Luso–Leonese War (1130–1137)

Luso–Leonese War of 1130–1137
	Part of Reconquista
	; Medieval painting of Alfonso VII of Leon and Castile
Date	1130–1137
Location	Galicia, Kingdom of Leon
Result	Leonese victory Treaty of Tuy;
Belligerents
Kingdom of Leon	County of Portugal; Supported by:; Kingdom of Navarre
Commanders and leaders
Alfonso VII; Fernando Pérez de Traba	Afonso Henriques

The Luso–Leonese War of 1130–1137 was an armed conflict between the Kingdom of León and the County of Portugal which took place primarily in the Kingdom of Galicia (part of the Kingdom of León). This war took place during the reigns of Alfonso VII and Afonso Henriques, and was caused by the territorial claims of Afonso over Galicia and the idea of forming an independent Portuguese kingdom, an objective that would later be achieved after the Treaty of Zamora in 1143. The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Tuy, though Afonso Henriques would ignore its terms.^[1]

Background

In 1128, Alfonso Henriquez defeated Theresa and Count Fernando Perez de Traba at the Battle of São Mamede. After this battle, Alfonso Henriques became the new Count of Portugal, with the support of the Portuguese nobility. He did not recognise the royal authority of his cousin Alfonso VII of Leon. After obtaining authority over the territory of the County of Portugal, he intended to expand the county beyond its horizons, towards the north. The plan was to capture Tuy, Ourense and other Galician towns, which had previously been governed by Theresa and Henry of Burgundy before being confiscated by King Alfonso VII of Leon. Two years after taking the throne of the county, he began his military campaign to take the throne of, this time, the Kingdom of Galicia belonging to the Kingdom of Leon.

The war

First Campaign of Galicia (1130)

In 1130, Afonso Henriques decided to take advantage of the recent conflict between León and Navarre to carry out an organised attack on Galicia. Alfonso VII, being busy in Navarre, had to send a message to the Galician nobles in order that they should take care of formulating an organised defence to stop the Portuguese attacks on their territory. However, due to internal discord and conflict, many Galician nobles renounced their loyalty to Alfonso VII to join Afonso Henriques' conquering initiative, which made it possible for Alfonso Henríquez to emerge unscathed from his campaigns.^{[citation needed]}

Truce and rebellion of Bermudo Pérez de Traba (1131)

Theresa of Leon, ex-governor of the County of Portugal, died in 1130, so all opposition to Afonso Henriques (loyal to Theresa) was eliminated from the county. By this date a truce was established between the Portuguese and Leonese.^[2] In 1131 Fernando Pérez de Traba was in Portugal to attend the funeral of his lover in the Cathedral of Braga,^[2]^[3] in the presence of the Bishop of Porto, Paio Mendes, his former rival, the Count of Celanova, the Archdeacon Telo and some other nobles and clerics even donated to the Cathedral of Coimbra a property in São Pedro do Sul, which had previously belonged to it and was given to it by Theresa and delimited by Alfonso Henriques.^[2]^[4] Fernando Pérez was the brother of the lord of Viseu and Seia, Bermudo Pérez de Traba, who had been married to a sister of Afonso Henriques since the time of Theresa. From the castle of Seia, in the Sierra de la Estrella, he decided to help his brother against the young prince. The duke tried to start a rebellion among the nobles who were unfaithful to Afonso, but reacted quickly and went with his host to Seia, from there expelling both Bermudo and Fernando Pérez de Traba from the territory.^[2] Both joined the service of Alfonso VII and would later fight against Afonso. However, as late as October 1131, Bermudo Pérez went to the court of Afonso Henríquez, which shows that the relations between the two were not as affected as it might seem.

Second Campaign of Galicia (1132)

The war resumed in 1132 and it was not until 1135 that new Portuguese campaigns in Galicia ceased. The Portuguese entered through the northern region of Limia, however, there they were defeated by the soldiers of Rodrigo Vélaz and Fernando Pérez de Traba, and were forced to return to Portugal.

However, when Alfonso VII was preparing to launch a counteroffensive against the Portuguese forces, a revolt broke out in his domains led by Count Gonzalo Peláez, who was defeated and imprisoned in the castle of Aguiar. From there he fled and took refuge in Portugal, where he was welcomed by Afonso, who gave him several lands.^[5]

Third Campaign of Galicia (1133)

Afonso Henriques did not give up his intentions regarding Galicia. In 1133 he crossed the Minho again and took control of the region of Límia, in whose castles he placed new mayors and also built a new castle in Celmes, from which he left well garrisoned with men and supplies, then returning to Portugal.^[6] The castle, however, was quickly attacked by Alfonso VII and taken before reinforcements from Portugal could arrive. Its occupants were imprisoned, and the region of Limia was thus lost.^[2]

Alfonso VII then retired from Limia to deal with important political issues, since Alfonso I of Aragon had died and on July 4, 1135, Alfonso VII in the Cortes meeting in Leon assumed the high title of Emperor of Spain.^[5]^[6] The ceremony included tributes from the new King of Aragon Ramiro II, the King of Pamplona García Ramírez, Count Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona, the Count of Tolosa Alfonso Jordan, the Count of Montpellier Guilherme and Moorish emirs, such as the former Prince of Zaragoza Abd al-Malik, but not Afonso Henriques, a bold omission that revealed his repudiation of his cousin's authority.^[2] Instead, he headed south to found the castle of Leiria in December, a vanguard for Coimbra, whose mandate was supposed to help protect the kingdom from Muslim attacks coming from Santarém, as well as threatening Muslim territory.

Alliance with Navarre. Fourth Campaign of Galicia (1137)

After the defeat of Celmes, Afonso Henriques began a project of recruitment, donation of lands, granting of town charters, restoration of churches and monasteries and administration of justice.^[6]

In 1137, the King of Navarre died and was succeeded on the throne by Garcia Ramírez, who refused to pay allegiance to Alfonso VII and so war broke out between the two. Afonso took the opportunity to establish an alliance with Garcia and thus invaded Galicia once again. Upon entering Galicia, his army was joined by numerous Galician nobles attached to Portugal. The Count of Tuy Gómez Nuñez de Pombeiro and the Count of Límia Rodrigo Pérez de Traba were supporters of Afonso Henriques and sided with him, but the mayor of Allariz Fernando Anes vigorously defended his castle.^[2]

Afonso returned briefly to Portugal to reinforce his army and then, heading towards the Sil River, the Count of Sarria Rodrigo Vélaz and Fernando Pérez de Traba faced him with their hosts but both were defeated at the Battle of Cerneja.^[2]

Galicia was almost entirely occupied by Portuguese forces until Afonso received alarming news from the south: threatened by the attacks of Paio Guterres, the Muslims, commanded by Esmar, were preparing to attack Leiria.^[2]^[7] However, informed of the defeat of his vassals at Cerneja and negotiating peace with the King of Navarre, Alfonso quickly went personally to Galicia with a small army and reconquered Tuy, Toroño and Límia.^[2]^[7]^[8] He subsequently summoned the Galician nobles and the Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela to pool their treasury and join him on a large-scale military expedition into Portugal.^[2]

The Galician nobility, however, was reluctant to support the emperor. Strongly threatened both from the south and from the north, Afonso Henriques then went to Tuy accompanied by the archbishop of Braga and the bishop of Porto to propose peace to his cousin, the latter accompanied by the bishops of Segovia, Tuy and Orense. Finally, Alfonso VII decided to accept the peace proposal of his cousin Afonso Henriques. This peace treaty was named the Treaty of Tuy.^[2]

References

^ Stephens, H. Morse (2020-08-13). The Story of the Nations: Portugal. BoD – Books on Demand. p. 27. ISBN 978-3-7524-2952-7.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Livermore, p. 61-64.
^ Selvagem 1931, p. 29.
^ Mattoso 1997, p. 59.
^ ^a ^b Selvagem 1931, pp. 32–35.
^ ^a ^b ^c Veríssimo Serrão, p. 82-83.
^ ^a ^b Selvagem 1931, p. 35.
^ Mattoso 1997, p. 60.

Bibliography

Livermore, H.V. (30 December 1976). Una historia de Portugal. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521291033.
Mattoso, José (1997). História de Portugal (in Portuguese). Vol. I. Editorial Verbo.
Selvagem, Carlos (1931). Portugal Militar - Compêndio de História Militar e Naval de Portugal (in Portuguese). Lisboa: Imprensa Nacional.
Veríssimo Serrão, Joaquim. Historia de Portugal.

[1] Stephens, H. Morse (2020-08-13). The Story of the Nations: Portugal. BoD – Books on Demand. p. 27. ISBN 978-3-7524-2952-7.

[FOOTNOTELivermore61-64-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Livermore, p. 61-64.

[FOOTNOTESelvagem193129-3] Selvagem 1931, p. 29.

[FOOTNOTEMattoso199759-4] Mattoso 1997, p. 59.

[FOOTNOTESelvagem193132–35-5] Selvagem 1931, pp. 32–35.

[FOOTNOTEVeríssimo_Serrão82-83-6] Veríssimo Serrão, p. 82-83.

[FOOTNOTESelvagem193135-7] Selvagem 1931, p. 35.

[FOOTNOTEMattoso199760-8] Mattoso 1997, p. 60.

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