Seventh Siege of Gibraltar
| Seventh Siege of Gibraltar | |||||
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| Belligerents | |||||
| Kingdom of Castile | Emirate of Granada | ||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||
| Enrique Pérez de Guzmán, 2nd Count de Niebla | Unknown | ||||
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The Seventh Siege of Gibraltar (1436) was an unsuccessful attempt by the Castillian nobleman Enrique Pérez de Guzmán, 2nd Count de Niebla to capture the stronghold of Gibraltar from the Moors. He drowned during the attempt.
Gibraltar returned to the control of the Moorish Emirate of Granada after the occupation by Castile in 1309–1333 was ended by the successful Third Siege of Gibraltar. In 1411 Gibraltar was briefly occupied by the King of Fez, or Morocco.Yusuf III, Sultan of Granada, reacted quickly to news of the Moroccan action, bringing up troops and conducting a short siege after which he regained control. This failure led to the deposition of the King of Fez. The Moors used Gibraltar as a secure base from which they raided the surrounding country, where Enrique de Guzman owned large estates. They forced the valuable tunny fisheries to close down.
Enrique de Guzman wished to stop the depredations, and was also motivated to win fame by recapturing the town that his ancestor Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, founder of his noble house, had first captured in 1309. In 1436 Enrique de Guzman managed to organize a strong force of knights from Córdoba, Écija and Xeres with boats, provisions and soldiers. His son, Juan de Niebla, was given command of the land army, with 2,000 cavalry and large numbers of infantry. A two-pronged attack was planned. The land forces were to come from the north and take the castle and the heights, while the sea party would land on the Red Sands below the west of the Rock and take the town.
The Moors had received warning of the planned attack and had made preparations to meet it. They had obtained supplies and additional troops from Grenada and Morocco, and had greatly strengthened the fortifications in the Red Sands area. The Count did not realize the state of preparedness of the Moors, and personally directed the boat party that attacked the Red Sands. The Moors did nothing to prevent the boat party from disembarking. After landing them, the boats returned to the fleet. The attackers found themselves on a beach between the sea and a high stone wall. The tide was coming in, reducing the beach to a narrowing strip, and the Moors were raining rocks and arrows on them from above.
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