Battle of Clavijo

The Battle of Clavijo is a battle from the Reconquista period, led by King Ramiro I of Asturias and led by General Sancho Fernández de Tejada against the Muslims.  It would have taken place in the so-called Campo de la Matanza, near Clavijo, La Rioja, Spain, dated May 23, 844. Its mythical characteristics (the miraculous intervention of the apostle James), its condition as justification of the Vow of Santiago and the revision that historiographical criticism entailed since the 18th century. From the Najerense Chronicle, Ramiro's campaigns against the Arabs are known, while the chronicles of Abderramán II speak of Moorish campaigns in Álava, but both agree on the strong fights in the Riojan area.  More specifically, Asturias sources say that Ordoño I, the son of Ramiro I, surrounded the city of Albelda and established its base on Mount Laturce, that is, the same place where the legend places the battle of Clavijo.  And the archaeological findings leave no room for doubt: in Albelda there was a lot of fighting, although news of the supposed battle of Clavijo, supposedly already famous, did not appear in any source until centuries after its supposed date.  It is also the historical reference that Enrique IV and later the rest of the monarchs have used for the creation and confirmation of privileges to the Ancient and Illustrious Solar de Tejada, the only manor that has been maintained from then to the present.

The battle would have its origin in the refusal of Ramiro I of Asturias to continue paying tribute to the Arab emirs, with special emphasis on the tribute of the hundred maidens.  For this reason, Ramiro's Christian troops, led by Sancho de Tejada, would go in search of the Muslims, with Abderramán II in command, but upon reaching Nájera and Albelda they would see themselves surrounded by a large Arab army made up of troops from the peninsula and levies that would come from the area that currently corresponds to Morocco, with the Christians having to take refuge in the Clavijo castle in Monte Laturce.

The chronicles say that Ramiro I had a dream in which the apostle Santiago appeared, ensuring his presence in the battle, followed by victory.  The next day, May 23, 844, the armies of Ramiro I, encouraged by the presence of the warrior Apostle mounted on a white steed, faced the Muslim army.  Sancho, his thirteen children, 12 Galician knights and Ramiro's men obtain an enormous victory that frees the Christians from paying the ignominious tribute of the one hundred maidens "fifty nobles to marry them and the other fifty for young women."

After the victory, in honor of the Apostle Ramiro ordered the construction of the Church of the Blessed Santiago and granted Sancho certain privileges in addition to the surname Tejada in memory of the branch of a yew tree that he used as a weapon when his spear was broken in combat and that he brandished. bravely haranguing his troops in a last effort..