Battle of Uclés (1108)

Battle of Uclés
Part of the Reconquista
Field battle of Uclés
Date 29 May 1108 Location Uclés Result Decisive Almoravid victory Almoravid retake Cuenca, Huete, Ocaña and Uclés
Belligerents
Almoravid dynasty	Kingdom of Castile Kingdom of León
Commanders and leaders
Abu Tahir Tamim ibn Yusuf Muhammad ibn Aysa Abdallah ibn Fatima Muhammad ibn Abi Ranq	Sancho Alfónsez  † García Ordóñez  † Álvar Fáñez Martín Flaínez  † Fernando Díaz †
Strength
>2,300	~2,300
Casualties and losses
Few, incl. the imam al-Jazuli	Severe, incl. Sancho and seven counts

The Battle of Uclés was fought on 29 May 1108 near Uclés just south of the river Tagus between the Christian forces of Castile and León under Alfonso VI and the forces of the Muslim Almoravids under Tamim ibn-Yusuf. The battle was a disaster for the Christians and many of the high nobility of León, including seven counts, died in the fray or were beheaded afterwards, while the heir-apparent, Sancho Alfónsez, was murdered by villagers while trying to flee. Despite this, the Almoravids could not capitalise on their success in the open field by taking Toledo.

The Arabic sources for the battle are an official letter from Tamim and the narrative history Nazm al-Yuman. The Christian sources nearest in time are the Crónica Najerense, connected to Nájera, and the Historia Compostelana, written from the perspective of the church of Santiago de Compostela. In the thirteenth century Lucas de Tuy included a detailed account in his Chronicon Mundi ab Origine Mundi usque ad Eram MCCLXXIV ("Chronicle of the World from its Origin to the Era 1274 [1231 AD]") and Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, De rebus Hispaniae, provided the primary account used by historians for the next several hundred years. A romanticised version was of Jiménez de Rada was given in the Primera Crónica General. The Spanish historiography of the battle was dominated by Prudencio de Sandoval until 1949, when Ambrosio Huici Miranda began to edit and compile the Arabic sources (published 1955).

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