Second Battle of Cellorigo explained

Conflict:Second Battle of Cellorigo
Partof:the Reconquista
Date:883
Place:Cellorigo, La Rioja, Spain
Result:Asturian Victory
Combatant1: Kingdom of Asturias
Combatant2:Emirate of Córdoba
Commander1: Alfonso III of Asturias
Diego Rodríguez Porcelos
Vela Jiménez
Commander2:Al-Mundhir of Córdoba
Almonder
Abuhalit

The Second Battle of Cellorigo took place between the Emirate of Córdoba over the castle at Cellorigo and its surrounding countryside in 883 AD.

Background

In 882 AD, at the First Battle of Cellorigo, the Banu Qasi ruler Muhammad ibn Lubb al-Qasawi and al-Mundhir of Córdoba, the son of the Cordoban emir Muhammad I of Córdoba, were repelled from the castle at Cellorigo by Vela Jiménez, count of the Asturian county of Álava.

A year later, in 883 AD, al-Mundhir gathered together an army under the command of generals Almonder and Abuhalit. After breaching the walls of Zaragoza and sacking the city of Villamayor de Monjardín and other towns of Navarre, he set off to take the mountain pass castle at Cellorigo.

Battle

The results of the second campaign were worse than the previous attempt. After he was initially repulsed by the Cellorigo defenders, al-Mundhir attempted a second assault on the castle at Pancorbo and another at Castrojeriz. Both attempts were complete failures. Further, the attacks resulted in great loss of life for the Muslim side. Humiliated, al-Mundhir sent an envoy to King Alfonso III of Asturias to sue for peace.

Bibliography