Battle of Atapuerca
| Battle of Atapuerca | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Kingdom of Pamplona | |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Ferdinand I of León and Castile Diego Laínez |
García Sánchez III of Navarre † Fortún Sánchez † |
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| Units involved | |||||||||
| Moorish auxiliary troops | |||||||||
The Battle of Atapuerca was fought on 1 September 1054 at the site of Piedrahita ("standing stone") in the valley of Atapuerca between two brothers, King García Sánchez III of Navarre and King Ferdinand I of Castile.
The Castilians won and King García and his favourite Fortún Sánchez were killed in battle. Ferdinand reannexed Navarrese territory he conceded to García 17 years earlier after his brother's assistance at Pisuerga.
After the death of Sancho III of Navarre, his empire was divided. García, the eldest son, received the Kingdom of Navarre, while younger son Ferdinand already controlled what was then the County of Castile, owning fealty to his brother-in-law, Bermudo III of León. In 1037, with Garcia's help, Ferdinand defeated and killed the childless Bermudo at the battle of Tamarón, and claimed the crown of León in right of his wife, Bermudo's sister, being crowned in 1038. He rewarded García by ceding to him Castilian territories from Oca to the gates of Burgos, from Briviesca to the valley of Urbel, from Castrobarto to Bricia and from the Nervión river to Santander.
The monk of Silos wrote several decades later that an envious García attacked Ferdinand who was visiting him at Nájera during his illness. After recovering, García paid a return visit to Ferdinand to make peace. King Ferdinand put him in chains and locked him in a tower in Cea. However, the Navarrese escaped and declared war, rejecting the Castilian embassies.
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