The plain of the upper Guadiana between the Montes de Toledo and the Sierra Morena, lost by Castile after Alarcos (18 July 1195) and raided by the Almohads up to Toledo, Madrid and the Henares in 1196 and 1197.
On 1 January 1200 its castles are Almohad (Calatrava la Vieja, Caracuel, Malagon, Benavente, Guadalerzas, Piedrabuena, the ruins of Alarcos), its villages largely empty, and its edges watched by the Hospitallers of Consuegra and the knights of Toledo to the north and by the Order of Calatrava from Salvatierra, a castle they seized in 1198 in the south of the plain. Under the truce of 1197 there is no campaigning, but the land is not farmed and cannot be held except castle by castle.
Sides
- almohad
- castile
Who raids here
Almohad garrisons of Calatrava and Caracuel against Consuegra, the Montes de Toledo and the supply road to Salvatierra; the Calatravans of Salvatierra and the Hospitallers of Consuegra against the Almohad castles and herds.
Castles
Almohad: Calatrava la Vieja, Caracuel, Malagon, Benavente, Guadalerzas, Piedrabuena, Almodovar del Campo. Castilian: Consuegra (Hospital), Salvatierra (Calatrava), Toledo and the Montes de Toledo castles behind.
Last campaign
Almohad campaigns of 1195, 1196 and 1197; Calatravan seizure of Salvatierra in 1198. Next: the Almohads take Salvatierra in September 1211; the crusade army sweeps the plain in June-July 1212.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The 1195 losses and the 1196-1197 raids are well attested; the exact extent of the empty zone is a judgement.
On the map: A zone, not a line: the belt overlaps the Almohad Calatrava command and the southern edge of Castilian Toledo's lands; the Castile agent may draw its own version.
Sources and studies
- Battle of Alarcos (en.wikipedia)
- Guerra castellano-leonesa (1196-1197) (es.wikipedia)
- Calatrava la Vieja (es.wikipedia)
- Guadalerzas castle (castles.nl)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.