86 ISLAM AT WAR
their armies were no longer victorious, the native Saracens grumbled
against the Berber dynasty, and in 1122 open rebellion broke out. By 1147,
after a quarter century of fighting, the Almohads, yet another Moroccan
sect, had completely suppressed the Almoravids. Again, the Christian war-
lords were quick to take advantage of the civil wars, and captured Lisbon,
Almeria, Lerida, and Tortosa. These acquisitions were halted only when
the new Almohad dynasty unified Moorish resistance.
In 1195 the Castilians, under Alfonso VIII, met the combined armies
of the Muslims at Alarcos, south of the city of Toledo. Details of the battle
indicate just how hard it was fought. The initial Castilian charge was
successful and drove back the Muslims, breaking their line, and killing
the general, Abu Hafas, who died trying to rally the broken Muslim in-
fantry. The tribe of Henteta, Muslims from North Africa, was surrounded
and cut to pieces. However, the battle suddenly turned when the Muslims
of al-Andalus charged striking where Alfonso VIII stood with his body-
guard. The Spaniards broke and fled, losing thousands. The battle of Alar-
cos, near Ciudad Real, was thus an overwhelming Muslim victory. It was
also the beginning of the end for Muslim Spain. Castile’s defeat at Alarcos
made the various Christian states understand that only cooperative action
would defeat the newly unified Muslim power. They began to forget their
jealousies and concentrate on the reconquest. Following up on their vic-
tory, the Moors invaded Castile, but Alfonso VIII repulsed them.
By 1212, the Christians were ready to strike in force. Under Alfonso
VIII they marched into the heart of Moorish Spain and offered battle at
Las Navas de Tolosa. Alfonso’s army of 2,000 French knights, 10,000
Spanish horse, and 50,000 infantry advanced south and was confronted
by the Almohad Muhammad I, with perhaps 200,000 men. Shortly before
the battle, however, the French abandoned Alfonso VIII, complaining of
the effect of the heat and their armor. When Muhammad I learned of the
French departure, he moved briskly north to intercept the now weakened
Christian army. The two armies met with the Moors massed in the narrow
entrance of the Losa canyon. In a repetition of the events at Thermopylae,
where the Spartans faced the Persians, a Spanish shepherd led the Chris-
tian army through an otherwise unknown mountain path that brought them
into the Moorish rear. The stunned Moors found Alfonso VIII’s army
deployed behind them on the plain of Mesa Del Rey, and blocking their
front at the narrows of the pass. Both sides rested their armies until July
16, when the battle was joined. The Spaniards attacked and overwhelmed
the Muslim light infantry forming the first line. The heavily armored
Christian knights pushed back the two wings of the Almohad Moorish
army, but the Moorish center, mostly cavalry, held fast and launched re-