Siege of Jaen (1225)

Siege of Jaen
	Part of the Reconquista
	; The tower, Torreon del Conde de Torralba. One of the many on the walls of Jaen.
Date	1225
Location	Jaen , Province of Jaen , Spain 37°46′10.99″N 3°47′20.00″W / 37.7697194°N 3.7888889°W
Result	Victory for the Taifa of Jayy?n
Belligerents
Kingdom of Castile ; Taifa of Baeza	Taifa of Jayy?n (????)
Commanders and leaders
Ferdinand III of Castile ; Abd Allah Ibn Muhammad Al-Bayyasi	Alvaro Perez de Castro el Castellano
Strength
Combined armies of Castile and Baeza	3,000 Muslim knights ; 50,000 infantry ; 160 Christian knights
Casualties and losses
Unknown	180 cavalry and 2,000 foot soldiers taken prisoner.
	class=notpageimage\| Location within Andalusia Siege of Jaen (1225) (Spain)

The siege of Jaen was one of many sieges on the city during the long Spanish Reconquista . The siege, which was carried out by the combined allied forces of the Kingdom of Castile and the Taifa of Baeza , commanded by Ferdinand III of Castile and Abd Allah Ibn Muhammad Al-Bayyasi of Baeza against the defending Taifa of Jayy?n (????) whose forces were commanded by the notable Christian knight, Alvaro Perez de Castro . The battle resulted in a Jayy?nese victory as the Castilian forces did not capture the city. Areas around the city were totally devastated as a result of the siege. The siege occurred as a part of Ferdinand III's first campaign which occurred roughly from 1224 to 1230 and was undertaken before the siege of Andujar that same year.

Context [ edit ]

The taking of Jaen was perceived as being fundamental to let Kingdom of Castile expand into the Baetic Depression . The difficulty in this conquest were the notable Walls of Jaen which had been built by the Almohad Caliphate . They had been instrumental in repulsing an attack on the city by Alfonso VII of Leon and Castile from 1151 to 1152, and another attack by the Almohads in 1162.

Taking this into account, in 1224, Ferdinand III of Castile attacked the surrounding lands in what today is the province of Jaen, establishing their base of operations at Baeza with their Muslim ally, Abd Allah Ibn Muhammad Al-Bayyasi , the king of the Taifa of Baeza . This first campaign was essentially a probe to test the defenses of Jaen.

The siege [ edit ]

The strong Castilian army accompanied King Ferdinand III of Castile from Toledo . On its march to Jaen, it was joined by Ferdinand III's vassal, the King of the Taifa of Baeza , Abd Allah Ibn Muhammad Al-Bayyasi and his forces. Ferdinand III's army approached the city with the intention of probing its defenses to find if it could be captured.

During the siege, besieging Castilian camps were established in all the areas around Jaen, encircling the city completely. The soldiers in these camps were instructed to carry out a campaign of attrition on the surrounding countryside which they effectively plundered of all its resources, destroying any buildings.

The major action of this siege occurred during one instance of such raids, which provoked defending troops of Jaen to raid the camps. The Castilians responded by assaulting the city walls in a failed attack.

The siege was lifted shortly after this was realized, and the Castilian army moved instead on Andujar which they captured later in the same year, 1225.

Consequences [ edit ]

The siege by Castilian forces failed to take over the city, as the Castilian army did not have the siege equipment necessary to mount a prolonged siege. The Cronica de Avila , a contemporary source, does however recount the use of trebuchets at the battle. The defense of Jaen was led by 160 Christian knights who supported the Muslim defenders under the command of the Castilian magnate , Alvaro Perez de Castro el Castellano , head of the House of Castro and grandson of Alfonso VII of Leon and Castile , the king of Castile and Leon . According to the Christian chronicles, 3,000 knights and 50,000 foot soldiers defended the city in addition to the 160 Christian knights under Castro.

en aquella plaza se face cerca de las huertas contra Castro (...) allanaron las cauas que eran fondas e furacaron las barbacanas...
? Cronica de Avila.

References [ edit ]

Bibliography [ edit ]

Eslava Galan, Juan (1987). "La campana de 1225 y el primer cerco de Jaen por Fernando III" . Boletin del Instituto de Estudios Giennenses (132): 30?31. ISSN 0561-3590 . OCLC 278941093 . Retrieved 26 February 2010 .

Eslava Galan, Juan (1999). Fortificacion en el Reino de Jaen durante la Baja Edad Media . p. 665 . Retrieved 27 November 2010 . ^{[
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Francisco Miguel Merino Laguna (7 January 2008). "Primer asedio de Fernando III" . Muralla de Jaen . Retrieved 27 November 2010 .

"Fernando III de Castilla y Leon, el Santo" . 1991 . Retrieved 27 November 2010 .

Context [ edit ]

The siege [ edit ]

Consequences [ edit ]

See also [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

Bibliography [ edit ]