The Siege of Algeciras (1309–10)

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• published: 10 Jun 2015
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The Siege of Algeciras was a battle of the Spanish Reconquista that occurred between July 1309 and January 1310. The battle was fought between the forces of the Kingdom of Castile, commanded by King Ferdinand IV of Castile and his vassals, and the Emirate of Granada commanded by Sultan Abu'l-Juyush Nasr. The battle resulted in a humiliating defeat for the Kingdom of Castile whose army was obliged to lift the siege due to the atrocious conditions of life in the Castilian camp and the desertion of Infante John of Castile. The battle marked one of the many battles fought at Algeciras where the Christian forces would try to take the city unsuccessfully from the Muslims. On December 19, 1308, at Alcalá de Henares, King Ferdinand IV of Castile and the ambassadors from the Kingdom of Aragon, Bernaldo de Sarriá and Gonzalo García agreed to the terms of the Treaty of Alcalá de Henares. Ferdinand IV, supported by his brother, Pedro de Castilla y Molina, the archbishop of Toledo, the bishop of Zamora, and Diego Lopez V de Haro agreed to initiate a war against the Kingdom of Granada on June 24, 1309. It was agreed that the Aragonese monarch could not sign a separate peace accord with the Emir of Granada. A combined Aragonese-Castilian navy was also formed to support the siege in a blockade of the coastal Granadian towns. It was further agreed that the Kingdom of Castile would attack the towns of Algeciras and Gibraltar and that the Aragonese forces would conquer the city of Almería. Ferdinand IV promised to cede one sixth of the conquered Granadan territory to the Aragonese crown and therefore chose the entirety of the Kingdom of Almeria as its limits fit the agreement with the exception of the towns of es:BedmarBedmar, Alcaudete, Quesada, Arenas, and Locubin which would stay with Castile, having all previously been part of the Kingdom of Castile and León prior to their Muslim takeovers. Ferdinand IV further stipulated that if the lands taken from the Kingdom of Almeria did not amount to one sixth of Granadan territory, that the archbishop of Toledo would step in to resolve any differences related to the matter. These concessions to the Kingdom of Aragon led a few of Ferdinand IV's vassals to protest the ratification of the treaty, amongst them were John of Castile and Juan Manuel. The concessions to Aragon, which had begun a period of relative irrelevancy compared to Castile, would make the kingdom once again very powerful on the Iberian Peninsula. Aragon had previously reached its height under the Treaty of Cazola and the Treaty of Almizra which saw its territory and influence expand considerably. Ferdinand insisted on the Aragonese alliance to cement an alliance between Aragon and the king of Morocco so that they would not intervene in the coming war with Granada. After the signing of the treaty at Alcala de Henares, Castile and Aragon both sent emissaries to the court at Avignon to gain the support of Pope Clement V and to obtain the clerical backing of an official Crusade to further support military operations. They also asked for the papal blessing of a marriage between the infanta Leonor de Castilla, the firstborn daughter of Ferdinand IV and Jaime de Aragón y Anjou, son and heir of James II of Aragon. The pope agreed to both ventures and on 24 April 1309, Clement V issuel the papal bull Indesinentis cure which authorized general crusade against Granada to conquer the Iberian Peninsula together with mandates to conquer Corsica and Sardinia. At the Courts of Madrid of 1309, the first courts ever occurring in the actual Spanish capital, Ferdinand IV publicly announced his desire to wage war against the Kingdom of Granada and demanded subsidies to begin battle maneuvers. Many of the magnates under the Castilian banner were against the siege, this camp being led by John of Castile and Don Juan Manuel who both preferred a war of attrition and purely for profit in the area of Vega de Granada. The infante John was further angry with the king because he was not given title over the municipality of Ponferrada. Don Juan Manuel was dissatisfied because he preferred to wage war against Granada from his home territories in Murcia and did not want to fight in the Algeciras area. To add to these misgivings, it is important to note that Algeciras had been the principal Muslim stronghold on the Iberian Peninsula since the Moors first landed there and was extremely well fortified.