are for immediate battle. "I am told," added the
writer, "that thou wishest for vessels to carry the war into my kingdom;
I spare thee the trouble of the voyage. Allah brings thee into my
presence that I may punish thy presumption and pride!" The indignant
Christian trampled the letter under foot, and at the same time said to
the messenger: "Tell thy master what thou hast seen! Tell him also not
to hide himself during the action: let him meet me face to face!" The
two armies engaged the 13th day of the moon Regeb, A.H. 479.[33]

[Footnote 33: October 23, A.D. 1086.]

The onset of Alfonso at the head of the Christian cavalry was so fierce
that the ranks of the Almoravides were thrown into confusion; not less
successful was Sancho, King of Navarre, against the Andalusians, who
retreated toward Badajoz. But the troops of Seville kept the field, and
fought with desperate valor: they would, however, have given way, had
not Yussef at this critical moment advanced with his reserve and his own
guard, consisting of his bravest troops, and assailed the Christians in
the rear and flanks. This unexpected movement decided the fortune of the
day. Alfonso was severely wounded and compelled to retreat, but not
until nightfall, nor until he had displayed a valor worthy of the
greatest heroes. Though his own loss was severe, amounting, according to
the Arabians, to twenty-four thousand men, that of the enemy could
scarcely be inferior, when we consider that this victory had no result;
Yussef was evidently too much weakened to profit by it.

Not long after the battle, Yussef being called to Africa by the death of
a son, the command of the Almoravides devolved on Syr ben Abu-Bekr, the
ablest of his generals. That general advanced northward, and seized some
insignificant fortresses; but the advantage was but temporary, and was
more than counterbalanced by the disasters of the following year. The
King of Saragossa, Abu-Giafar, had hoped that the defeat of Zalaca would
prevent the Christians from attacking him; but that of his allies, the
Mahometan princes, in the neighborhood, and the taking of Huesca by the
King of Navarre, convinced him how fallacious was his fancied security.
Seeing that no advantage whatever had accrued from his former
expedition, Yussef now proclaimed the Alhiged, or holy war, and invited
all the Andalusian princes to join him. In A.D. 1088, he again
disembarked at Algeziras and joined the confederates. But this presen