Granada War facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Granada War |
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| Part of the Reconquista | |||||||
 The Capitulation of Granada by F. Pradilla: Muhammad XII (Boabdil) surrenders to Ferdinand and Isabella. |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Union of the Crown of Castile and Crown of Aragon |
 Emirate of Granada |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Ferdinand II of Aragon Isabella I of Castile |
Abu'l-Hasan Ali † Muhammed XIII † Muhammad XII  |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | 100,000 dead or enslaved (including civilians) | ||||||
The Granada War (Spanish: Guerra de Granada) was a series of military battles that took place between 1482 and 1492. It was fought by the Christian rulers, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, against the Emirate of Granada. Granada was the last Muslim kingdom in Iberia (modern-day Spain and Portugal).
This ten-year war was not one long fight. Instead, it was a series of shorter campaigns each spring. The battles stopped during winter. The people of Granada were weakened by their own internal conflicts and civil wars. Meanwhile, the Christian kingdoms were mostly united.
Granada also faced economic problems. They had to pay a lot of money to Castile to avoid attacks. The Christians used powerful new cannons and artillery. These weapons helped them capture towns quickly that would have taken a long time to siege. On January 2, 1492, Muhammad XII of Granada, also known as King Boabdil, surrendered. This meant the end of the Emirate of Granada, the city of Granada, and the famous Alhambra palace.
The war was a joint effort between Isabella's Crown of Castile and Ferdinand's Crown of Aragon. Most of the soldiers and money came from Castile. After the war, Granada became part of Castile's territory. Aragon helped with ships, guns, and some loans. The war helped Ferdinand and Isabella become more powerful rulers.
The end of the war changed how different religions lived together in Spain. In 1492, Jewish people were asked to convert to Christianity or leave the country. By 1501, Muslims in Granada also had to convert, leave, or face harsh consequences. This rule spread to all of Spain by 1526. The fall of the Alhambra is still celebrated every year in Granada. Many historians see the Granada War as the final battle of the Reconquista.
Contents
Why the Granada War Happened
Granada's Situation in the Late 1400s
The Emirate of Granada was the last Muslim state in Iberia for over 200 years. Other Muslim states had already been conquered by Christian kingdoms. Even though some people felt Granada's end was coming, it was still a rich and strong kingdom. The Christian kingdoms were often divided and fought among themselves.
Granada's problems grew after Emir Yusuf III died in 1417. Fights over who would rule next led to almost constant civil war. Loyalty to family clans was stronger than loyalty to the emir. This made it hard for the ruler to control the whole kingdom. Sometimes, the emir only controlled the city of Granada itself. At other times, different rival emirs controlled different parts of the city.
Weaknesses and Challenges in Granada
This internal fighting made Granada much weaker. The economy suffered. Granada's famous porcelain making was disrupted. It faced competition from Christian towns. Even with a weaker economy, taxes stayed very high. These taxes paid for Granada's strong defenses and large army. Ordinary people in Granada paid three times more taxes than people in Castile.
Emir Abu'l-Hasan Ali of Granada's high taxes made him very unpopular. However, these taxes did support a respected army. Hasan successfully stopped Christian revolts in his lands. Some people thought he could gather as many as 7,000 horsemen.
The Border and Christian Unity
The border between Granada and Castile was always changing. There was "neither peace nor war." Raids across the border were common. Local nobles on both sides sometimes made alliances with each other. Truces were made and broken often. Neither central government fully controlled these border conflicts.
Henry IV of Castile died in 1474. This started the War of the Castilian Succession. This war was between Henry's daughter Joanna and his half-sister Isabella I of Castile. The war lasted from 1475 to 1479. During this time, the border with Granada was mostly ignored. Truces were agreed upon in 1475, 1476, and 1478.
In 1479, Isabella won the Succession War. She had married Ferdinand II of Aragon in 1469. This meant the two powerful kingdoms of Castile and Aragon were now united. They were free from internal Christian conflicts. This unity allowed them to focus on Granada.
Key Events of the Granada War
The War Begins: Attacks and Responses
In December 1481, Granada launched a surprise attack on Zahara. This was a response to a Christian raid. The town was captured, and its people were enslaved. This attack angered the Christians. People in Andalusia who wanted war used this event to gain support. They quickly planned a counterattack.
The capture of Alhama by the Christians is often seen as the official start of the Granada War. Abu Hasan tried to take Alhama back in March but failed. More Christian soldiers from Castile and Aragon arrived in April 1482. King Ferdinand officially took command at Alhama on May 14, 1482.
The Christians then tried to attack Loja but could not capture it. However, a major event happened that helped them. On the same day Loja was saved, Abu Hasan's son, Abu Abdallah (also called Boabdil), rebelled. He declared himself Emir Muhammad XII. The war continued into 1483.
Boabdil's Capture and Granada's Division
Abu Hasan's brother, al-Zagal, defeated a large Christian raiding force. This happened in the hills east of Málaga. But at Lucena, the Christians managed to defeat and capture King Boabdil. Ferdinand and Isabella had not planned to conquer all of Granada before this.
With Boabdil's capture, Ferdinand decided to use him to conquer Granada completely. He wrote in a letter that they would free Boabdil to cause division in Granada. Boabdil was released as a Christian ally. This made the Granadan civil war continue. A Granadan writer said Boabdil's capture was "the cause of the fatherland's destruction."
In 1485, the internal conflict in Granada changed again. Boabdil was forced out of Albayzín, his power base, by al-Zagal. Al-Zagal also took control of the nation, removing his aging brother from power. Boabdil had to flee and seek protection from Ferdinand and Isabella. The ongoing division among the Muslims helped the Christians. They quickly captured the western parts of Granada in 1485. Ronda fell in fifteen days after talks with its leaders. Ronda's fall allowed Marbella, a Granadan naval base, to be taken next.
Boabdil was soon released by the Christians. He continued his fight for control of Granada. For the next three years, he acted as a vassal (a ruler who owes loyalty) to Ferdinand and Isabella. He promised his people limited independence and peace with the Christians. From the Catholic Monarchs, he received the title of Duke for any cities he could control.
The Siege of Málaga: A Major Victory
Málaga was Granada's main seaport. It became the main target for the Castilian forces in 1487. Emir al-Zagal was slow to try and help Málaga. He could not safely attack the Christian armies because of the ongoing civil war. Even when he left the city to help Málaga, he had to leave troops behind. These troops were needed to defend against Boabdil and his followers.
The first major city attacked was Vélez-Málaga. It surrendered on April 27, 1487. Local supporters of Boabdil directly helped the Christian attackers. Málaga held out during a long siege. It lasted from May 7 to August 18, 1487. Its commander preferred death over surrender. The African soldiers and Christian renegades (Christians who converted to Islam) fought very hard. They feared what would happen if they lost.
Near the end, Málaga's leaders offered to surrender. But Ferdinand refused because he had already offered generous terms twice before. When the city finally fell, Ferdinand punished most of the people for their strong resistance. Many were enslaved. Renegades were burned alive or killed. However, the Jewish people of Malaga were saved. Castilian Jews paid to free them from slavery.
Historian William Prescott believed the fall of Málaga was the most important part of the war. Granada could not continue as an independent state without Málaga, its main port.
The Siege of Baza and Al-Zagal's Surrender
Al-Zagal lost respect after Málaga fell. Boabdil took control of all of Granada city in 1487. He also controlled the northeast of the country. Al-Zagal still controlled Baza, Guadix, and Almería. Boabdil did nothing as the Christian forces took some of his land. He might have thought it would be returned to him later.
In 1489, the Christian forces began a very long siege of Baza. Baza was al-Zagal's most important stronghold. It was very easy to defend. The Christians had to split their armies, and cannons were not very useful against it. Supplying the army caused a huge money problem for the Castilians. Isabella herself came to the siege. She helped keep up the spirits of both the nobles and the soldiers.
After six months, al-Zagal surrendered. His soldiers were mostly unharmed. He had become convinced that the Christians were serious about continuing the siege for as long as needed. He saw no hope of help. Baza was given generous surrender terms, unlike Málaga.
The Final Stand at Granada
With Baza's fall and al-Zagal's capture in 1490, it seemed the war was over. Ferdinand and Isabella thought so too. However, Boabdil was not happy with the rewards for his alliance. He might have felt that lands promised to him were being controlled by Castile. He broke his loyalty and rebelled against the Catholic Monarchs. He only held the city of Granada and the Alpujarras Mountains.
It was clear that his position could not last long. So, Boabdil sent urgent requests for help from other countries. Qaitbay, the Sultan of Egypt, mildly criticized Ferdinand for the war. But the Mamluks, who ruled Egypt, were fighting the Ottoman Empire. Since Castile and Aragon were also enemies of the Ottomans, the Sultan did not want to break their alliance. Boabdil also asked for help from the Sultanate of Fes in North Africa. But no help came. North Africa continued to sell wheat to Castile during the war. Granada no longer controlled any coastline to receive help from overseas. No help would come for Granada.
A long, eight-month siege of Granada began in April 1491. The situation for the defenders became worse and worse. Their ability to stop the siege dwindled. Advisers plotted against each other. Bribery of important officials was common. At least one of Boabdil's main advisers seemed to be working for Castile the whole time.
After the Battle of Granada, a temporary surrender agreement was signed. This was the Treaty of Granada, signed on November 25, 1491. It gave the city two months to prepare. The delay was not due to stubbornness. It was because the Granadan government struggled to organize itself amid the chaos. The terms were quite generous to the local Muslim population. The city finally surrendered on January 2, 1492. Christian troops secretly entered the Alhambra that day. There was no resistance. Granada's fight had ended.
How the War Was Fought
New Weapons and Strategies
The most important thing about the Granada War was the power of bombards and cannons. These weapons greatly shortened the many sieges of the war. The Castilians and Aragonese started with only a few artillery pieces. But Ferdinand used experts from his recent wars in France and Burgundy. The Christians quickly increased their artillery forces.
The Muslims, however, were far behind in using artillery. They usually only used cannons they had captured from the Christians. Historian Weston F. Cook Jr. wrote that "Gunpowder firepower and artillery siege operations won the Granadan war." By 1495, Castile and Aragon had 179 artillery pieces in total. This was a huge increase from before.
Early arquebuses (a type of gun) were also used, but not much. Heavy cavalry knights were less important in the Granada War than in earlier battles. Light cavalry, called jinetes, played a bigger role instead. Open-field battles, where cavalry were most important, were rare. The Granadans were greatly outnumbered, so they usually avoided such battles.
Logistics and Army Organization
The Castilians also used many supporting workers. In 1483, a huge force of workers was gathered. Their job was to destroy crops and steal from the countryside. They did not directly fight in battles. It was hard to coordinate and supply the army because of the mountains. But the Christians carefully built roads through the mountains. These roads helped them deliver food and supplies to their troops.
Politically, many nobles wanted to control their own forces. But Ferdinand and Isabella were still able to direct the army as a whole. The Granadans, on the other hand, were suffering from civil war. This prevented them from having a unified command. The Christian army was almost entirely Castilian. There were very few Aragonese or foreign mercenary soldiers. Of the Castilian army, Andalusia provided far more troops than other regions. Many of its people were drafted into the war. The nobility provided most of the expensive cavalry.
The Armies' Size
Historians have studied the actual size of the armies. According to original records, Castilian armies had between 50,000 and 70,000 soldiers in the years of greatest effort (1482, 83, 86, 87, 89, and 91). In quieter years, they had 10,000 to 29,000 soldiers. Modern scholars like Ladero Quesada agree with these numbers.
However, some historians, like García de Gabiola, argue that it was too expensive to keep such large armies. For later wars in Italy (1494–1503), Spanish armies were much smaller, around 5,000 to 15,000 men. So, the numbers recorded for Granada might be too high. Considering Castile's income during that time, it's more likely they could support 8,000 to 20,000 soldiers. For example, during the siege of Málaga in 1487, there were likely around 12,000 soldiers. During the largest siege of Baza in 1489, there might have been 20,000 soldiers. About 20% of these soldiers would have been cavalry.
For the Muslim armies, the numbers mentioned in old sources (15,000 to 50,000 infantry, or 4,500–7,000 cavalry) are also probably too high. More realistic numbers are 3,000 horsemen in 1482, and 1,000 to 1,500 in later years. A Muslim soldier captured during the siege of Baza said the real infantry strength was 4,000 men, not 15,000. So, Muslim armies probably did not have more than about 4,000 infantry. By the end of the war, the Castilian armies outnumbered the Muslim armies by 2 or 3 to 1.
The Granada War was important training for the Italian Wars. In those wars, Castilian armies and tactics, like the tercio formation, performed very well.
What Happened After the War
The surrender of Granada was seen as a huge blow to Islam and a great victory for Christianity. Other Christian countries congratulated Ferdinand and Isabella. Islamic writers expressed sadness. In Castile and Aragon, people celebrated with parties and bullfights. People rejoiced in the streets. For Christians, taking Granada from Muslim rule balanced the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks forty years earlier.
The terms of Granada's surrender were quite fair to the Muslims. This was surprising, given how little power they had left. The terms were similar to those offered to towns that surrendered earlier in the war. For three years, Muslims could leave and return freely. They were allowed to keep weapons, but not firearms. This rule was changed a month later. No one would be forced to change their religion. This included former Christians who had converted to Islam. Boabdil was offered money and control of a small area in the mountainous Alpujarras. This area would have been hard to control anyway.
At first, most of conquered Granada was treated with respect. It remained stable for seven years. However, the Alhambra Decree of 1492 forced Jewish people who did not convert to Christianity to leave.
King Boabdil soon found his position unbearable. He left for Morocco in October 1493. He died there about forty years later. Eventually, Castile began to change some of the more tolerant parts of the treaty. This was led by Archbishop Cisneros. He ordered mass conversions and the burning of valuable Arabic books. These actions were harmful to the Muslims (and Jews).
This sparked a revolt. Many Muslims were forced to choose between baptism, exile, or execution. Tensions remained high after this. Castile had to keep a large army in Granada to prevent future revolts. Isabella also strengthened the Spanish Inquisition. Ferdinand brought the Inquisition to Aragon, where it had not been powerful before.
Castile gained the most from the war. It also spent most of the money and manpower. Granada became fully part of Castile. The conquest of Granada did not greatly change Aragon's position. But it did help secure Castilian support in Italy and France, where Aragon had interests. Funding the war was a huge task. The total cost was estimated to be 450,000,000 maravedies.
Increasing unfair treatment of the Moors, now called Moriscos (or "New Christians"), led to another Rebellion of the Alpujarras (1568–71). After this revolt was defeated, almost all the Moriscos from the former Kingdom of Granada were sent to other parts of Spain.
Cultural Impact of the War
The Granada War inspired a whole type of stories called romances fronterizos. These were about the war and battles on the Granadan border. They reached their peak with Granada's fall. Ginés Pérez de Hita wrote an early example of historical fiction. It was called Guerras civiles de Granada. This book was a romantic story of the war. It highlighted chivalry and heroism on both sides.
Many stories and songs seem to have been supported by the royal government. They helped keep spirits high during the long struggle. Sobre Baza was a poem written in 1479. It encouraged people to keep fighting in the long siege. The song "Setenil, ay Setenil", written in 1484, hoped Ferdinand would conquer "as far as Jerusalem." The song "Una sañosa porfía" by Juan del Encina tells the story of the war from King Boabdil's point of view.
Spanish playwright Calderon de la Barca wrote a play about the Conquest of Granada. It was called Amar despues de la Muerte. English playwright John Dryden wrote a play called The Conquest of Granada in 1672. It focuses on a romantic love story and conflicts between two rival Granadan groups. The Christian attackers are in the background.
The Día de la Toma de Granada is a festival held every year in Granada. It celebrates the city's conquest on January 2. In recent years, some political groups have criticized and boycotted this date. They suggest celebrating Mariana Pineda, a 19th-century heroine, instead. In 2019 and 2020, some political parties celebrated the event. Attendees chanted in praise of Spanish identity. Other groups opposed the celebration, calling the conquest a genocide. During the celebration, the Spanish Legion marches with its music band. This has become a gathering point for far-right and nationalist groups. These groups have caused incidents in recent years. Some Spanish Socialists have changed their view. They now suggest adding Moorish parades as a sign of "cultural encounter."
See also
In Spanish: Guerra de Granada para niños
