The Forgotten Crusade: The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (silver Almohad coin)

The Forgotten Crusade: The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (silver Almohad coin)

Alfonso VIII of Castile fought the Almohad caliphate twice during the Reconquista of Muslim Spain. In 1195, he foolishly engaged without reinforcements, leading to a staggering defeat. Over the next seventeen years, he slowly regained support, culminating in Pope Innocent III’s declaration of a crusade against the Almohads. In 1212, Alfonso again attacked the Almohads at Las Navas de Tolosa, this time with a coalition of Christian kingdoms behind him. After flanking the Almohads by sneaking through a canyon, the Christians triumphed. It marked the beginning of the end for Muslim Spain.–This coin is a silver dirham of the Almohad dynasty, used by both sides during this little-known crusade.

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