Raiding belt · France and Iberia · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Plasencia frontier

South of Plasencia the Tajo is the frontier.

Alfonso VIII founded Plasencia in 1186 to hold the Tajo line and to keep León from spreading east of the Vía de la Plata, and gave Trujillo, Santa Cruz, Albalat and other castles to the order of the Pereiro (the 'Trujillo' knights) in 1186-95. In 1196 al-Mansur took them all back, stormed Plasencia and carried off its governor; the king recovered Plasencia within a year or two and is finishing its walls (completed 1201). On 1 January 1200 Trujillo, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Montánchez, Cáceres, Medellín, Albalat and Alcántara are Almohad; the castle of Monfragüe, where a small order was founded in 1196, guards the Tajo crossing for Castile.

To the west the Leonese hold Coria and Granadilla.

Who raids here

Almohad garrisons of Trujillo, Cáceres and Montánchez against the Plasencia lands; Plasencia's militia, the Monfragüe knights and the Leonese of Coria into the plains south of the Tajo.

Castles christian

Plasencia (Castile); Monfragüe (Castile, the Order of Monfragüe from 1196); Coria and Granadilla (León).

Castles almohad

Trujillo, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Montánchez, Albalat (Tajo crossing near Romangordo), Cáceres, Medellín, Alcántara.

Last campaign

Al-Mansur's campaign of spring 1196 (Plasencia stormed); Castilian recovery of Plasencia 1196-97; 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.

In 1200

  1. 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

Later, on the likely course

  1. 1201Plasencia's double wall is completedDepends on: royal funds and peace Stopped by: a new Almohad attack

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The 1196 losses and Plasencia's capture are in the Arabic account; the date of Plasencia's recovery and the exact garrisons of 1200 are not pinned.

On the map: Rough polygon between the Tajo and the Almohad towns, which are left outside as anchors.

Sources and studies

  1. History of Plasencia (Wikipedia)
  2. Historia medieval de Trujillo de Extremadura (Cronistas Oficiales, PDF)
  3. Order of Monfragüe (Wikipedia)
  4. The Battle of Alarcos (1195) and the campaign of 1196: Arabic account in translation (De Re Militari)
  5. Castilian-Leonese War (1196-1197) (Wikipedia, citing Fitz 2002, Reilly 1993, Martínez 2021 and others)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.