Conquest of Zaragoza (1118)

The city of Zaragoza, which had once been the capital of the Taifa of Zaragoza,^[1] had about 25,000 inhabitants counting its periphery.^[2] It had been previously besieged by Alfonso VI of León in 1086, by Sancho Ramírez in 1091,^[1] and by Alfonso the Battler himself in 1110.^[3] The siege began in May 1118.^[4] In addition to the Argonese and the Navarrese, the attacking contingent also included the French, Castilians, and Catalans. The siege was also joined by such nobles as Gastón de Béarn and his half-brother Centule II, Count of Bigorre.^[5] The monk Pedro de Librana carried the indulgence papal,^[6] granted by the pontiff Gelasius II in December 1118.^[7]

The small defending Almoravid garrison, which lacked a leader after the death of Governor Ibn Tifilwit in 1116, received external support from troops commanded by the Granada governor Abd Allah. ibn Mazdali,^[7] who died on November 16, demoralizing the defending troops.^[8] The Almoravids capitulated on December 11, 1118, and the Christian troops triumphantly entered the city on the 18th of that month.^[4] Despite the abundant siege weapons arranged by the army of Alfonso during the siege, the capitulation of the city seemed to have been due more so to the hunger suffered by the besieged.^[9] The Christians also suffered from hunger during the siege.^[7]

After the conquest of Zaragoza, Alfonso continued the military campaign capturing Tudela and Tarazona the following year.^[10] As a result of capturing the city of Zaragoza, the fortified city of Jaca would lose importance in the years that followed.^[11]