East and south of Cuenca the Castilian frontier faces the Almohad province of Valencia across the gorges of the Cabriel and the Júcar.
Castile holds Cuenca (taken 1177), Alarcón (1184) and the castles of the Serranía (Cañete); Moya on the Cabriel and Iniesta toward Requena are forward posts whose hold in 1200 is not pinned. The Almohads hold Requena and Utiel on their plateau, Chelva, Ademuz and Castielfabib on the upper Turia, and Jorquera and Alcalá del Júcar on the gorge of the Júcar. By the treaty of Cazola (1179) the conquest of Valencia is reserved to Aragon, so Castile's road of advance is south toward Murcia.
The Almohad raids of 1196 and 1197 struck Cuenca, Huete and Alarcón; since June 1197 the truce holds.
Who raids here
Cuenca's militia (its fuero regulates raids in detail) and the garrisons of Alarcón and the Serranía against Requena and the Júcar valley; Almohad horsemen from Requena and the Valencian castles against the Cuenca villages.
Castles christian
Cuenca; Alarcón; Cañete; Huete behind them; forward posts at Moya and Iniesta (not pinned); Aragon and Albarracín hold Teruel and Albarracín to the north-east.
Castles almohad
Requena; Utiel; Chelva; Ademuz and Castielfabib (taken by Peter II of Aragon in 1210); Jorquera and Alcalá del Júcar on the Júcar gorge; Ayora.
Last campaign
Almohad raids on Cuenca and Alarcón in 1196 and 1197; truce since June 1197.
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- through 1200The truce of June 1197 between Alfonso VIII and the Almohads holds; no royal campaign south of the TajoDepends on: both sides keeping the ten-year truce (the new caliph Muhammad al-Nasir, caliph since January 1199, is taken up with securing his rule and with the Banu Ghaniya in Ifriqiya and the Balearics) Stopped by: a Castilian or Almohad breach, or a large raid by the military orders that the other side treats as war
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Cuenca and Alarcón are certain; the status of Moya and Iniesta in 1200 and the Almohad garrisons are not pinned castle by castle.
On the map: Rough polygon; the Aragonese and Albarracín fronts against Valencia to the north-east belong to other records.
Sources and studies
- Conquest of Cuenca (Wikipedia)
- Castilian-Leonese War (1196-1197) (Wikipedia, citing Fitz 2002, Reilly 1993, Martínez 2021 and others)
- Julio González, El reino de Castilla en la época de Alfonso VIII (Madrid, 1960), 3 vols.
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.