Editing Almanzor (section)

==== Santiago de Compostela and his later campaigns ====
In 996, he again launched a raid on León and destroyed Astorga{{Sfn|Castellanos Gómez|2002|p=116}} to force them to resume the tribute payments.{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2005|p=557}}{{Sfn|Lévi Provençal|1957|p=42}} In the summer of 997, he devastated Santiago de Compostela,{{Sfn|Sánchez Candeira|1999|p=24}}{{Sfn|Echevarría Arsuaga|2011|p=156}}{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2005|p=558}} after the Bishop, Pedro de Mezonzo, evacuated the city.{{Sfn|Lévi Provençal|1957|p=424}} In a combined operation involving his own land troops, those of Christian allies{{Sfn|Castellanos Gómez|2002|p=127}} and the fleet,{{Sfn|Castellanos Gómez|2002|p=128}} Almanzor's forces reached the city in mid-August.{{Sfn|Lévi Provençal|1957|p=424}} They burned the [[Pre-Romanesque art and architecture|pre-Romanesque]] temple dedicated to the apostle [[James the Great]],{{Sfn|Castellanos Gómez|2002|p=128}} and said to contain his tomb.{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2005|p=483}}{{Sfn|Sánchez Candeira|1999|p=24}}{{Sfn|Echevarría Arsuaga|2011|p=156}}{{Sfn|Lévi Provençal|1957|p=424}} The prior removal of the saint's [[relic]]s allowed the continuity of the [[Camino de Santiago]], a pilgrimage route that had begun to attract pilgrims in the previous century.{{Sfn|Lévi Provençal|1957|p=423}} The campaign was a great triumph for the chamberlain at a delicate political moment, as it coincided with the breakdown of his long alliance with Subh.{{Sfn|Echevarría Arsuaga|2011|p=156}} The Leonese setback was so great that it allowed Almanzor to settle a Muslim population in Zamora on his return from Santiago,{{Sfn|Lévi Provençal|1957|p=424}} while the bulk of the troops in Leonese territory remained in Toro.{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2005|p=561}} He then imposed peace terms on the Christian magnates that allowed him to forego campaigning in the north in 998, the first year this happened since 977.{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2005|p=561}}

In 999, he made his last foray to the eastern borderlands, where, after passing through Pamplona,{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2005|p=562}} he sacked [[Manresa]] and the plains of [[Bages]].{{Sfn|Bramon|1994|p=128}}{{Sfn|Castellanos Gómez|2002|p=133}} In April he attacked the [[County of Pallars]],{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2005|p=562}} governed by the kin of the mother of count Sancho García of Castile.{{Sfn|Castellanos Gómez|2002|p=132}} It is suggested that the attacks could have been triggered by the Pamplonan king and Catalan counts ceasing to pay tribute to Córdoba, taking advantage of Almanzor's distraction in crushing Ziri ibn Atiyya.{{Sfn|Castellanos Gómez|2002|p=133}}

Also in 999, the death of Bermudo II in September produced a new minority in León through the ascent to the throne of [[Alfonso V of León|Alfonso V]],{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2005|p=562}}{{Sfn|Lévi Provençal|1957|p=425}} but this did not prevent the formation of a broad anti-Córdoba alliance that united not just the people of Pamplona and Castile,{{Sfn|Bariani|2003|p=219}}{{Sfn|Cañada Juste|1992|p=387}} but also the ancient Christian clients of Almanzor.{{Sfn|Echevarría Arsuaga|2011|p=159}} Sancho of Castile, until then a faithful ally who had managed to avoid the incursions of Córdoba into his territory, joined the alliance{{Sfn|Lévi Provençal|1957|p=425}} and provoked Almanzor into launching an attack.{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2005|p=568}} To his great surprise, the Castilian Count assembled a large force bringing together his own troops and those of his allies,{{Sfn|Lévi Provençal|1957|p=425}}{{Sfn|Bariani|2003|p=220}} who intercepted the Córdoban units north of Clunia{{Sfn|Lévi Provençal|1957|p=426}} in a strong defensive position.{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2005|p=568}} In the hard-fought [[battle of Cervera]]{{Sfn|Bariani|2003|p=219}} (29 July 1000),{{Sfn|Echevarría Arsuaga|2011|p=159}}{{Sfn|Cañada Juste|1992|p=387}}{{Sfn|Molina|1981|p=262}}{{Sfn|Castellanos Gómez|2002|p=134}} Almanzor's side gained the victory,{{Sfn|Castellanos Gómez|2002|p=134}}{{Sfn|Cañada Juste|1992|p=374}} after the rout of much of his army{{Sfn|Bariani|2003|p=220}}{{Sfn|Lévi Provençal|1957|p=426}} through the intervention of eight hundred cavalry.{{Sfn|Echevarría Arsuaga|2011|p=178}}{{Sfn|Lévi Provençal|1957|p=427}}

After the victory, at the end of the year Almanzor made another strike at the western border, where he took Montemor-o-Velho on December 2, 1000,{{Sfn|Cañada Juste|1992|p=388}}{{Sfn|Castellanos Gómez|2002|p=136}} after overcoming fierce resistance.{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2005|p=572}} For its part, the kingdom of Pamplona suffered several attacks after the defeat of Cervera,{{Sfn|Castellanos Gómez|2002|p=137}} in 1000 and again in 1001 and 1002.{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2005|p=575}} After Cervera, Almanzor accelerated the number of strikes, despite being sick{{Sfn|Bariani|2003|p=220}}{{Sfn|Lévi Provençal|1957|p=427}} and needing to be carried on a [[Litter (rescue basket)|litter]] at times.{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2005|p=575}}

His last campaign, also victorious, was made in 1002,{{Sfn|Sánchez Candeira|1999|p=24}}{{Sfn|Lévi Provençal|1957|p=427}} when he was mortally ill, having suffered from [[gout]]y arthritis for twenty years.{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2005|p=577}}{{Sfn|Castellanos Gómez|2002|p=137}}{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2005|p=580}} He aimed to avenge the quasi-rout of Cervera and punish the Castilian count Sancho, architect of the alliance that almost defeated him.{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2005|p=578}} [[San Millán de la Cogolla]], dedicated to the patron saint of Castile and in the territory of Pamplona, allied with Sancho, was sacked and burned; in Pamplona, Almanzor ordered a retreat due to his worsening health,{{Sfn|Sánchez Candeira|1999|p=24}}{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2005|p=579}} and he died en route to Córdoba before reaching the capital.{{Sfn|Martínez Díez|2005|p=577}}{{Sfn|Sánchez Candeira|1999|p=24}}{{Sfn|Castellanos Gómez|2002|p=137}}

The victorious campaigns of Almanzor were due to his skills as a military tactician and the army he commanded, which was a highly professionalized force of a size that dwarfed any counterattack that the Christian kings and counts could mount to meet him: "rarely above 1000 knights or 2000 or 3000 men in total." They had few weeks in spring or summer to gather what was often no more than a few hundred knights and men.<ref>{{cite book| last=García Fitz| first=Francisco| year=2014| url=https://www.academia.edu/7551732 |article=La batalla de Las Navas de Tolosa: el impacto de un acontecimiento extraordinario"| title=Las Navas de Tolosa 1212–2012: miradas cruzadas|editor1= Patrice Cressier| editor2=Vicente Salvatierra Cuenca| isbn=978-84-8439-830-1|pages=11–36| publisher=Universidad de Jaén}}</ref> "The most frequent average seems to have been a knight for every two or three auxiliary riders (squires and others) and one of these for every two or three [[peon]]s."{{Sfn|Montaner Frutos|Boix Jovaní|2005|p=143|ps=: "La media más frecuente parece haber sido un caballero por cada dos o tres jinetes auxiliares (escuderos y otros) y de uno de estos por cada dos o tres peones."}} In those days an army of ten or fifteen thousand men – a third knights and the rest peons – was the maximum concentration of forces that a medieval ruler could muster when presenting battle.{{Sfn|Montaner Frutos|Boix Jovaní|2005|p=144|ps=: "Un ejército de diez o quince mil hombres se considera de todo punto excepcional y pocos historiadores estarían dispuestos a admitir que en alguna ocasión ese número fuera realmente alcanzado por una hueste durante una batalla."}} For example, Muslim campaigns had formations of only one thousand to ten thousand men.{{Sfn|Cardaillac|2002|p=341}} "An army of ten or fifteen thousand men is considered in every way exceptional and few historians would be willing to admit that on some occasion that number was actually reached by a host during a battle."{{Sfn|Montaner Frutos|Boix Jovaní|2005|p=144|ps=: "Un ejército de diez o quince mil hombres se considera de todo punto excepcional y pocos historiadores estarían dispuestos a admitir que en alguna ocasión ese número fuera realmente alcanzado por una hueste durante una batalla."}}

In his campaigns Almanzor emphasized cavalry operations, so much so that he had reserved the islands of the [[Guadalquivir]] for horse breeding.{{Sfn|Fletcher|1991|p=23}}{{Sfn|Vara|2012|}} These marshes around Seville, [[Huelva]] and [[Cádiz]] had suitable pastures for raising horses.{{Sfn|Fletcher|1999|p=39}}{{Sfn|Fletcher|2000|p=70}} Mules were imported from the [[Balearic Islands]] and camels from Africa, the latter raised in the semi-desert area between [[Murcia]] and [[Lorca, Spain|Lorca]].{{Sfn|Fletcher|1999|p=39}} According to Vallvé, "Normally participating in his campaigns were twelve thousand horsemen, enrolled in the military hierarchy and provided, in addition to that customarily due the usual soldier, with a horse with their harnesses, weapons, accommodation, payments and bonuses for various expenses, and fodder for their horses, based on their role."{{Sfn|Vallvé Bermejo|1992|p=125|ps=: "Normalmente participaban en sus aceifas doce mil hombres de a caballo, inscritos en la escalilla militar y a los que, además de la acostumbrada soldada, se les proporcionaban una caballería con sus arreos, armas, alojamiento, pagas y gratificaciones para diversos gastos, y forraje para las caballerías, según su categoría."}}