Siege of Jaén (1225)

Siege of Jaén

The tower, Torreón del Conde de Torralba. One of the many on the walls of Jaén.

Date	1225
Location	Jaén, Province of Jaén, Spain
Result	Victory for the Taifa of Jayyān

Belligerents

Kingdom of Castile
Taifa of Baeza

Taifa of Jayyān (جيان)

Commanders and leaders

Ferdinand III of Castile
Abd Allah Ibn Muhammad Al-Bayyasi

Álvaro Pérez de Castro el Castellano

Strength

Combined armies of Castile and Baeza

3,000 cavalry
50,000 infantry
160 Christian knights

Casualties and losses

Unknown

180 cavalry and 2,000 foot soldiers taken prisoner.

The Siege of Jaén was one of many sieges on the city during the long Spanish Reconquista. The siege, which was carried out by the combined allied forces of the Kingdom of Castile and the Taifa of Baeza, commanded by Ferdinand III of Castile and Abd Allah Ibn Muhammad Al-Bayyasi of Baeza against the defending Taifa of Jayyān (جيان) whose forces were commanded by the notable Christian knight, Álvaro Pérez de Castro. The battle resulted in a Jayyānese victory as the Castilian forces did not capture the city. Areas around the city were totally devastated as a result of the siege. The siege occurred as a part of Ferdinand III's first campaign which occurred roughly from 1224 to 1230 and was undertaken before the Siege of Andújar that same year.

The taking of Jaén was perceived as being fundamental to let Kingdom of Castile expand into the Baetic Depression. The difficulty in this conquest were the notable which had been built by the Almohad Caliphate. They had been instrumental in repulsing an attack on the city by Alfonso VII of León and Castile from 1151 to 1152, and another attack by the Almohads in 1162.

Taking this into account, in 1224, Ferdinand III of Castile attacked the surrounding lands in what today is the province of Jaén, establishing their base of operations at Baeza with their Muslim ally, Abd Allah Ibn Muhammad Al-Bayyasi, the king of the Taifa of Baeza. This first campaign was essentially a probe to test the defenses of Jaén.

The strong Castilian army accompanied King Ferdinand III of Castile from Toledo. On its march to Jaén, it was joined by Ferdinand III's vassal, the King of the Taifa of Baeza, Abd Allah Ibn Muhammad Al-Bayyasi and his forces. Ferdinand III's army approached the city with the intention of probing its defenses to find if it could be captured.

...
Wikipedia