The Battle of Vendas Novas was a major battle fought between the armies of King Afonso Henriques of Portugal and the Almoravid captain Abdu'llah in southern Portugal in 1158 during the Reconquista. The Portuguese smashed a larger Moorish army which had marched north to attack King Afonso as he marched on al-Yabura (Evora) with the intent of capturing the city.
Background[]
Following the Siege of Lisbon in 1147, Almoravid power in Portugal was crippled, reducing the Almoravids to controlling two regions in the south of Portugal. Beset by enemies on all fronts, the Almoravids scrambled to assemble a new field army to fight back King Afonso Henriques' successful campaign to reconquer all of Portugal for the Christians. The garrison of al-Yabura (Evora) had been previously bolstered by the survivors of the Battle of Pombal in 1147, and Captain Abdu'llah marched out of the city in 1158 to confront King Afonso as his army marched down the paved road from Santarem in the north to Evora in the southeast. Afonso's army feigned a withdrawal north upon sighting the slightly larger Moorish force, drawing it away from al-Yabura and any possible reinforcements. When the Almoravids attacked his army near the present-day municipality of Vendas Novas, King Afonso was ready for them.
Battle[]
The two armies' dispositions at Vendas Novas
King Afonso deployed his army in a spread-out position on hilly terrain: he deployed the bulk of his infantry in the center (screened by archers), with small infantry forces on either wing, as well as massed cavalry on the right flank and additional knights on the left. Meanwhile, the Moorish army deployed in a two-tiered formation, with their infantry forming a line behind their skirmishers, who formed the advance guard. The Moorish army included Granadine jinetes (knights) on the Moorish left flank.
The two armies charging into battle
The Almoravid infantry pressed forward in two rows, having initiated the engagement with the Portuguese. The Granadine jinetes charged ahead of the main body, aiming to attack the Portuguese skirmishers in the center. However, King Afonso immediately ordered a counterattack, and his right-wing cavalry charged the Granadines before they could make it to the center of the battlefield. The numerically-superior Portuguese cavalry put the jinetes to flight and chased them off of the battlefield, making it far behind the Almoravid army. Afonso then ordered his main body to charge, dividing into groups to attack separate sections of the Moorish line. His left-wing cavalry also charged the Moorish cavalry who had been accompanying the main force, routing them as well. While the Portuguese infantry engaged in a bloody battle with the numerically-superior Moorish infantry, both of the Portuguese army's cavalry wings outflanked the Moors and charged the Almoravid army from the flanks and the rear. Abdu'llah and his bodyguards were overpowered and killed, and the Almoravid army began a fighting retreat. The battle degenerated into a series of chases, last stands, and routs as individual Moorish bodies halted their retreats to fight against their pursuers before being massacred. The Portuguese ultimately took 1,333 Moorish prisoners during their pursuit, annihilating their foe.
Aftermath[]
The battlefield dead
The Almoravid defeat was catastrophic: they had lost 539 dead and 1,333 captured, including 59 Granadine jinetes, 570 spear militia, 104 dismounted Arab cavalry, 68 peasants, and 532 desert archers. Afonso, intending to act with chivalry, offered to ransom these prisoners back to the Almoravids for 5,487 dinars, but the Almoravids - strapped for currency due to the loss of several cities and armies both to the Portuguese and Spanish Christians and to the Muslim Almohads - were unable to come up with the money, forcing the Portuguese to execute their prisoners. This defeat cleared the way for the Portuguese to advance on Evora, which was reconquered in September of 1165.