Thebattle of Albacete[1] (5 February 1146)[2] was a confrontation betweenSayf al-Dawla (Zafadola), emir ofMurcia andValencia, and an army of thekingdom of León-Castile. The Castilians were victorious. Sayf al-Dawla was captured in the battle and subsequently assassinated.
There are conflicting accounts of the circumstances that led to the battle. According to theChronicle of the Emperor Alfonso,[3] aLatin Christian source, Sayf al-Dawla requested assistance from the EmperorAlfonso VII of León to suppress a revolt centred onBaeza,Úbeda andJaén.[4] The emperor sent him troops under the command of CountsManrique Pérez de Lara,Ermengol VI of Urgell andPonce de Cabrera, as well asMartín Fernández de Hita.[5]
TheArabic Muslim sources, however, portray Sayf al-Dawla as responding to Christian raiding aroundXàtiva. These sources—Ibn al-Abbār'sal-Ḥulla al-siyarāʾ,al-Dhahabī'sSiyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ andIbn al-Kardabūs'sTaʾrīkh al-Andalus—were written somewhat later.[6] On the whole, the Arabic sources' explanation makes better sense of the battle's location,Albacete (al-Basīṭ).[6][7] According to al-Dhahabī, Sayf al-Dawla was hesitant to give battle and accused theqāḍīIbn ʿIyād of undermining his relations with Alfonso.[6]
According to both theChronicle of the Emperor and al-Dhahabī, the battle was preceded by negotiations. TheChronicle claims that the inhabitants of the raided territory offered to submit to Sayf al-Dawla if he would defend them from the Christians.[8] Sayf al-Dawla came with an army. He himself "entered [the Christian] camp peacefully."[9] He demanded the Christians hand over their captives and booty and submit the issue to the emperor to settle. The counts refused, claiming "we have done just as you and the emperor have commanded us." Sayf al-Dawla threatened battle and the counts responded, "Now is the time and the hour."[8]
According to theChronicle, "the combat which ensued was extremely fierce."[10] Both theChronicle and al-Dhahabī agree that in the subsequent engagement, Sayf al-Dawla was captured and subsequently killed. Al-Dhahabī adds that Ibn ʿIyād escaped.[8] TheChronicle specifies that Sayf al-Dawla was killed without authorization by some knights "because of their own special religious sentiments." Alfonso VII was saddened by his death and declared his own innocence.[10]
Compared to the Muslim sources, theChronicle of the Emperor Alfonso "strikes a tragic tone that comes closest to reality." Despite its general perspective in favour of fighting Muslims, it clearly regards the death of Sayf al-Dawla as unfortunate and unintended. It is keen to distance Alfonso and his appointed generals from the assassination.[11]
The Muslim accounts carry no ambivalence. The story has a clear moral, either that Muslim princes who serve Christian rulers meet bad ends or that Sayf al-Dawla redeemed himself in the end by resisting. Ibn al-Abbār says that he and his soldiers who died at Albacete weremartyrs.[11]