Siege of Coimbra (1064)

| Date| January 20th to July 9th, 1064

|

Location|

Coimbra, Portugal

Result|  Christian victory
Territorial
changes|  Conquest of Coimbra by Christian forces
Belligerents

Kingdom of León

* County of Portugal

|  Taifa of Badajoz
Commanders and leaders
Ferdinand I of León|  Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown|  5,000 captives

* v
* t
* e

Battles in the Reconquista

8th century

* Covadonga
* 1st Roncevaux Pass
* Burbia River
* Orbieu River
* Lutos
* Las Babias
* Río Quirós
* Oviedo
* 1st Lisbon

9th century

* 1st Barcelona
* 1st Tortosa
* Pancorbo
* 2nd Roncevaux Pass
* Clavijo
* Albelda
* Guadalacete
* Monte Laturce
* Morcuera
* Polvoraria
* 1st Cellorigo
* 2nd Cellorigo
* 2nd Barcelona

10th century

* Day of Zamora
* 1st Majorca
* Pallars and Ribagorza
* 1st San Esteban de Gormaz
* 2nd San Esteban de Gormaz
* Valdejunquera
* 1st Toledo
* Alhandic
* Simancas
* Estercuel
* Torrevicente
* Rueda
* Rovirans
* 3rd Barcelona

11th century

* Cervera
* Calatañazor
* Torà
* Albesa
* Aqbat al-Bakr
* Cesar
* Graus
* Coimbra
* Barbastro
* Paterna
* Cabra
* Piedra Pisada
* Morella
* 2nd Toledo
* 1st Zaragoza
* Sagrajas
* Tudela
* Tévar
* Aledo
* 3rd Toledo
* Almodóvar del Río
* 1st Valencia
* Quart de Poblet
* 2nd Lisbon
* Alcoraz
* Bairén
* Consuegra
* 4th Toledo
* 5th Toledo

12th century

* 2nd Valencia
* Mollerussa
* Balaguer
* Uclés
* Norwegian raid
* 3rd Lisbon
* Talavera
* Formentera
* Ibiza
* 1st Balearic Islands
* Valtierra
* 6th Toledo
* Vatalandi
* 1st Santarém
* 1st Catalonia
* 2nd Balearic Islands
* 2nd Catalonia
* Martorell
* 4th Barcelona
* Coimbra
* 2nd Zaragoza
* Calatayud
* Cutanda
* 1st Lleida
* 1st Granada
* Arnisol
* Corbins
* Alcalá
* 3rd Valencia
* Aceca
* Alamín
* 1st Andalusia
* 1st Badajoz
* Fraga
* Leiria
* Guadalquivir
* 1st Coria
* Ourique
* Oreja
* Trancoso
* 2nd Coria
* 4th Lisbon
* 1st Montiel
* Soure
* Albacete
* 1st Córdoba
* 1st Almería
* Al-Ludjdj
* 2nd Santarém
* Sacavém
* 5th Lisbon
* 2nd Tortosa
* 2nd Lleida
* 2nd Almería
* 1st Alcácer do Sal
* Palmela
* 1st Évora
* 2nd Badajoz
* Juromenha
* 3rd Santarém
* Tarragona
* Cuenca
* Calatrava
* 2nd Seville
* Abrantes
* 2nd Évora
* 1st Silves
* 4th Santarém
* Alvor
* 2nd Silves
* 3rd Silves
* Tomar
* 2nd Alcácer do Sal
* 4th Silves
* Alarcos
* Talamanca

13th century

* Al-Dāmūs
* Las Navas de Tolosa
* Úbeda
* 3rd Alcácer do Sal
* 1st Jaén
* Peníscola
* Aragonese raid
* 2nd Majorca
* Portopí
* Artà
* 2nd Jaén
* 1st Jerez
* Ares
* Burriana
* 2nd Córdoba
* El Puig
* 4th Valencia
* Algarve
* 1st Xàtiva
* 2nd Xàtiva
* Biar
* 3rd Jaén
* 3rd Seville
* Faro
* 2nd Jerez
* Mudéjar revolt
* 3rd Jerez
* 1st Murcia
* Écija
* 1st Martos
* 2nd Andalusia
* 1st Algeciras
* 2nd Algeciras
* 1st Moclín
* Tarifa
* Iznalloz
* Arjona

14th century

* 1st Gibraltar
* 3rd Algeciras
* 3rd Almería
* 2nd Gibraltar
* Vega de Granada
* Shepherds' Crusade
* 2nd Martos
* Teba
* Guardamar
* 3rd Gibraltar
* 4th Gibraltar
* Vega de Pagana
* Getares
* Río Salado
* Estepona
* Guadalmesí
* 4th Algeciras
* 5th Gibraltar
* Linuesa
* Guadix
* 2nd Montiel
* 5th Algeciras
* 2nd Murcia
* Puerto Lope

15th century

* Collejares
* Setenil
* Antequera
* 6th Gibraltar
* La Higueruela
* Archidona
* 7th Gibraltar
* Castril
* Río Verde
* Hellín
* Los Alporchones
* 8th Gibraltar
* 2nd Granada campaign
* Loja
* Axarquía
* Lucena
* 2nd Moclín
* Málaga

Post-Reconquista Rebellions

* 1st Alpujarras
* 2nd Alpujarras

* * *

North Africa

* 1st Ceuta
* Salé
* Strait
* 2nd Ceuta
* 3rd Ceuta
* Tétouan
* 4th Ceuta
* 5th Ceuta
* 1st Tangier
* 2nd Tangier
* Asilah
* 3rd Tangier

The siege of Coimbra in 1064 or the definitive conquest of Coimbra by Christian forces took place in 1064, from January to July; it ended on 9 July 1064,[contradictory] a Friday, when the king, Ferdinand I of Leon, captured the city from the Muslims.

The city of Coimbra had previously been taken from the Christians by Almanzor (or al-Manṣūr) in 987. When the Fitna of al-Andalus broke out and the Umayyad Caliphate of Cordova fragmented into numerous taifa states, Dom Sesnando Davides, lord of Tentúgal proposed the conquest of the city to Ferdinand of Leon.[1] Ferdinand thus began preparations for the campaign in December 1063, after receiving the remains of Saint Isidore of Seville in León.[2]

Before he moved against Coimbra however, he made a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Having prayed there before the tomb of the apostle, St. James of Compostela, for three days and made several donations to the church there, he departed accompanied by his wife Dona Sancha, his sons, the Bishop Crescónio of Santiago, Bishop Vistruário of Lugo, Bishop Suário of Mondonhedo, Bishop Sesnando of Portugal, the abbot Ariano of Cela Nova, abbot Pedro of Guimarães, and a large number of nobles. They advanced through a coastal road that linked Santiago de Compostela to Iria Flavia to Braga, Porto and Coimbra.[2]

They arrived before the walls of the city on 20 January 1064. The Muslim garrison fiercely resisted the Christian attacks. The supply situation of the Christians was not favourable and Ferdinand even pondered lifting the siege.[2] At the end of six months however, his forces managed to open a breach in the walls using battering rams, and the Muslim command sought to surrender in exchange for their lives before the final assault, the Muslim general having in fact delivered himself and his family to Ferdinand.[2] The rest of the population, however, did not accept surrender and continued to resist. With food supplies running low in the city, it was violently taken by storm, with many killed and 5000 Muslims taken captive.[2] King Ferdinand entered the city on 9 July 1064.[2][contradictory]

The city was then delivered to Sesnando Davides, who ruled it as Count of Coimbra until his death in 1091.[3] The city would become an important settlement place for Mozarabs (Portuguese: moçárabes) arriving from Muslim lands to the south.[4]

## See also

[edit]

* Siege of Coimbra (1117)
* County of Coimbra
* Portugal in the Reconquista

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Livermore, H. V. (1947). A History of Portugal. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 41.
2. ^ a b c d e f Alfonso Sánchez Candeira (1999). "Las Dos Últimas Campañas de Fernando I". Castilla y León en el siglo XI: Estudio del reinado de Fernando I. Real Academia de la Historia. pp. 180–183 ISBN 978-84-89512-41-2.
3. ^ Reilly, Bernard F. (1988). "The Three Kingdoms: Galicia" and "The Search for a Successor (1092-1096)". The Kingdom of León-Castilla under King Alfonso VI, 1065–1109. Princeton: Princeton University Press. pp. 14–34, and pp. 231–259.
4. ^ Campos, Maria Amélia Álvaro de (October 2016). "Coimbra's parochial network: aspects of its definition in the 12th century". In Hermínia Vasconcelos Vilar; Maria João Branco (eds.). Ecclesiastics and political state building in the Iberian monarchies, 13th-15th centuries (in Portuguese, Spanish, and English). Publicações do Cidehus. pp. 246–258\. ISBN 9789899924253. p. 246: "The military pacification of this territory allowed the city to become an attractor of populations from southern regions, including Mozarab groups."

## Further reading

[edit]

* Reilly, Bernard F. (1988). "The Reconstitution of León-Castilla". The Kingdom of León-Castilla under King Alfonso VI, 1065–1109. Princeton: Princeton University Press. pp. 3–13\. "... the hilltop, fortress city of Coimbra fell, after a six-month siege, on July 25, 1064."

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