Yusuf Ibn Tashfin - Siege of Valencia

Siege of Valencia

Although the Almoravids had not gained much in the way of territory from the Christians, rather than merely offsetting the Reconquista, Yusef did succeed in capturing Valencia. A city divided between Muslims and Christians, under the weak rule of a petty emir paying tribute to the Christians, including the famous El Cid, Valencia proved to be an obstacle for the Almoravid military, despite their untouchable reputation. Abu Bakr ibn Ibrahim ibn Tashfin and Yusef's nephew Abu 'Abdullah Muhammad both failed to defeat El Cid. Yusef then sent Abu'l-Hasan 'Ali al-Hajj, but he was not successful either. In 1097, on his fourth trip to al-Andalus, Yusef sought to personally dig down and fight the armies of Alfonso VI, making his way towards the all but abandoned, yet historically important, Toledo. Such a concerted effort was meant to draw the Christian forces, including those laying siege to Valencia, into the center of Iberia. On August 15, 1097, the Almoravids delivered yet another blow to Alfonso's forces, a battle in which El Cid's son was killed.

Muhammad ibn 'A'isha, Yusef's son, whom he had appointed governor of Murcia, succeeded in delivering an effective pounding to the Cid's forces at Alcira; still not capturing the city, but satisfied with the results of his campaigns, Yusef left for his court at Marrakesh, only to return two years later in a new effort to take the provinces of eastern Andalusia. El Cid had died in the same year, 1099, and his wife Jimena had been ruling until the coming of another Almoravid campaign at the tail end of 1100, led by Yusef's trusted lieutenant Mazdali ibn Banlunka. After a seven-month siege, Alfonso and Jimena, despairing of the prospects of staving off the Almoravids, set fire to the great mosque in anger and abandoned the city. Yusef had finally conquered Valencia and exerted complete dominance over the east of al-Andalus, now unquestionably becoming the most powerful ruler in western Europe. He receives mention in the oldest Spanish epic Poema del Cid, also known as El Cantar del Mio Cid.