Granada War
Encyclopedia
The Granada War was a series of military campaigns between 1482 and 1492, during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs
(los Reyes Católicos) Isabella I of Castile
and Ferdinand II of Aragon
, against the Nasrid dynasty
's Emirate of Granada
. It ended with the defeat of Granada and its annexation by Castile, ending Islamic rule, Al-Andalus
, on the Iberian peninsula and completing the Reconquista
.
The ten-year war was not a continuous effort: it was a series of seasonal campaigns launched in the spring and postponed in the winter. The Granadans were crippled by internal conflict and civil war; meanwhile the Christians were generally unified. The war also saw the effective use of artillery by the Christians to rapidly conquer towns that would have required a long siege otherwise. The decisive Battle of Granada
concluded the war. On January 2, 1492 Muhammad XII of Granada (King Boabdil) surrendered the Emirate of Granada, the city of Granada, and the Alhambra
palace. It is still celebrated every year on that date by the City Council of Granada
.
The war was a joint project between Isabella's Kingdom of Castile
and León, and Ferdinand's Kingdom of Aragon
.
The bulk of the troops and funds for the war came from Castile, and Granada was annexed into Castile's lands. The Crown of Aragon was less important: apart from the presence of King Ferdinand himself, Aragon provided naval collaboration, guns, and some financial loans. Aristocrats were offered the allure of new lands, while Ferdinand and Isabella centralized and consolidated power. The aftermath of the war saw religious and ethnic differences sharpen, as the Jews
and the Muslims were forced to either convert to Christianity or be exiled. This, too, helped create the future Spain by defining it as the guardian of Christianity; tensions flared between "old Christians" and "new Christians" (conversos), those who had converted.
The Emirate of Granada
had been the sole Muslim state in Al-Andalus
- Iberia - for more than a century by the time of the Granada War. The other remnant states of the Caliphate of Córdoba
(taifa) had already been conquered by the Reconquista
. Pessimism for Granada's future existed even then; in 1400, Ibn Hudayl wrote "Is Granada
not enclosed between a violent sea and an enemy terrible in arms, both of which press on its people day and night?" Still, Granada was wealthy and powerful, and the Christian kingdoms were divided and fought amongst themselves. Granada's problems began to worsen after Emir Yusuf III
's death in 1417. Succession struggles made it such that Granada was in an almost constant low-level civil war. Loyalty to clan was stronger than that to the Emir
, making consolidation of power difficult. Often, the only territory the Emir really controlled was the city of Granada
itself. At times, the emir did not even control all the city, but rather one emir would control the Alhambra
, and another the Albaicín, the most important district of Granada.
This internal fighting greatly weakened the state. The economy declined, with Granada's once world-famous porcelain now disrupted and challenged by Manises
near Valencia. Taxes were still imposed at their earlier high rates to support Granada's extensive defenses and large army, despite the weakening economy. Ordinary Granadans paid triple the taxes of (non-tax-exempt) Castilians. The heavy taxes that Emir Abu-l-Hasan Ali (1464–85) imposed contributed greatly to his unpopularity. These taxes did at least support a respected army; Hasan was successful in putting down Christian revolts in his lands, and some observers estimated he could muster as many as 7,000 horsemen.
The frontier between Granada and Andalusia
was in a constant state of flux, "neither in peace nor in war." Raids across the border were common, as were intermixing alliances between local nobles on both sides of the frontier. Relations were governed by occasional truces and demands for tribute should one side have been seen to overstep their bounds. Neither country's central government intervened or controlled the warfare much.
King Henry IV of Castile
died in December 1474, setting off the War of the Castilian Succession
between Henry's daughter Juana la Beltraneja and Henry's half-sister Isabella
. The war raged from 1475–1479, setting Isabella's supporters and the Crown of Aragon
against Juana's supporters, Portugal
, and France
. During this time, the frontier with Granada was practically ignored; the Castilians did not even bother to ask for or obtain reparation for a raid in 1477. Truces between the sides were agreed upon in 1475, 76, and 78. In 1479, the Succession War concluded with Isabella victorious. As Isabella had married Ferdinand of Aragon
in 1469, this meant that the two powerful kingdoms of Castile and Aragon would now stand united, free from inter-Christian war which had helped Granada survive.
The truce of 1478 was still theoretically in effect when Granada launched a surprise attack against Zahara
in December, 1481, as part of a reprisal for a Christian raid. The town fell, and the population was enslaved. This attack proved to be a great provocation, and factions in favor of war in Andalusia used it to rally support for a counterstrike. quickly moved to take credit for it, and backed a wider war. The seizure of Alhama and its subsequent royal endorsement is usually said to be the formal beginning of the Granada War. Abu Hasan attempted to retake Alhama by siege in March, but was unsuccessful. Reinforcements from the rest of Castile and Aragon closed off the possibility of retaking Alhama in April 1482; King Ferdinand himself formally took command at Alhama on May 14, 1482.
The Christians next tried to besiege Loja, Granada
, but failed to take the town. This setback was balanced by a twist that would prove to aid them greatly, though: on the same day as Loja's relief, Abu Hasan's son, Boabdil, rebelled and styled himself Emir Muhammad XII. The war continued into 1483. Abu Hasan's brother, Al-Zagal, defeated the Christian army near Malaga. However, at the battle of Axarquia
, the Christians were able to defeat and capture King Boabdil. Ferdinand II and Isabella I had previously not been intent on conquering all of Granada. With the capture of King Boabdil, though, Ferdinand decided to use Boabdil to conquer Granada entirely. In a letter of August 1483, Ferdinand wrote "To put Granada in division and destroy it We have decided to free him.... He [Boabdil] has to make war on his father." With Boabdil's release, now as a pseudo-Christian ally, the Granadan civil war would continue. A Granadan chronicler commented that Boabdil's capture was "the cause of the fatherland's destruction."
In 1485, the fortunes of the Granadan internal conflict shifted yet again. Boabdil was expelled from the Albayzín
, his base of power, by Hasan's brother al-Zagal. Al-Zagal also took command of the nation itself, dethroning his aging brother who died shortly thereafter. Boabdil was obliged to flee to Ferdinand and Isabella's protection. The continuing division within the Muslim ranks and the cunning of the Marquis of Cádiz allowed the western reaches of Granada to be seized with unusual speed in 1485. Ronda
fell to him after a mere fifteen days, thanks to his negotiations with the city's leaders. Ronda's fall allowed Marbella
, a base of the Granadan fleet, to come into Christian hands next.
With the fall of Baza and the capture of al-Zagal, in 1490 it seemed as if the war was over. Ferdinand and Isabella thought this was the case. However, Boabdil was unhappy with the rewards for his alliance with Ferdinand and Isabella, possibly because lands that had been promised to him were being administered by Castile. He broke off his vassalage and rebelled against the Catholic Monarchs
, despite holding only the city of Granada and the Alpujarras
Mountains. It was clear that such a position was untenable in the long term, so Boabdil sent out desperate requests for external aid. The Sultan of Egypt
, An-Nasir Muhammad
, mildly rebuked Ferdinand for the Granada War, but the Mamluks
that ruled Egypt were in a near constant war with the Ottoman Turks
. As Castile and Aragon were fellow enemies of the Turks, the Sultan had no desire to break their alliance against the Turks. Boabdil also requested aid from the Kingdom of Fez
(modern Morocco
), but no reply is recorded by history. North Africa continued to sell Castile wheat throughout the war and valued maintaining good trade relations. Furthermore, the Granadans no longer controlled any coastline with which to receive overseas aid in any case. No help would be forthcoming for Granada.
An eight month siege of the Emirate of Granada
began in April 1491. The situation for the defenders grew progressively more dire, as their forces for interfering with the siege dwindled and advisers schemed against each other. Bribery of important officials was rampant, and at least one of the chief advisers's to Emir Boabdil
seems to have been working for Castile the entire time. After the Battle of Granada
provisional surrender, the Treaty of Granada (1491)
, was signed on November 25, 1491, which granted two months to the city. The reason for the long delay was not so much intransigence on either side, but rather the inability of the Granadan government to coordinate amongst itself in the midst of the disorder and tumult that gripped the city. After the terms were negotiated, which proved rather generous to the city, the city capitulated on January 2, 1492. The besieging Christians sneaked troops into the Alhambra that day in case resistance materialized, which it did not. Granada's resistance had come to its end.
s to greatly shorten the many siege
s of the war. The Castilians and Aragonese started the war with only a few artillery pieces, but Ferdinand had access to French and Burgundian experts from his recent wars, and the Christians aggressively increased their forces. The Muslims, however, lagged far behind in their use of artillery, generally only using the occasional captured Christian piece. The historian Weston F. Cook Jr. wrote "Gunpowder firepower and artillery siege operations won the Granadan war, and other factors in the Spanish victory were actually secondary and derivative." By 1495, Castile and Aragaon controlled 179 pieces of artillery total, a vast increase from the paltry numbers seen in the War of the Castilian Succession.
Primitive arquebus
es also saw use in the war, though only to a small degree. Heavy cavalry knights were a much smaller factor in the Granada War than seen in earlier warfare. Light cavalry jinetes took on a more prominent role instead. The open-field battles in which cavalry were the most important were rare; the Granadans, badly outnumbered, generally avoided such battles. The Castilians also employed a large number of supporting men; a huge force of workers were mustered in 1483 to destroy crops and pillage the countryside rather than engage directly in battle. Coordination and logistics was difficult given the mountainous terrain, but the Christians diligently built a series of roads through the mountains to supply their troops with food and supplies.
Politically, many nobles insisted on controlling their own forces, but Ferdinand and Isabella were still able to exercise a large degree of control in directing the army as a whole. The Granadans, meanwhile, were beset with the civil war, preventing the establishment of a unified command. The army was almost completely Castilian; Aragonese and foreign mercenary participation existed, but was minimal. Of the Castilian army, Andalusia contributed far more troops than the other territories, with much of its population conscripted into the war. The nobility provided the majority of the expensive cavalry.
The Granada War would prove to be valuable training for Castile's participation in the Italian Wars
, where the Castilian armies and tactics such as the tercio
would acquit themselves well.
and a triumph of Christianity. Other Christian states offered their sincere congratulations to Ferdinand and Isabella, while Islamic writers reacted with despair. In Castile and Aragon, celebrations and bullfights were held. People rejoiced in the streets.
The Treaty of Granada (1491)
terms for Granada's surrender were quite generous considering how little the Granadans had left to bargain with. They were similar to the terms offered to towns which surrendered earlier, when the outcome of the war was in doubt. For three years, Muslims could emigrate and return freely. They were allowed to keep weapons, though not firearms. (This provision was to be annulled a month later, though.) No one would be forced to change religion, not even former Christians who'd converted to Islam. Boabdil was offered money and the rulership of a small principality in the mountainous Alpujarras, an area that would have been difficult to control in any case. At first, most of conquered Granada was treated respectfully and so predominantly stable for seven years, though the Alhambra Decree
of 1492 expelled the Jews that were not converso
Marrano
s.
King Boabdil soon found his position intolerable. He left for Morocco in Oct 1493, where he would die some forty years later. Eventually, Castile started to revoke some of the more tolerant attributes of the treaty. This initiative was led by Archbishop Cisneros, who ordered the burning of valued Arabic manuscripts and other measures detrimental to the Muslims (and Jews). This would spark a revolt — sometimes called the First Rebellion of the Alpujarras — that ended in many Muslims being forced to choose between baptism and exile (or execution). Tensions from then onward would remain high, and Castile was obliged to maintain a large military force in Granada to deter future revolts. Isabella also strengthened the Spanish Inquisition
, and Ferdinand brought the Inquisition to Aragon where previously it had not held power.
Castile was the main beneficiary of the war. Castile completely annexed Granada, though Castile had also spent by far the majority of the money and manpower to prosecute the war. The conquest of Granada meant little for Aragon's strategic position, but it did help secure Castilian support in Italy and France, where Aragon's interests lay. Some historians have claimed that without the conquest of Granada, Columbus's expeditions
might have been impossible (though occurring in the same year perhaps that's not true). Granada had presented a potential ally to France to act as a thorn in Castile and Aragon's side, much as Scotland did to England
. Granada's conquest removed this weakness, enabling a more aggressive foreign policy.
Much later, in 1568, those who chose to convert (converso
) to Christianity and stay (Morisco
s) were to revolt again in the Second Rebellion of the Alpujarras
, and this time the expulsion of the Moriscos
from Granada, and Castile
would be harsh and permanent.
wrote an early example of historical fiction
, Guerras civiles de Granada, a romantic account of the war that emphasized chivalry and heroism on both sides. A number of stories and songs appear to have been sponsored by the royal government to help steel morale for the long struggle; Sobre Baza was a poem written in 1479 encouraging persistence in the long siege. The song "Setenil, ay Setenel", written in 1484, hoped that Ferdinand would conquer "as far as Jerusalem."
Catholic Monarchs
The Catholic Monarchs is the collective title used in history for Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being both descended from John I of Castile; they were given a papal dispensation to deal with...
(los Reyes Católicos) Isabella I of Castile
Isabella I of Castile
Isabella I was Queen of Castile and León. She and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon brought stability to both kingdoms that became the basis for the unification of Spain. Later the two laid the foundations for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor...
and Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand the Catholic was King of Aragon , Sicily , Naples , Valencia, Sardinia, and Navarre, Count of Barcelona, jure uxoris King of Castile and then regent of that country also from 1508 to his death, in the name of...
, against the Nasrid dynasty
Nasrid dynasty
The Nasrid dynasty was the last Moorish and Muslim dynasty in Spain. The Nasrid dynasty rose to power after the defeat of the Almohad Caliphate in 1212 at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa...
's Emirate of Granada
Emirate of Granada
The Emirate of Granada , also known as the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada , was an emirate established in 1238 following the defeat of Muhammad an-Nasir of the Almohad dynasty by an alliance of Christian kingdoms at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212...
. It ended with the defeat of Granada and its annexation by Castile, ending Islamic rule, Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
, on the Iberian peninsula and completing the Reconquista
Reconquista
The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...
.
The ten-year war was not a continuous effort: it was a series of seasonal campaigns launched in the spring and postponed in the winter. The Granadans were crippled by internal conflict and civil war; meanwhile the Christians were generally unified. The war also saw the effective use of artillery by the Christians to rapidly conquer towns that would have required a long siege otherwise. The decisive Battle of Granada
Battle of Granada
The Battle of Granada was a siege of the city of Granada fought over a period of months leading up to its surrender on January 2, 1492. The city was captured by the combined forces of Aragon and Castile from the armies of the Muslim Emirate of Granada...
concluded the war. On January 2, 1492 Muhammad XII of Granada (King Boabdil) surrendered the Emirate of Granada, the city of Granada, and the Alhambra
Alhambra
The Alhambra , the complete form of which was Calat Alhambra , is a palace and fortress complex located in the Granada, Andalusia, Spain...
palace. It is still celebrated every year on that date by the City Council of Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
.
The war was a joint project between Isabella's Kingdom of Castile
Crown of Castile
The Crown of Castile was a medieval and modern state in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then King Ferdinand III of Castile to the vacant Leonese throne...
and León, and Ferdinand's Kingdom of Aragon
Aragon
Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
.
The bulk of the troops and funds for the war came from Castile, and Granada was annexed into Castile's lands. The Crown of Aragon was less important: apart from the presence of King Ferdinand himself, Aragon provided naval collaboration, guns, and some financial loans. Aristocrats were offered the allure of new lands, while Ferdinand and Isabella centralized and consolidated power. The aftermath of the war saw religious and ethnic differences sharpen, as the Jews
Alhambra decree
The Alhambra Decree was an edict issued on 31 March 1492 by the joint Catholic Monarchs of Spain ordering the expulsion of Jews from the Kingdom of Spain and its territories and possessions by 31 July of that year.The edict was formally revoked on 16 December 1968, following the Second...
and the Muslims were forced to either convert to Christianity or be exiled. This, too, helped create the future Spain by defining it as the guardian of Christianity; tensions flared between "old Christians" and "new Christians" (conversos), those who had converted.
Iberia and Al-Andalus in the late 15th century
Emirate of Granada
The Emirate of Granada , also known as the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada , was an emirate established in 1238 following the defeat of Muhammad an-Nasir of the Almohad dynasty by an alliance of Christian kingdoms at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212...
had been the sole Muslim state in Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
- Iberia - for more than a century by the time of the Granada War. The other remnant states of the Caliphate of Córdoba
Caliphate of Córdoba
The Caliphate of Córdoba ruled the Iberian peninsula and part of North Africa, from the city of Córdoba, from 929 to 1031. This period was characterized by remarkable success in trade and culture; many of the masterpieces of Islamic Iberia were constructed in this period, including the famous...
(taifa) had already been conquered by the Reconquista
Reconquista
The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...
. Pessimism for Granada's future existed even then; in 1400, Ibn Hudayl wrote "Is Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
not enclosed between a violent sea and an enemy terrible in arms, both of which press on its people day and night?" Still, Granada was wealthy and powerful, and the Christian kingdoms were divided and fought amongst themselves. Granada's problems began to worsen after Emir Yusuf III
Yusuf III, Sultan of Granada
Yusuf III was the thirteenth Nasrid Nasrid ruler of the Moorish Emirate of Granada in Al-Andalus on the Iberian Peninsula from 1408 to 1417. He inherited the throne from his brother, Muhammed VII, and was a noted builder and poet....
's death in 1417. Succession struggles made it such that Granada was in an almost constant low-level civil war. Loyalty to clan was stronger than that to the Emir
Emir
Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...
, making consolidation of power difficult. Often, the only territory the Emir really controlled was the city of Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
itself. At times, the emir did not even control all the city, but rather one emir would control the Alhambra
Alhambra
The Alhambra , the complete form of which was Calat Alhambra , is a palace and fortress complex located in the Granada, Andalusia, Spain...
, and another the Albaicín, the most important district of Granada.
This internal fighting greatly weakened the state. The economy declined, with Granada's once world-famous porcelain now disrupted and challenged by Manises
Manises
Manises is a municipality in the comarca of Horta Oest in the Valencian Community, Spain. Located in the province of Valencia, it had 30,508 inhabitants in 2009 and is famous for its pottery and house in the municipality the Valencia Airport....
near Valencia. Taxes were still imposed at their earlier high rates to support Granada's extensive defenses and large army, despite the weakening economy. Ordinary Granadans paid triple the taxes of (non-tax-exempt) Castilians. The heavy taxes that Emir Abu-l-Hasan Ali (1464–85) imposed contributed greatly to his unpopularity. These taxes did at least support a respected army; Hasan was successful in putting down Christian revolts in his lands, and some observers estimated he could muster as many as 7,000 horsemen.
The frontier between Granada and Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
was in a constant state of flux, "neither in peace nor in war." Raids across the border were common, as were intermixing alliances between local nobles on both sides of the frontier. Relations were governed by occasional truces and demands for tribute should one side have been seen to overstep their bounds. Neither country's central government intervened or controlled the warfare much.
King Henry IV of Castile
Henry IV of Castile
Henry IV , King of the Crown of Castile, nicknamed the Impotent , was the last of the weak late medieval kings of Castile...
died in December 1474, setting off the War of the Castilian Succession
War of the Castilian Succession
The War of the Castilian Succession was the military conflict contested from 1475 to 1479 for the succession of the Crown of Castile fought between the supporters of Juana la Beltraneja, daughter of the late monarch Henry IV of Castile, and those of Henry's half sister, Isabella, who was ultimately...
between Henry's daughter Juana la Beltraneja and Henry's half-sister Isabella
Isabella I of Castile
Isabella I was Queen of Castile and León. She and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon brought stability to both kingdoms that became the basis for the unification of Spain. Later the two laid the foundations for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor...
. The war raged from 1475–1479, setting Isabella's supporters and the Crown of Aragon
Crown of Aragon
The Crown of Aragon Corona d'Aragón Corona d'Aragó Corona Aragonum controlling a large portion of the present-day eastern Spain and southeastern France, as well as some of the major islands and mainland possessions stretching across the Mediterranean as far as Greece...
against Juana's supporters, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, and France
Ancien Régime in France
The Ancien Régime refers primarily to the aristocratic, social and political system established in France from the 15th century to the 18th century under the late Valois and Bourbon dynasties...
. During this time, the frontier with Granada was practically ignored; the Castilians did not even bother to ask for or obtain reparation for a raid in 1477. Truces between the sides were agreed upon in 1475, 76, and 78. In 1479, the Succession War concluded with Isabella victorious. As Isabella had married Ferdinand of Aragon
Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand the Catholic was King of Aragon , Sicily , Naples , Valencia, Sardinia, and Navarre, Count of Barcelona, jure uxoris King of Castile and then regent of that country also from 1508 to his death, in the name of...
in 1469, this meant that the two powerful kingdoms of Castile and Aragon would now stand united, free from inter-Christian war which had helped Granada survive.
Provocations and responses
Zahara de la Sierra
Zahara de la Sierra is a small town in the province of Cádiz in the hills of Andalusia, southern Spain. It is perched on a mountain, overlooking a valley and a man-made lake formed by the dam that must be driven over to access the town...
in December, 1481, as part of a reprisal for a Christian raid. The town fell, and the population was enslaved. This attack proved to be a great provocation, and factions in favor of war in Andalusia used it to rally support for a counterstrike. quickly moved to take credit for it, and backed a wider war. The seizure of Alhama and its subsequent royal endorsement is usually said to be the formal beginning of the Granada War. Abu Hasan attempted to retake Alhama by siege in March, but was unsuccessful. Reinforcements from the rest of Castile and Aragon closed off the possibility of retaking Alhama in April 1482; King Ferdinand himself formally took command at Alhama on May 14, 1482.
The Christians next tried to besiege Loja, Granada
Loja, Granada
Loja is a town in southern Spain, situated at the western limit of the province of Granada. It is surrounded by the so-called Sierras de Loja, of which the highest peak, Sierra Gorda, stands 1,671 metres above sea-level....
, but failed to take the town. This setback was balanced by a twist that would prove to aid them greatly, though: on the same day as Loja's relief, Abu Hasan's son, Boabdil, rebelled and styled himself Emir Muhammad XII. The war continued into 1483. Abu Hasan's brother, Al-Zagal, defeated the Christian army near Malaga. However, at the battle of Axarquia
Axarquía
Axarquía is a comarca of Andalusia, southern Spain. It is the wedge-shaped area east of Málaga. Its name is possibly traced back to Arabic الشرقية ....
, the Christians were able to defeat and capture King Boabdil. Ferdinand II and Isabella I had previously not been intent on conquering all of Granada. With the capture of King Boabdil, though, Ferdinand decided to use Boabdil to conquer Granada entirely. In a letter of August 1483, Ferdinand wrote "To put Granada in division and destroy it We have decided to free him.... He [Boabdil] has to make war on his father." With Boabdil's release, now as a pseudo-Christian ally, the Granadan civil war would continue. A Granadan chronicler commented that Boabdil's capture was "the cause of the fatherland's destruction."
In 1485, the fortunes of the Granadan internal conflict shifted yet again. Boabdil was expelled from the Albayzín
Albayzín
El Albayzín is a district of present day Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain, that retains the narrow winding streets of its Medieval Moorish past...
, his base of power, by Hasan's brother al-Zagal. Al-Zagal also took command of the nation itself, dethroning his aging brother who died shortly thereafter. Boabdil was obliged to flee to Ferdinand and Isabella's protection. The continuing division within the Muslim ranks and the cunning of the Marquis of Cádiz allowed the western reaches of Granada to be seized with unusual speed in 1485. Ronda
Ronda
Ronda is a city in Spanish province of Málaga. It is located about West from the city of Málaga, within the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its population is approximately 35,000 inhabitants.-History:...
fell to him after a mere fifteen days, thanks to his negotiations with the city's leaders. Ronda's fall allowed Marbella
Marbella
Marbella is a town in Andalusia, Spain. It is situated on the Mediterranean Sea, in the province of Málaga, beneath the La Concha mountain. In 2000 the city had 98,823 inhabitants, in 2004, 116,234, in 2010 approximately 135,000....
, a base of the Granadan fleet, to come into Christian hands next.
Last stand at Granada
Catholic Monarchs
The Catholic Monarchs is the collective title used in history for Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being both descended from John I of Castile; they were given a papal dispensation to deal with...
, despite holding only the city of Granada and the Alpujarras
Alpujarras
thumb|250px|A typical Alpujarran village, [[Busquístar]].La Alpujarra is a landlocked historical region in Southern Spain, which stretches south from the Sierra Nevada mountains near Granada in the autonomous community of Andalusia. The western part of the region lies in the province of Granada...
Mountains. It was clear that such a position was untenable in the long term, so Boabdil sent out desperate requests for external aid. The Sultan of Egypt
Sultan of Egypt
Sultan of Egypt was the status held by the rulers of Egypt after the establishment of the Ayyubid Dynasty of Saladin in 1174 until the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517. Though the extent of the Egyptian Sultanate ebbed and flowed, it generally included Sham and Hejaz, with the consequence that the...
, An-Nasir Muhammad
An-Nasir Muhammad
An-Nasir Muhammad , was a Yemeni Sayyid who twice claimed the Zaidi imamate of Yemen, in 1723 and 1727-1729....
, mildly rebuked Ferdinand for the Granada War, but the Mamluks
Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)
The Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt was the final independent Egyptian state prior to the establishment of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty in 1805. It lasted from the overthrow of the Ayyubid Dynasty until the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517. The sultanate's ruling caste was composed of Mamluks, Arabised...
that ruled Egypt were in a near constant war with the Ottoman Turks
Ottoman Turks
The Ottoman Turks were the Turkish-speaking population of the Ottoman Empire who formed the base of the state's military and ruling classes. Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks is scarce, but they take their Turkish name, Osmanlı , from the house of Osman I The Ottoman...
. As Castile and Aragon were fellow enemies of the Turks, the Sultan had no desire to break their alliance against the Turks. Boabdil also requested aid from the Kingdom of Fez
Kingdom of Fez
The Kingdom of Fez or Wattasid sultanate was the name given to the northern part of Morocco between 1472 and 1554 with its capital at Fez.The Wattasid are a branch of the Zenete, a Berber clan whose origins lie in what is now modern day Libya....
(modern Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
), but no reply is recorded by history. North Africa continued to sell Castile wheat throughout the war and valued maintaining good trade relations. Furthermore, the Granadans no longer controlled any coastline with which to receive overseas aid in any case. No help would be forthcoming for Granada.
An eight month siege of the Emirate of Granada
Emirate of Granada
The Emirate of Granada , also known as the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada , was an emirate established in 1238 following the defeat of Muhammad an-Nasir of the Almohad dynasty by an alliance of Christian kingdoms at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212...
began in April 1491. The situation for the defenders grew progressively more dire, as their forces for interfering with the siege dwindled and advisers schemed against each other. Bribery of important officials was rampant, and at least one of the chief advisers's to Emir Boabdil
Boabdil
Abu `Abdallah Muhammad XII , known as Boabdil , was the twenty-second and last Nasrid ruler of Granada in Iberia. He was also called el chico, the little, or el zogoybi, the unfortunate...
seems to have been working for Castile the entire time. After the Battle of Granada
Battle of Granada
The Battle of Granada was a siege of the city of Granada fought over a period of months leading up to its surrender on January 2, 1492. The city was captured by the combined forces of Aragon and Castile from the armies of the Muslim Emirate of Granada...
provisional surrender, the Treaty of Granada (1491)
Treaty of Granada (1491)
The Treaty of Granada was signed and ratified on November 25, 1491 between the sultan of Granada, Muhammad XII and Ferdinand and Isabella, the King and Queen of Castile, León, Aragon and Sicily...
, was signed on November 25, 1491, which granted two months to the city. The reason for the long delay was not so much intransigence on either side, but rather the inability of the Granadan government to coordinate amongst itself in the midst of the disorder and tumult that gripped the city. After the terms were negotiated, which proved rather generous to the city, the city capitulated on January 2, 1492. The besieging Christians sneaked troops into the Alhambra that day in case resistance materialized, which it did not. Granada's resistance had come to its end.
Tactics and technology
The most notable facet of the Granada War was the power of cannonCannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
s to greatly shorten the many siege
Siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...
s of the war. The Castilians and Aragonese started the war with only a few artillery pieces, but Ferdinand had access to French and Burgundian experts from his recent wars, and the Christians aggressively increased their forces. The Muslims, however, lagged far behind in their use of artillery, generally only using the occasional captured Christian piece. The historian Weston F. Cook Jr. wrote "Gunpowder firepower and artillery siege operations won the Granadan war, and other factors in the Spanish victory were actually secondary and derivative." By 1495, Castile and Aragaon controlled 179 pieces of artillery total, a vast increase from the paltry numbers seen in the War of the Castilian Succession.
Primitive arquebus
Arquebus
The arquebus , or "hook tube", is an early muzzle-loaded firearm used in the 15th to 17th centuries. The word was originally modeled on the German hakenbüchse; this produced haquebute...
es also saw use in the war, though only to a small degree. Heavy cavalry knights were a much smaller factor in the Granada War than seen in earlier warfare. Light cavalry jinetes took on a more prominent role instead. The open-field battles in which cavalry were the most important were rare; the Granadans, badly outnumbered, generally avoided such battles. The Castilians also employed a large number of supporting men; a huge force of workers were mustered in 1483 to destroy crops and pillage the countryside rather than engage directly in battle. Coordination and logistics was difficult given the mountainous terrain, but the Christians diligently built a series of roads through the mountains to supply their troops with food and supplies.
Politically, many nobles insisted on controlling their own forces, but Ferdinand and Isabella were still able to exercise a large degree of control in directing the army as a whole. The Granadans, meanwhile, were beset with the civil war, preventing the establishment of a unified command. The army was almost completely Castilian; Aragonese and foreign mercenary participation existed, but was minimal. Of the Castilian army, Andalusia contributed far more troops than the other territories, with much of its population conscripted into the war. The nobility provided the majority of the expensive cavalry.
The Granada War would prove to be valuable training for Castile's participation in the Italian Wars
Italian Wars
The Italian Wars, often referred to as the Great Italian Wars or the Great Wars of Italy and sometimes as the Habsburg–Valois Wars, were a series of conflicts from 1494 to 1559 that involved, at various times, most of the city-states of Italy, the Papal States, most of the major states of Western...
, where the Castilian armies and tactics such as the tercio
Tercio
The tercio was a Renaissance era military formation made up of a mixed infantry formation of about 3,000 pikemen, swordsmen and arquebusiers or musketeers in a mutually supportive formation. It was also sometimes referred to as the Spanish Square...
would acquit themselves well.
Consequences
The surrender of Granada was seen as a great blow to IslamIslam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and a triumph of Christianity. Other Christian states offered their sincere congratulations to Ferdinand and Isabella, while Islamic writers reacted with despair. In Castile and Aragon, celebrations and bullfights were held. People rejoiced in the streets.
The Treaty of Granada (1491)
Treaty of Granada (1491)
The Treaty of Granada was signed and ratified on November 25, 1491 between the sultan of Granada, Muhammad XII and Ferdinand and Isabella, the King and Queen of Castile, León, Aragon and Sicily...
terms for Granada's surrender were quite generous considering how little the Granadans had left to bargain with. They were similar to the terms offered to towns which surrendered earlier, when the outcome of the war was in doubt. For three years, Muslims could emigrate and return freely. They were allowed to keep weapons, though not firearms. (This provision was to be annulled a month later, though.) No one would be forced to change religion, not even former Christians who'd converted to Islam. Boabdil was offered money and the rulership of a small principality in the mountainous Alpujarras, an area that would have been difficult to control in any case. At first, most of conquered Granada was treated respectfully and so predominantly stable for seven years, though the Alhambra Decree
Alhambra decree
The Alhambra Decree was an edict issued on 31 March 1492 by the joint Catholic Monarchs of Spain ordering the expulsion of Jews from the Kingdom of Spain and its territories and possessions by 31 July of that year.The edict was formally revoked on 16 December 1968, following the Second...
of 1492 expelled the Jews that were not converso
Converso
A converso and its feminine form conversa was a Jew or Muslim—or a descendant of Jews or Muslims—who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries. Mass conversions once took place under significant government pressure...
Marrano
Marrano
Marranos were Jews living in the Iberian peninsula who converted to Christianity rather than be expelled but continued to observe rabbinic Judaism in secret...
s.
King Boabdil soon found his position intolerable. He left for Morocco in Oct 1493, where he would die some forty years later. Eventually, Castile started to revoke some of the more tolerant attributes of the treaty. This initiative was led by Archbishop Cisneros, who ordered the burning of valued Arabic manuscripts and other measures detrimental to the Muslims (and Jews). This would spark a revolt — sometimes called the First Rebellion of the Alpujarras — that ended in many Muslims being forced to choose between baptism and exile (or execution). Tensions from then onward would remain high, and Castile was obliged to maintain a large military force in Granada to deter future revolts. Isabella also strengthened the Spanish Inquisition
Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition , commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition , was a tribunal established in 1480 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms, and to replace the Medieval...
, and Ferdinand brought the Inquisition to Aragon where previously it had not held power.
Castile was the main beneficiary of the war. Castile completely annexed Granada, though Castile had also spent by far the majority of the money and manpower to prosecute the war. The conquest of Granada meant little for Aragon's strategic position, but it did help secure Castilian support in Italy and France, where Aragon's interests lay. Some historians have claimed that without the conquest of Granada, Columbus's expeditions
Voyages of Christopher Columbus
In the early modern period, the voyages of Columbus initiated European exploration and colonization of the American continents, and are thus of great significance in world history. Christopher Columbus was a navigator and an admiral for Castile, a country that later founded modern Spain...
might have been impossible (though occurring in the same year perhaps that's not true). Granada had presented a potential ally to France to act as a thorn in Castile and Aragon's side, much as Scotland did to England
Auld Alliance
The Auld Alliance was an alliance between the kingdoms of Scotland and France. It played a significant role in the relations between Scotland, France and England from its beginning in 1295 until the 1560 Treaty of Edinburgh. The alliance was renewed by all the French and Scottish monarchs of that...
. Granada's conquest removed this weakness, enabling a more aggressive foreign policy.
Much later, in 1568, those who chose to convert (converso
Converso
A converso and its feminine form conversa was a Jew or Muslim—or a descendant of Jews or Muslims—who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries. Mass conversions once took place under significant government pressure...
) to Christianity and stay (Morisco
Morisco
Moriscos or Mouriscos , meaning "Moorish", were the converted Christian inhabitants of Spain and Portugal of Muslim heritage. Over time the term was used in a pejorative sense applied to those nominal Catholics who were suspected of secretly practicing Islam.-Demographics:By the beginning of the...
s) were to revolt again in the Second Rebellion of the Alpujarras
Morisco Revolt
The Morisco Revolt , also known as War of Las Alpujarras or Revolt of Las Alpujarras, in what is now Andalusia in southern Spain, was a rebellion against the Crown of Castile by the remaining Muslim converts to Christianity from the Kingdom of Granada.-The defeat of Muslim Spain:In the wake of the...
, and this time the expulsion of the Moriscos
Expulsion of the Moriscos
On April 9, 1609, King Philip III of Spain decreed the Expulsion of the Moriscos . The Moriscos were the descendants of the Muslim population that converted to Christianity under threat of exile from Ferdinand and Isabella in 1502...
from Granada, and Castile
Crown of Castile
The Crown of Castile was a medieval and modern state in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then King Ferdinand III of Castile to the vacant Leonese throne...
would be harsh and permanent.
Cultural influence
An entire genre, romances fronterizos, developed around stories of the war and the battles on the Granadan frontier which reached their culmination in Granada's fall. Ginés Pérez de HitaGines Perez de Hita
Ginés Pérez de Hita was a Spanish novelist and poet, born at Mula about the middle of the 16th century.It is likely that he joined the campaign against the Muslim presence in Spain in 1560.-Guerras civiles de Granada:...
wrote an early example of historical fiction
Historical fiction
Historical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...
, Guerras civiles de Granada, a romantic account of the war that emphasized chivalry and heroism on both sides. A number of stories and songs appear to have been sponsored by the royal government to help steel morale for the long struggle; Sobre Baza was a poem written in 1479 encouraging persistence in the long siege. The song "Setenil, ay Setenel", written in 1484, hoped that Ferdinand would conquer "as far as Jerusalem."
See also
- Timeline of the Muslim presence in the Iberian peninsula#Castile-Aragón conquers the kingdom of Granada (1481–1491)
- Islam in SpainIslam in SpainIslam in Spain has had a fundamental presence in the culture and history of the nation. The religion was present in modern Spanish soil from 711 until 1492 under the rule of the Arabs and Moors of al-Andalus. For key historical dates, see Timeline of the Muslim presence in the Iberian peninsula...
- Morisco RevoltMorisco RevoltThe Morisco Revolt , also known as War of Las Alpujarras or Revolt of Las Alpujarras, in what is now Andalusia in southern Spain, was a rebellion against the Crown of Castile by the remaining Muslim converts to Christianity from the Kingdom of Granada.-The defeat of Muslim Spain:In the wake of the...