Siege of Évora (1181)
| Siege of Évora (1181) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Reconquista and Spanish Christian–Muslim War of 1172–1212 | |||||||
 The walls of Évora | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Kingdom of Portugal |
 Almohad Caliphate | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Unknown |
Mohammed Ibn Iusuf Ibn Wamudin | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 520 captives | Unknown | ||||||
The Siege of Évora took place in 1181, when an army from the Almohad Caliphate invaded Portugal and besieged the city, which resisted the attack.
History
[edit]The city of Évora was one of the most important in the west of the Iberian peninsula and was conquered by surprise in 1165 by Gerald the Fearless, through a night attack.[1] The following year, a new Order of Portuguese Knight Friars was established in the city but, as it was not authorised by the Pope, it was integrated into the Order of Calatrava.[2] In 1173, King Afonso Henriques signed a truce with the Almohads, who governed Al-Andalus, which lasted until 1178. In this year, prince Sancho of Portugal led a bold raid to the gates of Seville, the Almohad capital on the peninsula, he devastated the surrounding region and, on the way back, he also devastated the region of Beja, still under Muslim rule.
The reprisals for the Great raid of Triana were quick to come and, the following year, the Almohads invaded Portugal but were forced to retreat after an unsuccessful attack against Abrantes. In 1180 an Almohad fleet left Seville to attack the Portuguese coasts and, at the end of this year or beginning of 1181, an army commanded by Mohammed Ibn lusuf Ibn Wamudin also left Seville, which invaded Portugal crossing the Guadiana river.[3]
Évora was besieged by the Almohads on May 25, 1181, at the same time that other Muslim detachments attacked the surrounding fields and towns.[4]
One day, the defenders of Évora attempted a sortie against the Almohad commander's camp when he was sleeping, but they were repelled and forced to retreat into the city and many of the defenders were captured.[4] No more sorties were carried out by the Portuguese but the city continued to resist the Muslims and two days later they retreated from Portugal, having destroyed the fields and some fortified sites around it, taking with them 400 men and 120 women into captivity.[4][3]
See also
[edit]- Portugal in the Middle Ages
- Portugal in the Reconquista
- Conquest of Évora
- Great Triana Raid
- Siege of Abrantes
References
[edit]- ^ Samuel A. Dunham: The History of Spain and Portugal, Volume 3, 1832, pp. 184-185.
- ^ H. V. Livermore: A History Of Portugal, Cambridge University Press, 1947, p. 99.
- ^ a b Herculano, Alexandre, (1854). História de Portugal, volume I, p. 428.
- ^ a b c James F. Powers: "The Luso-Hispanic Frontier in the Twelfth Century" in Coris, Ivy A & Wolfe, Michael: The Medieval City Under Siege, Boydell & Brewer, 1999, pp. 23-24.