A letter from Blanche of Castile, queen of France (1212)

Sender

Blanche of Castile, queen of France

Receiver

Blanche of Navarre, Countess of Champagne

Translated letter:

You should know that we had a messenger from Spain, who brought us letters about the war among the Christians in these words: “your nobility may be certain that there was a war between the kings, namely of Castile and Navarre and Aragon, against king Miramoraclim [emir Muhammad-el-Nasir], on Monday, the 16th of July, and king Miramoraclim was shamefully defeated and fled six leagues/miles to the highly fortified castle which is called Gelien.” The outcome of the action was this: “As soon as the king of Navarre reached Calatrava, after Calatrava and all the fortifications around the port of Muredal, except the castles called Salvaterra and Dominar were taken, the king of Castile advised that they attack Salvaterra. To which the king of Navarre answered that it was very strong and the army might suffer from a lack of food, and could waste a lot of time in the siege, and it would be better to cross the port and enter the port of the Saracens and look for king Miramoraclim until they found him; and as the Lord might dispose, so they would act. The king of Aragon and the abbot agreed to this advice. Afterwards the king of Castile said it was enough that king Miramoraclim did not dare appear and he considered him conquered and that it would be sounder for them to return [to fighting] against the king of Santiago and remove him altogether.1  To which the king of Navarre answered that he would not come there except for a pilgrimage and in the sight of God, and that he would not bear arms against Christians, but only against Saracens. The king of Aragon and the abbot of Cîteaux agreed with this counsel. They began, therefore to climb the port on the Thursday before the feast of saints Justa and Rufina,2 and at the top of the mountain they found an enormous multitude of Sarracens so they could not occupy the summit of the port. On the next day, Friday, all the Christians armed themselves and drove all the Sarracens out of the port; but they could not cross it since the place was very narrow and very difficult to cross. The next day, Saturday, they had experienced guides who led the army through the back of the mountain to a less difficult crossing, and there they found the army of king Miramoraclim. On the following day, king Miramoraclim fixed his tent on a certain small mountain and ordered his lines of battle to war; but the Christians did not descend to them that day, since they were tired and had not yet arranged their lines of battle. But on the following day, Monday, when the sun rose, Miramoraclim again arranged his lines of battle and the Christians similarly arranged theirs in this manner: in the first line was Didacus Lupi and Garcias Romanus and the abbot of Cîteaux, with 300 knights gathered from here and there; in the second line were all the bishops and all the clerics and all the religious orders, and Michael of Lusia. In the third were the kings thus: the king of Navarre had the right side, the king of Aragon the left, and the king of Castile was in the middle. The first line began to advance wondrously and the place was very rough and they could not reach them; and in the first encounter they killed about 40 Christian footsoldiers. Then the king of Navarre moved a little to the right and climbed a small rather difficult mountain which the Saracens held and vigorously drove them back; and then all the Christians descended in one assault and immediately the Saracens turned tail and leaving a great multitude of Saracens on the field who were immediately slaughtered, the king of Miramoraclim fled with his army, as was said above, to Galien, and there was besieged. Nevertheless, a great number of the Saracen knights were captured in that flight. But of Christians no more than 30 knights fell, from the lower ranks. All the kings and dukes were safe, and the duke of Austria was not involved since he had not yet come. Farewell.

Original letter:

Carissimae sorori suae B[lanchae] illustri Trecensi Palatinae, humilis et devota soror ejus Blancha, Dei gratia Regina Franciae, salutem et sinceram sicut debitam dilectionem. Noveritis quod habuimus nuncium ex Hispania, qui nobis attulit literas de bello inter christianos in haec verba: Certum habeat vestra nobilitas quod factum fuit bellum inter Reges, scilicet Castellae et Navarrae et Aragoniae, contra Regem Miramoraclim, XVI die julii, die lunae, et victus fuit turpiter Rex Miramoraclim, et fugatus per sex leucas usque ad munitissimum castrum quod dicitur Gelien. Processus vero hujus facti talis erat: "Quamcito Rex Navarrae accessit ad Calatravam, capta Calatrava et omnibus munitionibus quae sunt circa portum de Muredal, praeter castrum quod dicitur Salvaterra et castrum Dominar, consilium fuit Regis Castellae quod obsiderent castrum de Salvaterra. Ad quod respondit Rex Navarrae quod erat fortissimum, et exercitus posset pati penuriam victualium, et possent consumere multum temporis in obsidione, et melius esset quod transirent portum et intrarent portum Sarracenorum, et quaererent Regem Miramoraclim donec invenirent; et sicut Dominus disponeret, ita agerent. Huic consilio assenserunt Rex Aragonum et abbas Cisterciensis. Postea dixit Rex Castellae quod sufficiebat eis quod Rex Miramoraclim non audebat comparere, et cum quasi victum reputabat, et quod sanius esset consilium quod redirent contra Regem S. Jacobi, et penitus eum detraherent. Ad quod respondit Rex Navarrae quod non venerat nisi causa peregrinationis et solius Dei intuitu, et quod non moveret arma contra christianos, sed contra Sarracenos. Huic consilio acquieverunt Rex Aragoniae et abbas Cisterciensis. Incoeperunt ergo ascendere portum in die jovis ante festum sanctarum Justae et Rufinae, et in summitate montis invenerunt maximam multitudinem Sarracenorum, et non poterant occupare summitatem portus. Sequenti vero die veneris, armaverunt se christiani omnes, et expulerunt Sarracenos omnes de portu; sed non potuerunt transire, quoniam locus erat angustissimus et valde difficilis ad transeundum. Sequenti die sabbati, habuerunt duces peritos locorum, qui duxerunt exercitum per dorsum montis ad transitum minus difficilem, et ibi invenerunt exercitum Regis Miramoraclim. Sequenti vero die, Rex Miramoraclim fixit tentorium suum in quodam monticulo, et ordinavit acies suas ad bellum; sed christiani ea die non descenderunt ad eos, quoniam lassi erant et nondum ordinaverant acies suas. Sequenti vero die lunae, et ipso ortu solis, Miramoraclim iterum ordinavit acies suas, et christiani similiter ordinaverunt suas in hunc modum. In prima acie fuit Didacus Lupi et Garcias Romanus, et abbas Cisterciensis, cum CCC militibus hinc et inde collectis. In secunda acie fuerunt omnes episcopi et omnes clerici, et omnes ordines, et Michael de Lusia. In tertia Reges in hunc modum: Rex Navarrae habuit dextrum latus; Rex Aragoniae, sinistrum; Rex Castellae fuit in medio. Prima acies mirabiliter coepit aggredi, et locus erat asperrimus et non poterant libere accedere ad eos; et in primo congressu ceciderunt de peditibus circiter XL christianorum. Postea Rex Navarrae divertit paululum ad dexteram, et ascendit monticulum quemdam satis arduum quem possidebant Sarraceni, et strenue eos depulit; et tunc uno impetu omnes christiani descenderunt, et statim Sarraceni terga verterunt, relicta in campo magna multitudine Sarracenorum; qui statim omnes trucidati sunt, et fugatus fuit Rex Miramoraclim cum militia sua, sicut praedictum est, usque Gelien, et ibi obsessus. Veruntamen magna pars militum Sarracenorum capta fuit in ipsa fuga. De christianis vero non corruerunt plusquam XXX milites de inferioribus. Reges et omnes duces salvi facti sunt, et Dux Austriae non interfuit, quia nondum venerat." Vale.

Historical context:

Blanche sends an account of a battle in Spain in which her father, king Alfonso of Castile was a major figure in the victory over the Muslim army. An account had been sent to her by her sister, Bereguela/Berengaria, queen of Leon (Epistolae, 709.html), and she passes on a version of it (which may include details from other sources) to their cousin, the countess, whom she addresses as sister. (Sivéry, 41, says that Blanche of Castile’s letter to the Countess has none of the exaggerations of Berengaria’s to her.) Countess Blanche of Champagne was the daughter of Sancho VI, king of Navarre and Sancha of Castile; she was married to Thibaud III, grandson of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Louis VII. The battle at Las Navas de Tolosa occurred in 1212, with the combined forces of the Iberian states, except Leon. Later that year, Alfonso was killed fighting in support of Raymond VI of Toulouse against Simon de Montfort.

Scholarly notes:

1. A note in the text says the Vatican MS gives “contra regionem S. Jacobi, et penitus eam haberent,” “against the region of Santiago and hold it completely.”
2. In the Latin text the saints are clearly female, “festum sanctarum Justae et Rufinae,” and the feast day is July 19. Pernoud, however, makes them male “saints Justin et Rufin” and gives the date as July 10 (75).

Manuscript source:

Codex Reginae Sueciae, #322, Miscellanea Joann. Durandi, St. Germain, Paris, II, folio 16

Printed source:

HGF19.255-56

Date:

1212

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7916/2cpf-nf83

This is an archived work created in 2024 and downloaded from Columbia University Academic Commons.