# Christian infighting

By [nezuko](https://paragraph.com/@nezuko-2) · 2023-05-29

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Clashes and raids on bordering Andalusian lands did not keep the Christian kingdoms from battling among themselves or allying with Muslim kings.[\[18\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconquista#cite_note-Keefe-19) Some Muslim kings had Christian-born wives or mothers.\[[_citation needed_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)\] Some Christian mercenaries, like [El Cid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Cid), were contracted by [taifa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taifa) kings to fight against their neighbours.[\[18\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconquista#cite_note-Keefe-19) Indeed, [El Cid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Cid)'s first battle experience was gained fighting for a Muslim state against a Christian state.\[[_citation needed_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)\] At the [Battle of Graus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Graus) in 1063, he and other Castilians fought on the side of [al-Muqtadir](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_al-Muqtadir), Muslim [sultan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultan) of [Zaragoza](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaragoza), against the forces of [Ramiro I of Aragon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramiro_I_of_Aragon).\[[_citation needed_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)\] There is even an instance of a crusade being declared against another Christian king in Hispania.[\[72\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconquista#cite_note-JosephCallaghan-73) Although Christian rulers [Fernán González of Castile](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fern%C3%A1n_Gonz%C3%A1lez_of_Castile) and [Ramiro II of León](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramiro_II_of_Le%C3%B3n) had cooperated to defeat the Muslims at the [Battle of Simancas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Simancas) (939), Fernán attacked Ramiro soon after and the Leonese–Castilian war that followed lasted until Ramiro's victory in 944.[\[73\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconquista#cite_note-Whitney-74) Ramiro II's death caused the war of the Leonese succession (951–956) between his sons, and the winner [Ordoño III of León](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordo%C3%B1o_III_of_Le%C3%B3n) concluded peace with caliph [Abd al-Rahman III](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abd_al-Rahman_III) of Córdoba.[\[73\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconquista#cite_note-Whitney-74)

A map of Christian realms in the north and Islamic _taifas_ in the south (1037). During the _Reconquista_, the Iberian states not only fought along religious lines, but also amongst themselves and internally, especially during [wars of succession](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_succession) and clan feuds.

After the defeat of [Alfonso VIII](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfonso_VIII), King of Castile, at [Alarcos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Alarcos), Kings [Alfonso IX](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfonso_IX) of Leon and [Sancho VII](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sancho_VII) of Navarre entered an alliance with the [Almohads](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almohad_Caliphate) and invaded Castile in 1196.\[[_citation needed_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)\] By the end of the year Sancho VII had dropped out of the war under Papal pressure. Early in 1197, at the request of [Sancho I](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sancho_I_of_Portugal), King of Portugal, Pope [Celestine III](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestine_III) declared a crusade against Alfonso IX and released his subjects from their responsibilities to the king, declaring that "the men of his realm shall be absolved from their fidelity and his dominion by authority of the apostolic see."[\[72\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconquista#cite_note-JosephCallaghan-73) Together the Kings of Portugal, Castile, and [Aragon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Aragon) invaded Leon. In the face of this onslaught combined with pressure from the Pope, Alfonso IX was finally forced to sue for peace in October 1197.\[[_citation needed_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)\]

In the late years of _Al-Andalus_, Castile had the might to conquer the remnants of the kingdom of [Granada](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granada), but the kings preferred to wait and claim the tribute of the Muslim [_parias_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parias). The trade of Granadan goods and the parias were a major means by which African gold entered [medieval Europe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Europe).\[[_citation needed_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)\]

### Muslim infighting

Similarly, there was frequent Muslim infighting throughout the existence of al-Andalus. The [Abbasid Revolution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbasid_Revolution) (747–750) divided Muslim rulers in Iberia into the pro-[Abbasid Caliphate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbasid_Caliphate) faction (based in [Baghdad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad)) and the pro-[Umayyad faction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umayyad_Caliphate) (reconstituted as the [Emirate of Córdoba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emirate_of_C%C3%B3rdoba)).[\[74\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconquista#cite_note-FOOTNOTEUllidtz2010132-75) [Charlemagne](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne)'s failed [778 campaign into Iberia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbasid-Carolingian_Alliance#Military_alliance_in_Spain_\(777%E2%80%93778\)) was prompted by the invitation of the pro-Abbasid governor of Barcelona, [Sulayman al-Arabi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulayman_al-Arabi), which led to a brief [Abbasid-Carolingian Alliance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbasid-Carolingian_Alliance) against the Umayyads.[\[74\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconquista#cite_note-FOOTNOTEUllidtz2010132-75) During the [Fitna of al-Andalus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitna_of_al-Andalus) (1009–1031), the Umayyad-run [Caliphate of Córdoba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caliphate_of_C%C3%B3rdoba) fell apart into rival [taifas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taifa) headed by Islamic emirs warring each other.[\[75\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconquista#cite_note-76) After the Christian king of Castile and León [conquered Toledo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Toledo,_Spain#Medieval_Toledo_after_the_Reconquest) in 1085, the emirs requested [Yusuf ibn Tashfin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_ibn_Tashfin), leader of the strict Islamic [Almoravid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almoravid_dynasty) sect, to come to their defence, which he did at the [Battle of Sagrajas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Sagrajas) (1086). However, Yusuf soon turned on the Muslim emirs of Spain, defeating them all and conquering their lands by 1091.[\[76\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconquista#cite_note-77) A similar scenario occurred in 1147–1157, when the Almoravid dynasty fell, a [Second Taifas period](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Taifas_period) happened, and the Muslim-controlled cities of al-Andalus were conquered by the new [Almohad Caliphate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almohad_Caliphate).[\[77\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconquista#cite_note-78) The [War of the Granada succession](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasrid_dynasty#Conflicts_of_succession_and_civil_war) (1482–1492) took place after the deposition of emir [Abu'l-Hasan Ali of Granada](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu%27l-Hasan_Ali_of_Granada) by his son [Muhammad XII of Granada](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_XII_of_Granada); the deposed emir's brother [Muhammad XIII of Granada](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_XIII_of_Granada) also joined the fight. This succession conflict took place simultaneously with the [Granada War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granada_War), and was ended only by the Castilian conquest in 1492.[\[78\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconquista#cite_note-79)

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*Originally published on [nezuko](https://paragraph.com/@nezuko-2/christian-infighting)*