The Battle of Simancas (also called Alhandega or al-Khandaq) was a military battle that started on July 19, 939, in the Iberian Peninsula between the troops of the Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 king Ramiro II of León

Ramiro II of León

Ramiro II , son of Ordoño II, was King of León from 931 until his death. Initially titular king only of a lesser part of Asturias, he gained the crown of León after his brother Alfonso IV abdicated in 931...

 and Muslim caliph Abd al-Rahman III near the walls of the city of Simancas

Simancas

Simancas is a town and municipality of central Spain, located in the province of Valladolid, part of the autonomous community of Castile and León...

. The battle decided the control of the lands of the Duero.

The battle unfolded after the army of Abd al-Rahman III launched toward the northern Christian territories in 934. Abd al-Rahman III had gathered a large army of Moorish

Moors

The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...

 fighters, with the help of the Moorish governor of Zaragoza

Zaragoza

Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...

, Abu Yahya. The Christian king Ramiro II led the counterattack with an army constituted of his own troops, those of the Count Fernan Gonzalez, the Navarrese under García Sánchez I, the Kingdom of Galicia, and the Kingdom of Asturias

Kingdom of Asturias

The Kingdom of Asturias was a Kingdom in the Iberian peninsula founded in 718 by Visigothic nobles under the leadership of Pelagius of Asturias. It was the first Christian political entity established following the collapse of the Visigothic kingdom after Islamic conquest of Hispania...

.

Arab witnesses chronicle a spectacular eclipse of the sun that took place on the first day of the battle:

As the army arrived near Simancas, there was an awful eclipse of the sun that covered the earth of a dark yellow amid the day and it filled us and the infidels with terror as neither had seen in their life such a thing as this. Two days passed without either side making any movement.

The battle lasted some days, with the Christian troops emerging victorious and routing the Moorish forces.