Page "Alfonso VII of León and Castile" Paragraph 9

In 1142, Alfonso besieged Coria a second time and took it.

In 1144, he advanced as far as Córdoba.

Two years later, the Almohads invaded and he was forced to refortify his southern frontier and come to an agreement with the Almoravid Ibn Ganiya for their mutual defence.

When Pope Eugene III preached the Second Crusade, Alfonso VII, with García Ramírez of Navarre and Ramon Berenguer IV, led a mixed army of Catalans and Franks, with a Genoese – Pisan navy, in a crusade against the rich port city of Almería, which was occupied in October 1147.

A third of the city was granted to Genoa and subsequently leased out to Otto de Bonvillano, a Genoese citizen.

It was Castile's first Mediterranean seaport.

In 1151, Alfonso signed the Treaty of Tudilén with Ramon Berenguer.

The treaty defined the zones of conquest in Andalusia in order to prevent the two rulers from coming into conflict.

Six years later, Almería entered into Almohad possession.

Alfonso was returning from an expedition against them when he died in pass of Muradel in the Sierra Morena, possibly at Viso del Marqués ( Ciudad Real ).