26:
315:, "during the time when Alfonso was at war with the rebel nobles ... the King of Aragon had mobilised sizeable armies of knights and infantrymen ... had traveled then beyond his own borders to Gascony he surrounded the city of Bayonne which is located near the Garonne River." It subsequently relates how for several days he plundered the countryside around Bayonne before assaulting the city's walls with
263:. With the death of Urraca, Alfonso VII, her son by an earlier marriage, succeeded to her position as primary rival of Alfonso the Battler for the rule of these two kingdoms. In besieging Bayonne, Alfonso the Battler was perhaps hoping to persuade the Count of Toulouse to switch allegiance to him and aid him in his war in Castile.
218:
The primary sources are insufficient to fully explain the purposes behind
Alfonso's siege, but historians are unanimous in attributing his actions to his ongoing conflict with his western neighbour, Alfonso VII, hero of the aforementioned
231:, in 1127. This may have prompted Alfonso to make an attack on Raymond's allies north of the Pyrenees in an effort to scuttle Raymond's political aspirations there, for Raymond was an ally of the Duke of Aquitaine. At the same time the
300:
are accurate. The former records how Pedro González de Lara, after he was captured by
Alfonso VII for his part in the rebellion, joined the siege of Bayonne "in order to bring him back to Castile" (
370:
to
Alfonso VII. The Aragonese king himself remained at the siege throughout the end of 1130, as charters he issued on 19 November and in December indicate. He continued to be "about Bayonne" (
308:), that is, continue the revolt. While Pedro's capture occurred in June, his death at the siege did not occur until 16 October, according to the obituary of Burgos, where he is buried.
374:) from January to May 1131, as both royal and private documents say. The siege continued through the summer, but in July and August Alfonso was leading forces in a place called
638:
266:
The attacking army was probably already passing through the
Pyrenees when, on 4 September 1130, Alfonso visited a chapel in Ardanés, a now depopulated village in the
255:. Urraca's second, childless marriage was to Alfonso the Battler. For a period of over a decade the two had been engaged in a civil war for power in
319:
brought from Aragon. At some point a relief army led by
Alfonso Jordan, count of Toulouse, arrived. Pedro, for reasons unknown, challenged him to a
340:
618:
For an extended discussion of this will, cf. Elena Lourie, "The Will of
Alfonso I, ‘El Batallador,’ King of Aragon and Navarre: A Reassessment",
337:
et vulneratus est comes Petrus ab hasta comitis
Adefonsi et, cadens de equo, fractum est brachium eius et post paucos dies mortuus est
215:
and the prolongation of the siege. The siege was a failure, and was lifted after
Alfonso had made his famous last will and testament.
196:
394:
on 4 September 1134. When the siege was lifted is not known, but most of
November 1131 must have been spent returning, by way of the
224:
390:), Alfonso drafted his will in October 1131: it contains the last datable reference to the siege. This will was later confirmed at
211:
and included the plundering of the environs of the city and assaults on its walls. The arrival of a relief army led to a famous
592:
Margarita C. Torres
Sevilla-Quiñones de León, "Cruzados y peregrinos leoneses y castellanos en Tierra Santa (ss. XI–XII)",
358:. Besides the aforementioned knights, infantry, and siege engines, Alfonso also blockaded the city with ships on the river
335:), and "Count Pedro was wounded by Alfonso's lance and, falling from his horse, broke his arm and died a few days later" (
248:
191:
178:
580:
247:
from some rebels holding out in favour of an illegitimate half-brother of Alfonso VII, one of the sons of his mother,
25:
697:
692:
252:
122:
339:). Alfonso was apparently unharmed. It is possible that Pedro González was in the company of Alfonso's mother,
687:
682:
228:
463:
355:
127:
362:. The siege dragged on, however, and during his year-long absence from Spain, Alfonso the Battler lost
351:
131:
96:
367:
505:
347:. In any case they shared a history going back at least to the disputed succession of Alfonso VII.
162:
117:
620:
395:
256:
170:
105:
101:
88:
31:
260:
569:
records Pedro's challenge to Alfonso that they "fight together" in words probably adapted from
576:
240:
232:
186:
174:
166:
92:
84:
702:
297:
278:. The first direct reference to the siege dates from 26 October 1130, when Alfonso issued a
244:
677:
501:
457:
285:
267:
239:, had done homage to Alfonso VII upon his succession in 1126. In March that year, with
236:
136:
671:
316:
208:
579:: "I defy the ranks of Israel this day; give me a man that we may fight together." (
424:, edited by Michael Gerli and Samuel G. Armistead (Taylor & Francis, 2003), 51.
484:
José Ángel Lema Pueyo, "El itinerario de Alfonso I ‘El batallador’ (1104–1134),"
391:
383:
363:
195:, a contemporary account of events in Spain compiled to celebrate the feats of
653:
640:
547:
459:
La nobleza castellana en la plena Edad Media: el linaje de Lara (SS. XI–XIII)
59:
343:, when the young future count of Toulouse was brought back to Europe from
571:
344:
275:
223:. The latter had concluded an alliance with Alfonso's eastern neighbour,
204:
399:
271:
182:
55:
200:
350:
In his trans-Pyrenean expedition, the Aragonese king's allies were
359:
320:
280:
212:
327:: "Count Pedro asked the Count of Toulouse for single combat" (
546:, I, §50. The English translation used here is G. E. Lipskey,
189:. The chief narrative source for the siege of Bayonne is the
181:, and lasted from October 1130 to October 1131. The city of
549:
The Chronicle of Alfonso the Emperor: A Translation of the
274:
in order to enter Gascony through the allied territory of
510:
The World of El Cid: Chronicles of the Spanish Reconquest
452:
450:
448:
331:), "both went out to fight much like two strong lions" (
292:). It had begun shortly before 16 October, if both the
442:(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 110–11.
329:
comes Petrus petiit comiti Tolosano singulare certamen
512:(Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000), 185.
366:
and the other places he held in Castile west of the
30:
Romantic portrayal of Alfonso, the warrior-king, by
534:(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 280.
532:
The Aristocracy in Twelfth-Century León and Castile
553:(PhD dissertation, Northwestern University, 1972).
185:was then a part of Aquitaine, nominally a part of
480:
478:
476:
474:
472:
434:
432:
430:
398:, to Aragon. In December the royal court was at
288:from Bayonne, called "the fortress of Bayonne" (
304:) because he wanted "to wage war in Castile" (
18:
420:Lynn H. Nelson, "Alfonso I, King of Aragón",
8:
416:
414:
270:. The army probably crossed via the pass at
15:
243:, he had even taken the capital city of
410:
341:Elvira of Castile, Countess of Toulouse
7:
486:Historia, instituciones, documentos
14:
386:. While still besieging Bayonne (
225:Raymond Berengar III of Barcelona
422:Medieval Iberia: An Encyclopedia
24:
197:Alfonso VII of León and Castile
1:
551:Chronica Adefonsi imperatoris
192:Chronica Adefonsi imperatoris
302:ut reducere eum in Castellam
227:, by marrying his daughter,
581:New American Standard Bible
46:October 1130 – October 1131
719:
609:Barton and Fletcher, 188.
521:Barton and Fletcher, 172.
456:Antonio Sánchez de Mora,
306:facere bellum in Castella
173:, apparently against the
142:
111:
78:
38:
23:
575:, 17:10, which records
333:sicut duo leones fortes
290:illo castello de Baiona
199:. The siege began with
323:. In the words of the
253:Pedro González de Lara
123:Pedro González de Lara
112:Commanders and leaders
464:University of Seville
356:Centule II of Bigorre
128:Centule II of Bigorre
388:in obsessione Baione
368:Sierra de la Demanda
296:and the obituary of
650: /
577:Goliath's challenge
506:Richard A. Fletcher
462:, Doctoral Thesis (
440:The Medieval Spains
438:Bernard F. Reilly,
163:Alfonso the Battler
118:Alfonso the Battler
396:Camino de Santiago
382:, possibly modern
352:Gaston IV of Béarn
132:Gaston IV of Béarn
106:County of Toulouse
102:Duchy of Aquitaine
97:Viscounty of Béarn
32:Francisco Pradilla
698:Conflicts in 1131
693:Conflicts in 1130
530:Simon F. Barton,
311:According to the
251:, and her lover,
233:Count of Toulouse
175:Duke of Aquitaine
155:
154:
93:County of Bigorre
85:Kingdom of Aragon
74:
73:
710:
665:
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654:43.333°N 1.467°W
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298:Burgos Cathedral
161:was launched by
159:siege of Bayonne
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19:Siege of Bayonne
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466:, 2003), 93–94.
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284:to the town of
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680:
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659:43.333; -1.467
631:
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600:(1999), 63–82.
585:
565:, I, §18. The
555:
536:
523:
514:
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468:
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268:Valle de Hecho
241:Suero Vermúdez
237:Alfonso Jordan
167:King of Aragon
153:
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137:Alfonso Jordan
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376:Rocha Tallata
373:
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317:siege engines
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209:siege engines
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37:
33:
27:
22:
17:
635:
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594:Medievalismo
593:
588:
570:
566:
562:
558:
548:
543:
539:
531:
526:
517:
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497:
492:(1997), 351.
489:
485:
458:
439:
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387:
379:
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372:super Baiona
371:
349:
336:
332:
328:
324:
312:
310:
305:
301:
293:
289:
279:
265:
249:Queen Urraca
220:
217:
190:
158:
156:
121:
79:Belligerents
70:siege lifted
657: /
384:Peyrehorade
380:Rocathalada
364:Castrojeriz
672:Categories
229:Berengaria
179:William X
60:Aquitaine
621:Speculum
572:1 Samuel
567:Chronica
392:Sariñena
345:Outremer
325:Chronica
313:Chronica
294:Chronica
221:Chronica
205:infantry
143:Strength
51:Location
703:Bayonne
642:43°20′N
400:Tiermas
286:Corella
272:Somport
257:Castile
201:knights
183:Bayonne
171:Navarre
151:unknown
148:unknown
89:Navarre
56:Bayonne
678:Sieges
645:1°28′W
207:, and
187:France
67:Result
34:(1879)
406:Notes
360:Adour
321:joust
281:fuero
276:Béarn
213:joust
504:and
354:and
261:León
259:and
245:León
169:and
157:The
43:Date
563:CAI
544:CAI
378:or
674::
626:50
624:,
596:,
508:,
490:24
488:,
471:^
447:^
429:^
413:^
402:.
235:,
203:,
177:,
165:,
58:,
598:9
583:)
125:†
87:–
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