at Albi north of Tolosa, the greatest battle Europe would see for over 150 years.
Interventions
Despite the failure of the attempts on Zaragoza, King Salamon and his generals did extend their rule up the coast securing Tortosa and retaking the ruins of Tarragona where they built a fortress. In the west, Gonsalus was made the Count of Iria after his victory there and under him the region of Galicia was regained so that Lugo was their easternmost castle.
In the south, the death of Mutamidos at Compostela left his 12 year old son Iscandros as the new Marquio of Lisboa. To keep order in the region and assure the patrimony for the grandson of Bedr, Ramiro returned south to Lisboa leaving the defense of Galicia to Gonsalus and his uncle Asmundios. Once in Lisboa he secured the city and the region both for Iscandros, and to tie it more tightly to the royal crown for he disapproved of the freedom granted by Abd ar-Rahman to the Marcas as counter-productive. Thus he was not present for the expeditions in Zaragoza or the constant raids that raged around the Duero in an echo of the conflict between Al-Andalus and Asturias. He also made time to return to his own lands in Sevilla where he ensured the continued peace of the south which enabled the Spaniards to continue to supply their northern campaigns.
When Charles sent word south via ship that he was planning a mighty offensive in the north for 810, Salamon also planned one both to distract the rebel forces and take advantage of any defeats inflicted by Charles. Once again he forbid Ramiro from participating in the fighting which as a full grown man Ramiro resented. Thus he was in Sevilla when the fruits of Eder Abarran’s own machinations ripened.
Encouraged by Eder, his reputation and eager for advantage during the great conflict in the north, Ilyas of the Barghawata invaded the kingdom. At the same time Idris II came into possession of Tiaret by his marriage and began to menace the entirety of the border with the Spaniards. Positioned to react the most swiftly to the threat, Ramiro left Sevilla and with the men of Andalucia and Ayuba's Amasigans, crossing the Strait of Tariq as soon as he heard of the invasion. Thus was the Kingdom of Tolosa able to bring all its forces to bear against Charles at Albi.
The Companion and the Star
Idris II was a prodigy. Born the year after Idris was executed by Harun ar-Rashid for Abd ar-Rahman, Idris II grew up in a period of chaos. To the east were the Ahmarids supported by his his father’s enemy, Harun. To the west were the small states of Sijilmasa and Tiaret--and the Spaniards. Pressured from all sides, the best way the lords and chiefs of the region saw to avoid conquest was to remain faithful to Idris II. After all, he would be too young to challenge them for a generation. Yet he learned quickly and despite being a follower of Ali, would go on to secure the Maghreb for Islam. As the First Consulate War dragged on, Idris II asserted control of his vassals. After gaining Tiaret he launched his first true campaign against the Ahmarids of Tunis to put an end to their incursions on the border. Further conquests were postponed when Eder Abarran’s envoys arrived with his proposal of attacking the Spaniards. During the year 809 he set himself to raid and test the western border and found the defenses there only slightly diminished for they were of the first priority in the Maghreb for the kings.
Ramiro was more focused on the invasion of the south by Ilyas and the Barghawata. Nominally a friendly land defenses on their border weakened quickly due to the war and it was not long before half the south was over-run. Gayan’s nephew Imato ibn Luba having ascended to the lordship at Tanga, the Barghawata were unable to reduce the coastal city though they ravaged Saleh for its defection to the Spaniards.
When Ramiro sailed into the harbor at Melilla, his ships bore a flag that looked back on the distant past: the Star of Tartessos. Though still in its infancy, the writings of the Roman historian Velleius who spoke of Tartessos were known in the peninsula. To secure the Maghreb Ramiro reached back to the history of the region. Since almost nothing was known about the city save for its trade in tin, he was free to interpret the record to suit his needs. That their ancient symbol was also an increasingly popular decoration on Muslim buildings made his appropriation of it all the more worthwhile.
At Melilla he was met by Garcia Maurez with a small guard to escort him to pre-eminent city south of the Rif, the reborn Luz. Once there he greeted Garcia’s father, Maura who had remained loyal for decades bringing much profit and goodwill to the crown. Maura had unwelcome news that the raids in the east were the precursor to a true invasion--possibly in concert with Ilyas. Canny old man that he was, Maura had sought out what allies he could among the other Berber tribes and even now their lords and chiefs were arriving in Luz.
In the Maghreb before Islam, there were three great confederations of Berbers, the Masmuda, the Zenata and Sanhaja. It was among the Sanhaja Berbers that Idris had forged his kingdom and now with his Tairet kin he was promising to drive the rest into the sea, for the Sanhaja were the only ones who had fully converted. It was from the Masmuda that both the Miknasa and the Barghawata had emerged to forge their hegemony being the most settled among them and ready to practice agriculture. However many felt the yoke of Ilyas b. Salih and played a role in the joining of Saleh to the realm of the Spaniards. They were eager for revenge and to destroy the ruling Barghawata. The Zenata played a major rule with the Sufri and Ibadi Kharijites in founding the Emirate Sijilmasa. Many were already friendly to the Spaniards who supported the Kharijites against the Idrisids. Living in the marginal lands north Sijilmasa and east of the Moluya River, they sought an end to the persecution visited on them by the Idrisids and safer lands to the west.
As Ramiro and Maura met with the Berbers, Ramiro became friendly with one of their tribes: the Banu Ifran who had made their home in the mountain caves. By now the situation was becoming critical enough that Maura departed from Luz for the east to contest the Idrisid incursions on the border leaving Ramiro to conduct the negotiations. Spending his days meeting with the Berbers, Ramiro met the daughter of Corra of the Banu Ifran. Named Samira, she saw to their refreshment during meetings and possessed what he later described in a letter as a very challenging gaze.
With Maura securing the east, Ramiro left Garcia in Luz and with the Berber armies and his own Andalucians marched west to liberate Saleh. After re-taking the city to the immense relief of its inhabitants he departed south--into the lands of Barghawata. There instead of confronting Ilyas and his main army he demanded the allegiance from the countryside, putting down any resistance but showing mercy to any who surrendered. Land he had to cnoquer was redistributed to Ramiro’s allies, but those who surrendered were treated as his allies. As he had suspected, his actions forced Ilyas to turn from ravaging the north and Ramiro drew him further south ravaging the land all the way.
“With each step his army looks and sees the impotence of his power and the falsity of his claims to prophecy,” Ramiro said to Samira. She had come along with others who tended to the camp for the Berbers and abandoning his own logistical requirements, Ramiro had agreed to travel as they did through necessity. “All the while they wonder at his power.”
By the time Ramiro crossed the Tensipa his scouts told him that Ilyas was growing desperate. On the sparse fringes of Barghawata domains they faced each other across the Tensipa. While many in the army of Ilyas b. Salih had departed he still had enough to challenge battle--but not as many as Ramiro.
At light risk to himself the young Prince had weakened the religious power of Ilyas and his dispensation of the land had once again reinforced the policy of the Spaniards that held the authority and the elite open to those who proved both loyal and skilled--similar to the concepts the Barghawata had incorporated into their religion. Seeing his army the weaker and with some of his men openly questioning his leadership, to regain his preeminence Ilyas challenged Ramiro to a trial by combat. Corra and his allies urged him to consider for Ilyas was a man in his prime and he only a few years past his boyhood.
“The greatest victory my father ever won was at a river you could wade across,” Ramiro said to them. “Let God grant us the same outcome.”
Raising the Star of Tartessos above him, he drew his sword as Ilyas charged forward. The clash of the two men was muffled and taken away by the wind from the mountains but all could see the duel unfold. While Ilyas was experienced on a horse, Ramiro was able to lean far away from to the left and right to avoid and unleash blows with his sword. As the two struggled, Ilyas had to lean from the saddle to attack Ramiro which was the only thing that kept Ramiro alive. Suddenly, Ilyas fell from his horse and Ramiro acted quickly by trampling him to death. As the Barghawata armies stood stunned at the fall of Ilyas, Ramiro stood tall in his stirrups and ordered the destruction those who had remained faithful to Ilyas to the end.
With the death of Ilyas b. Salih and his most loyal followers, the west was pacified at last. The strategies Ramiro had used to defeat the Barghawata and his own personal courage in the duel with Ilyas had solidified his reputation among the Berbers as a many they were willing to follow. While the Masmuda tribes became occupied in rooting out the final Barghawata elements, Ramiro, Corra and the rest of the Zenata returned to Luz. There they found Idris II had defeated Maura on the east bank of the Muluya River and was preparing to avenge his father.
*********
A platform had been constructed not far from Ramiro’s tent before his army.
Even now it wasn’t truly his, it was technically the army his father’s might had gathered. But Salamon had been ill for the last few years, the exertions of war and the after-effects of the poison making it increasingly difficult for him to rule. Gayan and the others did what they could but increasingly the burden was falling on him: as it should. Just shy of twenty-one he had spent the latter half of his life embroiled in an endless war--something far beyond raids and pillaging. Great invasions and counter-invasions, assaults, glorious victories and bitter defeats. The tent itself had its walls tied up so he could remain in view of his army at all times. Now he knelt on one knee with his hands on the hilt of a sword buried in the ground. Soon, very soon, he would address the great army assembled at Luz. He heard the light footsteps coming to him and a moment later Samira was laying the great white cloak around his shoulders. Pure white inside and out, except for the Star of Tartessos stitched on it in her careful, precise hand. Hers. Her hands lingered a moment longer on his shoulders and even in this moment of portent he felt his heart grow a little lighter. For a moment he thought she would whisper something but instead he felt only the lightest brush of the veil around her face. It was time.
Ascending the platform, Ramiro looked out over the army. In center were the men of his own domains, brought with him south. Battle-hardened now they formed the core of his army--if they hadn’t been his when he arrived in Sevilla, they were now. On the left were the men of the Rif. They had come from the cities and farms of the coast and while they were scared they had also come to defend their homes. On the right were the men of Granada and Al-Conin, sent by his father to reinforce his son with a message that contained his confirmation as the commander of the Maghreb army--and one other thing:
Win and come back to me.
Salamon hated putting Ramiro into danger but had sacrificed this for his state. Ramiro knew the risk but knew the need as well and respected his father for seeing it. On the wings were the Zenata, superb horsemen armed with swords and javelins. He hoped many would follow him north for he had a place in mind for them. He hoped she would follow him north.
“Beyond Taza, Idris ibn Idris waits. His father came from the distant east and he forged a kingdom out of the chaos. Many of you knew Maura. He had served faithfully and well on this side of the Strait for as long as some of you have lived. He passed fulfilling his oaths and now his son struggles on our behalf against Idris. Ours, not mine.
"Before the Arabs came, before the Visigoths came, before the Romans came, before even the Carthaginians came, Tartessos was here. It ruled both sides of the strait and when invaded from the east it stood for long against them. They are the birth of our people, the true birth. Some of us came later, but we are all descended from them: they fought so we could order our own lives, not have that rule imposed from afar. Seeking that for our homes and our kin mean we are all their descendants. I promise you we will not allow ourselves to be defeated.”[9]
The Second Idrisid War
Ramiro and his army marched east to Taza. If the mountains were a bottle, Taza was their stopper. Through the years invaders had come through it, the Romans, the Arabs. After the death of Idris ibn Abdallah, Maura had fortified it and enlarged it to protect Luz itself. When he retired to Luz its defense was undertaken by his son Garcia who proved himself to be nearly as capable as his father in the organizing of men. Inviting all who resisted Idris to him at Taza, he had attracted men who held syncretic beliefs or were otherwise dissatisfied with Idris. They resulted in one of the key defensive constructions of Taza: balistae towers. Improbably wooden and covered in watered skins to prevent fire, they had proven so difficult to overcome that Idris had been defeated before the walls of Taza two times and finally had to lay siege to it.
In Taza there rose to some prominence a man who left the peninsula during Abd ar-Rahman’s conquests. Disillusioned with Idris and with a pregnant Cordoban wife who desired a more settled life he had returned to Luz to provide for her. A hearty man by nature, Firnas had an education and a quick mind. It was Firnas who devised a method for delivering water to the city from some distance away by a kind of make-shift aqueduct and the use of special cisterns so that Idris had been unable to cut off the supply of Taza. Such things had intrigued Ramiro when he heard of them but he put that aside for a moment.
At their approach, Idris II fell back from the city to meet the Spaniards between the city and the River Muluya. The battle was fierce and the Idrisids fought with bravery and determination. With both armies at almost the same size the contest was brutally even and Idris ordered his men with no small skill. Ramiro was not himself very skilled as a general and so relied more on Corra the Zenata Berber and Ayuba of the Amasiga. Still, Ramiro had allowed the lightly armored Berbers to range across the battlefield and they were able to drive much of the Idrisid cavalry from the field. While kept from the destruction of the Idrisid army by the skill of Idris II, they caused much confusion and losses diverting his attention and reserves from the main battle.
As the sun set, the Idrisid army was battered but still intact due the leadership of Idris II. A second day of battle was averted when Idris II and his army retreated under the cover of darkness. Though the Spaniards did not follow, Idris II was attacked unawares by soldiers sent from the Emirate of Sijilmasa coming to the aid of their allies and kin. The battle went badly for Idris and he was forced to returned to his own country though he and his line never forgot that it was the Sijilmasans who forced this defeat.
The Emir of Sijilmasa was with Ramiro when Idris offered to set the border at the River Muluya with the exception of Mersa. He made the offer because while it still granted him additional authority in the west, Harun ar-Rashid and his vassals were growing strong once more. After concluding a peace with the Byzantine Caesar, Kreanus in exchange for the lordship of Cyprus, Harun began once more to renew his dominions in the west. That supporting his vassal against the son of his old jailer was reward enough, he also took thought to helping Salamon with whom he had sworn friendship.
In the Maghreb, Ramiro's men thought of it as a victory. It was with pride and the first sense of a greater unity that they began to display the Star of Tartessos on their standards and it made their relations with each other more genial in the years to come.
Beyond the Salians
In 811, Aldric of Beauvais scanned the landscape in front of him, keeping a tight hold on his reins. The only sound was of the mail mesh hanging from his helmet, itself a gift from Prince Morman. Advancing at barely more than a walk he saw the riders around him doing the same. Behind them came the footmen wielding spears and bows. He would stay with them while his fellow horsemen ranged out.
"Keep moving!" he said waving his cavalry spear.
The raids had gone well this year and it was about time something went well. Around Aldric were the small core of horsemen who had survived the battle at Albi. He felt a bond with each other them: they had stood firm at his side as the Frankish army behind him melted away in panic. Ahead of him had loomed both the sea-green and gold banner that Pepin’s forces fought on under. For the rest of his life Aldric would remember the relief he felt at Albi that the other banner, the one with Invictus on it was gone. Appearing at crucial moments in the battle the men under it fought hard and skillfully. Not that he was that experienced in war yet, but even the Frankish veterans respected and feared that banner.
The men around him that day, men he’d been with or those he’d picked up in scattered bands and reformed into a fighting force stayed with him. In the chaos that had followed the death of King Charles, Aldric had been separated from his own higher lords and had to fall back on his own leadership. Those hours had been some of the most trying of his life as he’d fought off advances from the rebels while keeping his own men retreating in good order. It was only when night fell that they were able to truly escape. Ariving in Arvernis with 400 hundred exhausted, bloodied and dirty men to find Martinus in conference with both Price Morman and Ogier. They were having some sort of argument but when Martinus saw him they had broken off their quarrel, amazed to meet the man who had kept the rearguard together. He’d received the lordship of the town of Paris not far from his own Beauvais in reward but he’d also been instructed to continue his efforts against the rebels.
"Terrorize them," the king had said. "Make yourself a thorn in their side."
He'd done just that, leaving dozens of burned out villages behind him in the year after Albi. As famine slowly began to grip the kingdom, his raids for food and plunder had been even more crucial than he’d believed. This one was against a small place with a score of houses if that. He wasn’t even sure if it had a name. At his order torches were passed around and fires began to blossom in the thatched roofs. As he'd expected, when the fire spread the villagers left the houses they'd hidden in for protection and tried to flee. His cavalry ran down the men while seizing the women and dragging them away to a more secure place in the camp. The last building in the village was a small church, a construction of stone looking only a little better than the rest around it. Ordering the doors forced open the priest was brought to him as his men ransacked the building. He let the old man harangue him for a time considering it his penance to listen to the tirade.
"You won't be harmed, nor your scriptures or your helpers. You will be taken north where your peers will sit in judgment upon you."
"By what right?" the priest demanded. "I am an agent of Rome, and of God! What are you to me?"
Aldric frowned then backhanded him across the face. There, he'd struck a man of God for his king.
"It is a sin to support rebellion. As Rome is between us and a sea of foes, it is the churchmen of the realm that will judge you. Besides, this village doesn't need you because it won't exist much longer."
He ordered the priest taken away and he himself set fire in the church. A small part of him felt a twinge at that and he wondered that he ever thought to be a priest. The security of the church was in the hands of others and God of course. Still took many of the valuables and manuscripts from the place for himself before he let the flames claim it and surviving villagers in the building. Returning to his camp, his men hailed him again. This village must have been a place to secret rebel supplies: not only food but some wine and weapons had been found. He'd have to keep a tight rein on his men to prevent accidents.
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As Aldric showed his skill he began to receive more notice from the king. In 811 in addition to his responsibilities came his marriage to the very pretty sister of the new Duke of Alamannia, Gisella.[10] Aldric was relieved that they got along so well and preferred it when she helped him to arm when he went to battle--as he often did in those days. After Albi there had been no more appetite for a Grand Expedition to defeat the rebels once and for all. Raids and small actions became ever more important for securing the king’s position. Aldric could still faintly taste the kiss Gisella had given him as he joined his own men to the procession of lords for the new coronation at Aachen. As he rode forward he thought to himself that the true cause of this war was the equity of all the sons of Charles and the divisions of the kingdom the great king had once made... and he wondered if there was a way to change it. It was only when they were in sight of Aachen that the news reached them: Pepin the Hunchback was dead.
The Peace of the West
When Pepin died in 811, the last chance for uniting the shattered kingdoms did as well. After a decade of constant warfare and campaigning across a huge area of Western Europe, famine stalked the land and all the major combatants were exhausted and nearing collapse.
By far the greatest battle in the war was the Battle at Albi. Under his Invictus banner, Eder had marshalled his allies and slain Charles the Frank in his moment of triump. A complete disaster had been averted only by the heroic actions of Aldric of Beauvais that allowed much of the army to flree. With the Spaniards occupied against Idris II, for a brief moment it seemed Eder Abarran would be able to make Pepin king in Aachen. But the next year the Spaniards had secured the Maghreb and Pepin was dead. Now Eder had to focus all his efforts on keeping the fractious rebels together for the person of Pepin's young son, Raymond. Even at that early date he could see that he would have to remain vigilant against internal dissention.
Only one king remained: Salamon. With Pepin's death Salamon desired to launch a new campaign against Zaragoza. A dismal failure, the poor provisions and lack of manpower due to earlier losses showed just how weakened the Spaniards had become. But the son of Abd ar-Rahman was unwilling to acknowledge the reality of his failure to keep what has father had granted him. He inisisted on large scale largely fruitless raids against the rebels despite the stress it put on the state.
By the time Ramiro returned to the ruined Toledo, he could sense the mood in the state. Things were bad enough that he considered removing his father from the throne but in a way the situation solved itself.
During one of his raids into Eder's lands around Oviedo, Gonsalus and King Salamon were separated from the main body of their troops. Surrounded they fought hard but Gonsalus was badly wounded and in desparation the king fell on his sword rather than be captured. It was only because Gonsalus managed to escape with the body that Ramiro learned the truth. Gonsalus himself died of his wounds a few weeks later and Ramiro sadly raised his son Pero as the new Count of Iria.
His next action was to send word to Martinus in Aachen admitting the inevitable. Later that year, Aldric, Said ibn Husayn and Eder Abarran met on behalf of their sovereigns. It was the first and only time that Aldric and Eder met each other on something other than a battlefield. The treaty itself dilineated borders that would almost certainly be contested, but its first clause was its most prominent and most bitter: Ramiro and Martinus acknowledge the lawful existence of the Kingdom of Tolosa.
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[1]In our history, Pepin rebelled in 792 for the reasons outlined above but Charlemagne crushed the rebellion and allowed Pepin to become a monk.
[2]Vali -- from the Arabic Wali and the Spanish Valia/Valya “worthy.” A civil governor. The similar sounding roots mistakenly conflated them as occasionally happens.
[3]A Rustamid displaced from Tiaret after the Idrisid conquest
[4]No more than 30,000 at this time, probably closer to 20,000.
[5]Lejón, Legion, León.
[6]At Ourense
[7]St. Aldric of LeMans
[8]Hamburg
[9]Almost all politically expedient lies of course
[10]Daughter of Hildegard of Vinzgouw, Gisella is no longer related to Charlemagne in TTL.
EUROPE, AD 812
