The Battle of Pombal was a major battle fought between the Christian Portugese and Muslim Almoravid armies in central Portugal in 1147 amid the Reconquista. King Afonso Henriques' army smashed an Almoravid army commanded by Moustafa Benhassi halfway between his capital of Coimbra in the north and the Almoravid fortress of al-Shantariyn (Santarem) in the south; he took over 1,000 prisoners, but he released them after the Moors paid a heavy ransom of 4,171 dinars. The survivors of Pombal subsequently fled the garrisons of al-Shantariyn and al-Ushbuna (Lisbon), but the bulk of the army's remnants was sent south to stave off the Almohad invasion, clearing the way for the capture of Santarem.
Background[]
By 1143, King Afonso Henriques of Portugal was a newly-recognized monarch, with King Alfonso VII of Leon - the "Emperor of All Spain" - formally recognizing him as King of Portugal in the Treaty of Zamora that year in recognition of his victory over the Moors at the 1139 Battle of Ourique. Afonso reigned from Coimbra, and he quickly established an alliance with Castile and Leon, having already been allied with Navarre. With his northern and eastern borders secure, Afonso was able to look south to central Portugal, which was ruled by the declining Almoravid Emirate. That same year, he established a series of watchtowers along the Mondego River frontier between his lands and the Moorish lands to the south. In 1146, he led a reconnaissance in force south of the river to scout out the situation, as his spy Martim Moniz had been killed in a failed attempt to infiltrate the Moorish fortress of al-Shantariyn (Santarem). While a small Portuguese mozarab peasant rebellion had broken out near al-Shantariyn, led by Gil, Afonso found that the Almoravids had large forces in the area, so he decided to withdraw back towards Coimbra.
In 1147, one of these Moorish armies, commanded by Moustafa Benhassi, advanced north towards the Mondego frontier. That same year, fleets of English and French crusaders en route to the Holy Land for the Second Crusade appeared off the coast of Lisbon, where Pedro Pitoes conversed with them, hoping to win their aid. At the same time, Afonso felt obliged to impress them with a battlefield victory against the Moors. He advanced south of the frontier and attacked Benhassi's army just south of the Mondego frontier, halfway between Coimbra and al-Shantariyn, near the present-day town of Pombal.
Battle[]
The two armies meeting at Pombal
The Portuguese army formed its position on the high ground overlooking the woods near Pombal, with Afonso's infantry forming the center (screened by mercenary archers) and his knights (including the Templar Order) forming the flanks. The Moorish army emerged from the woods, with its left flank including Sudanese javelinmen, its right flank including Arab cavalry, and its center consisting of spearmen and both javelinmen and archers as a screening force. Benhassi was eager to attack and destroy the Portuguese army, and he ordered his army to advance and engage the Portuguese. The Portuguese right-flank cavalry flanked the Moors to attack their exposed Sudanese javelinmen on the Moorish left flank, driving them from the field and lingering behind the Moorish army as it pressed forwards. The Portuguese left-flank cavalry simultaneously charged the Moorish cavalry on the Moorish right flank, smashing them and driving them off the field as well. Afonso then ordered his infantry to launch an all-out assault on the Moorish infantry as the Portuguese cavalry closed in from the flanks and from behind, and Benhassi was slain along with most of his bodyguards. The Almoravid army collapsed and routed, and 1,110 Almoravids were captured while streaming from the field in defeat.
Aftermath[]
The dead at Pombal
The Battle of Pombal was a great victory for Afonso, who took a vast number of Moorish prisoners. As he was a chivalrous and Christian king who had presided over a tolerant kingdom, he decided to offer the Almoravids their 1,110 soldiers back in exchange for 4,171 dinars, which the Almoravids accepted, effectively selling them their army back. Most of these soldiers returned to garrison al-Shantariyn, but, of those soldiers, the majority were transferred to other fronts as the Almohads threatened to conquer the Almoravid lands in North Africa and southern Iberia. The Crusader fleets anchored off Porto ultimately declined to join Afonso, leaving for the Holy Land. Afonso decided to press his advantage and conquer Santarem, whose garrison had been weakened by the departure of much of its manpower, making good use of his victory at Pombal.