Siege of Algeciras (1278–1279)W
Siege of Algeciras (1278–1279)

The Siege of Algeciras was the first of many sieges of the city by Christian forces in the lengthy period of the Spanish Reconquista. The siege, ordered by King Alfonso X of Castile also known as "el Sabio", was a fruitless military campaign initiated by the Kingdom of Castile with the objective of removing the Benimerins from Algeciras. The siege on Algeciras, then known to the Muslims as Al-Jazira Al-Khadra, was strategically important because Algeciras had been at the time the main fortress and landing place for African reinforcement troops in the Iberian Peninsula. Castile, which had a powerful armada of ships anchored in the Bay of Gibraltar to blockade such reinforcement, had a few days previously to the siege, seen that fleet obliterated by the Muslim admiral, Abu Yusuf Yaqub at the Naval Battle of Algeciras.

Siege of Algeciras (1309–1310)W
Siege of Algeciras (1309–1310)

The siege of Algeciras was a battle of the Spanish Reconquista that occurred between July 1309 and January 1310. The battle was fought between the forces of the Kingdom of Castile, commanded by King Ferdinand IV of Castile and his vassals, and the Emirate of Granada commanded by Sultan Abu'l-Juyush Nasr. The battle resulted in a humiliating defeat for the Kingdom of Castile whose army was obliged to lift the siege due to the atrocious conditions of life in the Castilian camp and the desertion of Infante John of Castile. The battle marked one of the many battles fought at Algeciras where the Christian forces would try to take the city unsuccessfully from the Muslims.

Siege of Algeciras (1342–1344)W
Siege of Algeciras (1342–1344)

The siege of Algeciras (1342–1344) was undertaken during the Reconquest of Spain by the Castillian forces of Alfonso XI assisted by the fleets of the Kingdom of Aragon and the Republic of Genoa. The objective was to capture the Muslim city of Al-Jazeera Al-Khadra, called Algeciras by Christians. The city was the capital and the main port of the European territory of the Marinid Empire.

Siege of Algeciras (1369)W
Siege of Algeciras (1369)

The siege of Algeciras (1369) was undertaken during the period of the Reconquest of Spain by Muhammed V, Sultan of Granada to reclaim the city of Al-Hadra Al-Yazirat, called Algeciras by the Christians, in the Kingdom of Castile. The siege lasted just three days, and the sultan was victorious. The Muslims thus regained a major city which had been in Castilian hands since Alfonso XI of Castile took it from the Moroccans after the long 1342–1344 siege. Ten years after the capture of the city, in 1379 the sultan of Granada decided to completely destroy the city to prevent it falling into Christian hands. It was impossible to defend the place at a time when the Muslim kings of the Iberian Peninsula had lost much of military power they enjoyed in earlier centuries.

Siege of Coria (1138)W
Siege of Coria (1138)

The siege of Coria in July 1138 was the first and shorter of two attempts to take the city of Coria by Alfonso VII of León. Coria had previously been reconquered in 1079 by Alfonso VI. It was lost to the Almoravids not long after Alfonso's death in 1109. On the heels of a successful razzia (raid) deep into Islamic al-Andalus, Alfonso VII briefly invested the city before retiring. A second siege in 1142 was successful.

Siege of Coria (1142)W
Siege of Coria (1142)

The second Siege of Coria by the Emperor Alfonso VII of León was begun in early May 1142 and ended with the taking of the town in June. Coria had previously been reconquered in 1079 by Alfonso VI. It was lost to the Almoravids sometime not long after Alfonso's death in 1109. Alfonso VII had vainly besieged it in July 1138, in which action his general Rodrigo Martínez was killed. The successful siege of 1142 was "the prelude to a frenetic bout of military activity during the latter part of the reign of Alfonso VII [during which] the emperor is known to have led in person at least eight military expeditions into al-Andalus."

First siege of GibraltarW
First siege of Gibraltar

The first siege of Gibraltar was a battle of the Spanish Reconquista that took place in 1309. The battle pitted the forces of the Crown of Castile under the command of Juan Núñez II de Lara and Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, against the forces of the Emirate of Granada who were under the command of Sultan Muhammed III and his brother, Abu'l-Juyush Nasr.

Fourth siege of GibraltarW
Fourth siege of Gibraltar

The fourth siege of Gibraltar, fought from June until August 1333, pitted a Christian army under King Alfonso XI of Castile against a large Moorish army led by Muhammed IV of Granada and Abd al-Malik Abd al-Wahid of Fes. It followed on immediately from the third siege of Gibraltar, fought earlier in 1333. The siege began inauspiciously with a disastrous landing by Castilian forces on the west side of Gibraltar, before developing into a stalemate in which neither side had the strength to capture Gibraltar, nor to break out or lift the siege. Both sides faced acute shortages of food – the Gibraltar garrison was cut off from resupply, while the Castilians, deep within enemy territory, could only be resupplied via an unreliable sea route. After two months of inconclusive siege warfare, the Castilians and Moors reached a truce agreement that allowed both sides to make an honourable exit from the siege. Although the Moors managed to keep Gibraltar, the truce cost Muhammed IV his life when he was assassinated by disgruntled nobles the day after signing it.

Fifth siege of GibraltarW
Fifth siege of Gibraltar

The fifth siege of Gibraltar, mounted between August 1349 and March 1350, was a second attempt by King Alfonso XI of Castile to retake the fortified town of Gibraltar. It had been held by the Moors since 1333. The siege followed years of intermittent conflict between the Christian kingdoms of Spain and the Moorish Emirate of Granada, which was supported by the Marinid sultanate of Morocco. A series of Moorish defeats and reverses had left Gibraltar as a Moorish-held enclave within Castilian territory. Its geographical isolation was compensated for by the strength of its fortifications, which had been greatly improved since 1333. Alfonso brought an army of around 20,000 men, along with his mistress and their five illegitimate children, to dig in to the north of Gibraltar for a lengthy siege. In the New Year of 1350, however, bubonic plague – the Black Death – broke out in the Castilian camp. Alfonso refused to abandon the siege but fell victim to the plague on 27 March 1350, becoming the only monarch to die of the disease.

Seventh siege of GibraltarW
Seventh siege of Gibraltar

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.

Eighth siege of GibraltarW
Eighth siege of Gibraltar

The eighth siege of Gibraltar (1462) was a successful effort by soldiers of the Kingdom of Castile to take the fortified town of Gibraltar from the Moors of the Emirate of Granada. Capture of this position, which was weakly defended and was taken with little fighting, was strategically important in the final defeat of the Moors in Spain.

Granada WarW
Granada War

The Granada War was a series of military campaigns between 1482 and 1491, during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, against the Nasrid dynasty's Emirate of Granada. It ended with the defeat of Granada and its annexation by Castile, ending all Islamic rule on the Iberian peninsula.

Siege of Jaén (1225)W
Siege of Jaén (1225)

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.

Siege of Jaén (1230)W
Siege of Jaén (1230)

The Siege of Jaén was one of many sieges on that city during the Spanish Reconquista. The siege was carried out from 24 June through September, 1230 by forces of the Kingdom of Castile commanded by Ferdinand III of Castile against the defending Taifa of Jayyān (جيان). The battle resulted in a Jayyānese victory after the Castilian withdrawal and abandonment of the siege immediately following the death of King Alfonso IX of León.

Siege of Jaén (1245–1246)W
Siege of Jaén (1245–1246)

The Siege of Jaén was the final siege on the city during the Spanish Reconquista. The siege, was carried out from 1245 through 28 February 1246 by forces of the Kingdom of Castile and the Order of Santiago commanded by Ferdinand III of Castile and the Grand Master of the Order of Santiago, Pelayo Pérez Correa, against a combined defending force of the local Taifa of Jaén (جيان) and the Emirate of Granada under Muhammad I. The battle resulted in a Castilian victory with the city of Jaén being handed over to the Kingdom of Castile and Leon after the signing of the Treaty of Jaén.

Siege of Lisbon (1384)W
Siege of Lisbon (1384)

The Siege of Lisbon was a siege of the city of Lisbon from 29 May to 3 September 1384, between the Portuguese defenders of the city led by John I of Portugal and the Castillian army led by King John I of Castile. The siege ended in a disaster for Castile. A plague outbreak together with the constant attacks by Portuguese forces led by Nuno Álvares Pereira caused huge casualties among the Castilian ranks, who were forced to retreat four months after the start of the siege.

Siege of Málaga (1487)W
Siege of Málaga (1487)

The siege of Málaga (1487) was an action during the Reconquest of Spain in which the Catholic Monarchs of Spain conquered the city of Mālaqa from the Emirate of Granada. The siege lasted about four months. It was the first conflict in which ambulances, or dedicated vehicles for the purpose of carrying injured persons, were used. Geopolitically, the loss of the emirate's second largest city—after Granada itself—and its most important port was a major loss for Granada. Most of the surviving population of the city were enslaved or put to death by the conquerors.

Siege of SevilleW
Siege of Seville

The siege of Seville was a 16-month successful investment during the Reconquista of Seville by forces of Ferdinand III of Castile. Although perhaps eclipsed in geopolitical importance by the rapid capture of Córdoba in 1236, which sent a shockwave through the Muslim world, the siege of Seville was nonetheless the most complex military operation undertaken by Fernando III. It is also the last major operation of the Early Reconquista. The operation also marked the appearance of indigenous naval forces of Castile-León of military significance. In effect, Ramón de Bonifaz was the first admiral of Castile, although he never held an official title of that kind.

Siege of Burgos (1475)W
Siege of Burgos (1475)

The siege of Burgos was a siege of the castle of Burgos in the Kingdom of Castile between 1475 and early 1476. It was part of the War of the Castilian Succession.