Everything about The Battle Of Teba totally explained
The
Battle of Teba took place on the 25th August 1330, below the Castello de la Estrella,
Teba, a small settlement in
Andalusia. The encounter was part of the war being conducted by
Alfonso XI of Castile, against
Muhammed IV, Sultan of Granada between 1312 and 1350.
King Alfonso had given an open invitation to foreign knights to join his army with a view to crushing the
Kingdom of Granada.
Sir James Douglas, friend and lieutenant of
Robert the Bruce,
King of Scots had been entrusted with that king's enbalmed heart, following his death in 1329. This, with the charge to take it on the
Crusade that King Robert had been unable to make in his lifetime. Douglas set off from
Berwick upon Tweed in the spring of 1330 and journeyed to
Sluys, with one
Knight banneret seven ordinary Knights, twenty-six esquires and a retinue in proportion. These included
Sir Simon Lockhart of Lee, Sir
Kenneth Moir,
Sir William de Keith,
Sir William de St. Clair and his brother,
John de St. Clair of
Rosslyn,
Sir Alan Cathcart, and the brothers
Sir Robert Logan of
Restalrig and
Sir Walter Logan. At Sluys they remained for twelve days to allow Knights from all over Europe to join the party.
Edward III of England had provided a safe conduct for the knights and a letter of recommendation to King Alfonso. The group arrived in
Seville at the end of July, and were well received by the Castilians and others gathered there.
The Battle
On the morning 25th of August the
Nasrid army had assembled underneath the Castle of the Star held by them, opposing them the international force of King Alfonso. The Castilian trumpets sounded, Douglas in command of one of the flanks of the army, led his troops forward believing that a general advance order had been given. The Scottish contingent charged the Andalusians, but were not fully supported by the rest of the army, and quickly became surrounded. The Moorish king had ordered a body of three thousand cavalry to make a feigned attack on the Castilians, while, with the great body of his army, he made a circuitous route, unexpectedly, to fall upon the rear of Alfonso's camp. Alfonso, however, having received intelligence, kept the main force of his army in the rear, while he resisted the assault made on the front division of his army.
While the battle was brought to a successful conclusion in one quarter of the field, Douglas and his companions, who fought in the van, proved themselves less fortunate. The Moors, not long able to withstand the furious encounter of their assailants, fled. Douglas, unacquainted with their mode of warfare, followed them until, finding himself almost deserted by his followers, he turned his horse, with the intention of rejoining the main body. Just then, however, he observed Sir William St. Clair, of his own company surrounded by a body of Moors who had suddenly rallied. With the few knights who attended him, Douglas turned hastily to attempt rescue. He soon found himself hard pressed by the numbers who thronged upon him. Taking from his neck the silver casket which contained the heart of Bruce, he threw it before him among the enemy, saying, "Now pass thou onward before us, as thou wast wont, and I'll follow thee or die." Douglas, and almost all of the men who fought by his side, were here slain including Sir William St. Clair of Rosslyn and Sir Robert and Sir Walter Logan.
Aftermath
The Castilian forces were able to finally overpower the Moorish army and take the Castle of the Star, and King Alfonso installed the
Order of Santiago there to defend it. Douglas' body was recovered and returned to Scotland, along with the heart of his King. It had been suggested that the Moors' lack of knowledge of European heraldry had a part to play in the death of Douglas and his companions. Noblemen on both sides were valued as hostages but the crusading knights that the Moors had come across, had borne the Cross on their arms. The three stars on Douglas' Harness meant nothing to them. Douglas was buried at St Bride's Kirk, at
Douglas, South Lanarkshire.
The battle didn't prove decisive but it had important consequences. Muhammed IV concluded from his defeat that he could no longer defend his realm against the Castilians and he sought aid from the
Marinid sultan of Morocco
Abu Hasan. This led to the last concerted attempt to maintain an independent Islamic state in the
Iberian Peninsula. Abu Hasan's intervention led to his disastrous defeat at
Rio Salado.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Battle Of Teba'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://battle_of_teba.totallyexplained.com">Battle of Teba Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
