ALFONSO THE AVENGER
“ALFONSO CUT HIS TEETH IN THE RELIGIOUS WARS BETWEEN CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS BATTLING THE MOORS OF GRANADA”
The mounted vanguard of the Castilian army streamed down from its hilltop position shortly after dawn on 30 October 1340, and fought its way across the narrow bridge over the Rio Salado. The lightly armoured Moors reeled under the blows of the heavily armoured Christian knights’ lances, swords, and maces. Twenty-nine-year-old Castilian King Alfonso XI watched with satisfaction as the cream of the Castilian royal army drove the Moors towards a string of hills south of the river. As part of the Reconquista, Alfonso hoped to crush the Moroccan-Granadan army that had assembled for battle that day.
Alfonso became king when he was just a year old, in 1112 upon his father’s death. Castile quickly became embroiled in a contentious civil war among loyal royals and rebellious magnates that left its southeastern border vulnerable to the ravages of the Moors of Granada. When he reached his majority on his 14th birthday on 13 August 1325, Alfonso set about strengthening royal authority.
He did so both by increasing the power of the Castilian parliament, as well as the vibrant townships of the
