This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Battle of Bairén" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Battle of Bairén
Part of the Reconquista
A depiction of El Cid, who commanded the Aragonese forces in the battle.
Date 1097 Location Gandia, Spain Result Christian Victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Aragon Lordship of Valencia Kingdom of Castile	Almoravid dynasty
Commanders and leaders
Peter I of Aragon and Navarre Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar "El Cid"	Muhammad ibn Tasufin

Part of a series on the
History of Spain
Prehistory Prehistoric Iberia
Early history Pre-Roman peoples Carthaginian Spain (575–206 BCE)
Roman Hispania Roman Conquest (206–27 BCE) Hispania (218 BCE–472 CE) Romanization Diocese of Hispania
Early Middle Ages Kingdom of the Suebi (409–585) Kingdom of the Visigoths (418–721) Byzantine Spania (552–624)
Middle Ages Muslim conquest (711–716) Al-Andalus (711–1492) Reconquista (711–1492) Christian kingdoms (718–1479)
Early modern period Catholic Monarchs (1479–1516) Granada War (1482–1492) Colonisation of the Americas (1492–1898) Habsburgs (1516–1700) Golden Age (1556–1659) Iberian Union (1580–1640) Bourbons (1700–1808) War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) Nueva Planta Decrees (1707–1716)
Peninsular War Abdications of Bayonne (1808) Napoleonic Spain (1808–1813) Cortes of Cádiz (1810–1814) Constitution of Cádiz (1812) Treaty of Valençay (1813)
Absolutist restoration Sexenio Absolutista (1814–1820) Trienio Liberal (1820–1823) Ominous Decade (1823–1833)
Reign of Isabella II Regency of María Cristina (1833–1840) First Carlist War (1833–1840) Regency of Espartero (1840–1843) Década moderada (1844–1854) Second Carlist War (1846–1849) Bienio progresista (1854–1856) Glorious Revolution (1868)
Sexenio Democrático Provisional Government (1868–1871) Reign of Amadeo I (1870–1873) Third Carlist War (1872–1876) First Republic (1873–1874)
Restoration Spain Reign of Alfonso XII (1874–1885) Regency of María Cristina (1885–1902) Reign of Alfonso XIII (1886–1931) Spanish–American War (1898) Spain during World War I (1914–1918) Rif War (–1927) Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera (1923–1930) Dictablanda of Dámaso Berenguer (1930–1931)
Second Republic Provisional Government (1931) First Biennium (1931–1933) Second Biennium (1933–1936) Revolution and Asturian miners' strike (1934) 1936 general election (1936) 1936 coup d'état (1936) Civil War (1936–1939) Nationalist victory (1939)
Francoist Spain Spain during World War II (1939–1945) Blue Division (1941–1944) Spanish Maquis (1939–1965) Republican exile (1939–1977) Basque conflict (1959–2011)
Contemporary history Transition to democracy (1975–1978) Current constitution (1978) 1981 coup d'état attempt Madrid train bombings (2004) 2008–2014 financial crisis 2017 Barcelona attacks Catalan declaration of independence (2017) Coronavirus pandemic (2020–present)
Topic Economic history Law enforcement LGBT history Military history Religious history
Timeline
Spain portal History portal
v t e

The Battle of Bairén was fought between the forces of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, also known as "El Cid", in coalition with Peter I of Aragon, against the forces of the Almoravid dynasty, under the command of Muhammad ibn Tasufin. The battle was part of the long Reconquista of Spain, and resulted in a victory for the forces of the Kingdom of Aragon and the Principality of Valencia.

Rodrigo Díaz had conquered the Taifa of Valencia and established the Principality of Valencia on June 17, 1094.^[1][2] El Cid had joined forces with Peter I of Aragon later that year in Burriana to cement an alliance with the end goal of doing battle with the Almoravids. Under this agreement, El Cid departed in December 1096 with the aid of Aragonese troops to bring weapons, ammunition, and general supplies to the castle of Sierra de Benicadell. The castle itself had been retaken by "El Cid" in October 1091 to control access to Valencia from the south via the interior route. That action had taken place in the course of the operations for the "reconquista" of Levante that the Cid had undertaken before the arrival of the North African Almoravids.

Muhammad ibn Tashfin, commander of the Islamic forces, marched to intercept the combined Christian forces at Xàtiva. Throughout January 1097, from that position, he threatened and pestered the forces of El Cid and Peter I of Aragon who, nevertheless, managed to reach the castle at Sierra de Benicadell and resupply it.

Whilst "El Cid" and the king were marching north, they camped at Bairén, a place situated a few kilometers north of Gandía. The Almoravids managed to take the nearby high ground at Mondúver (at 841 meters above sea level), from where they were able to harass the Christian camp. In addition, General Muhammad had managed to bring a fleet of ships, both Almoravid and Andalusian, onto the nearby seashore from which archers and crossbowmen were able to catch the Christian forces in a crossfire.

The situation appeared desperate, but "El Cid" harangued his troops one morning, ordering them to conduct a frontal charge and assault on the Almoravid forces, breaking their center. By mid-day, the attack was in full swing. The Almoravids, taken aback by the courage and desperate nature of the attack, broke and fled the field in disarray. The chaotic nature of the Muslim retreat led many Almoravid soldiers to drown in the river which crossed their path of retreat or in the sea as they tried to reach the safety of the Almoravid armada.

The Christian army was able to come away from the battle with a great deal of victory spoils after looting the Almoravid camp. After the battle, they were able to continue, in safety, to the city of Valencia.

• Fletcher, Richard, El Cid, San Sebastián, Nerea, 2001. ISBN 84-89569-29-0. 4ª ed. 2007. ISBN 978-84-89569-29-4. Es trad. de The quest for El Cid, Londres, Hutchinson, 1989. ISBN 0-09-173889-X
• Martinez Diez, Gonzalo, El Cid histórico, Barcelona, Planeta, 1999. ISBN 84-08-03161-9
• Peña Pérez, F. Javier, Mio Cid el del Cantar. Un héroe medieval a escala humana, Madrid, Sílex, 2009. ISBN 978-84-7737-217-2

• The march of conquest of Yusuf ibn Tashfin: The birth of the Lamtuna-Banu Turjut empire
• Posición aproximada de las fuerzas beligerantes: A) El Cid y Pedro I de Aragón; B) Muhammad ibn Tasufín.
• Gonzalo Menéndez Pidal y Goyri, Peña Cadiella con la región meridional de Valencia. Itinerario del Cid y de Pedro I de Aragón en 1097 [mapa], 1929. Impreso en los Talleres del Instituto Geográfico y Catastral para ser incluido en La España del Cid, de Ramón Menéndez Pidal, págs. 570-571.

39°00′04″N 0°15′18″W / 39.00111°N 0.25500°W / 39.00111; -0.25500