Battle of Torrevicente The Battle of Torrevicente was fought on Saturday , 9 July 981 between two Córdoban generals : Galib ibn Abd al - Rahman , recently rebelled , and the loyalist Ibn Abi ‘ Amir . Two Christian forces fought as allies of Galib : the Basques under Ramiro Garcés , King of Viguera , and the Castilians under Count García Fernández . Galib was essentially continuing the policy of Abd ar - Rahman III and al - Hakam II of supremacy over the Christians and peaceful co - existence , while Ibn Abi ‘ Amir was pursuing a new policy ( signalled by his seven aggressive actions against the Christians in the previous three years ) of " jihad " . Both Ramiro and Galib died during the battle and the victory went to Ibn Abi ‘ Amir . It was the latter ' s twelfth campaign , known to Muslim sources as the " Campaign of the Victory " ( " Campaña de la Victoria " ) . The principal sources for the battle — all Arabic — are Ibn al - Khatib ( " A ‘ mal al - a ‘ lam " ) , Ibn Hazm ( " Naqt al - ‘ arus " ) , and al - Udri ( " Tarsi ‘ al - ajbar " ) , while Ibn Idari ( " Boyan " ) , al - Maqqari ( " Nafh al - tib " ) , and Ibn Alabar ( in the biography of Asma , daughter of Galib and wife of Ibn Abi ‘ Amir , in his " Tekmila " ) give brief notices . Ibn Hazm relied for his account on his father , Ahmad ibn Hazm , a vizier who took part in the battle on the side of Ibn Abi ‘ Amir , while Ibn al - Khatib appears to have relied on Ibn Hazm . No Christian or Latin source mentions the battle , but the " Anales castellanos segundos " states that in the " Era mile XVIII " , that is , the year 980 , " prendiderunt mauri Atenza " ( " the Moors took Atienza " ) . Atienza was conquered , not from the Christians , but from Galib ' s partisans as a result of their defeat at Torrevicente . The year , however , was 981 . Ibn Abi ‘ Amir left Córdoba on 4 Dhu al - Qi ' dah 370 ( 11 May 981 ) . On Thursday , 2 Muharram 371 ( 7 July 981 ) , according to Ibn al - Khatib , the armies of Galib and Ibn Abi ‘ Amir arrived before the castle of " Sant Biyant " , that is , San Vicente ( probably Torrevicente , near Atienza , as identified by Évariste Lévi - Provençal ) , as agreed upon beforehand through diplomatic channels . Friday passed without battle , perhaps out of respect for the Muslim holy day , but on Saturday combat began . According to the eye - witness account of Ibn Hazm ' s father , Ibn Abi ‘ Amir was commanding the centre of his army , while the right , composed of Berbers , was under the command of Abu Ya ‘ far ibn ‘ Ali al - Zabi and his brother Yahya , and the left was under the joint command of Ahmad ibn Hazm , Abu - l - Ahwas Ma ‘ n ibn ‘ Abd al - ‘ Aziz al - Tuyibi , and al - Hasan ibn ‘ Abd al - Wadud al - Salami . The octogenarian Galib , riding a horse and wearing a tall helmet , himself led the initial charge against the Berbers , who immediately broke ranks and fled . The left wing likewise broke under a charge and , in Ahmad ibn Hazm ' s words , each man looked out for only himself . Having dispersed both of Ibn Abi ‘ Amir ' s flanks , Galib reportedly prayed that God would aid whomever was better suited to lead the Muslims . Then , spurring his horse , he descended into a nearby ravine . His comrades , presuming he was relieving himself , did not follow , but when he was gone a long time they went in search of him and found him dead on the ground , his horse calm nearby . The cause of death was unknown . Believing Galib ' s death was a sign from God , a large group of his followers went to seek peace from Ibn Abi ‘ Amir , who , thinking it was a ploy , demanded proof of Galib ' s death . One brought his seal , another his hand , and another his horse . It was then that the Muslims inflicted a severe defeat on Galib ' s Christian allies . Galib ' s remaining Muslim troops panicked and fled in the direction of Atienza , pursued the whole way by the Ibn Abi ‘ Amir ' s forces . García managed to escape , but Ramiro was found among the dead , along with many other Christians . Muslim historians interpreted the battle as a victory over the Christians . Ibn Abi ‘ Amir followed his victory by taking Atienza and Calatayud ( " Qalat Ayub " ) , the centres of Galib ' s support , and directing a " razzia " into Castile . After sevety - eight days campaigning , he returned to Córdoba in triumph on 27 July , taking the caliphal honorific " al - Manṣūr bi - llāh " ( meaning " victorious through God " ) . It is by the medieval Latinisation of " al - Manṣūr " that Ibn Abi ‘ Amir is best known today : Almanzor . In Córdoba , Galib ' s skin was stuffed with cotton and crucified in the gate of the " alcázar " . His head , also nailed to a cross , was placed in the gateway of al - Zahira , where it remained until the destruction of that place . Both the identity and the death of Ramiro at Torrevicente has been a matter of some controversy . Ibn al - Khatib and Ibn Hazm refer to him as " Rudmir ibn San " , that is , Ramiro Sánchez . A younger son of Sancho II of Navarre did have the name Ramiro , but he appears indisputably in documents between 983 and 991 in the cartularies of San Salvador de Leyre , San Martín de Albelda , and San Juan de la Peña . He probably died in 992 . The well - known difficulties of Arab historiographers in tracking the various Sanchos and Garcías of the Navarrese royal family have led some scholars to conclude that Sánchez is an error for Garcés . Ramiro Garcés was Sancho of Navarre ' s brother and he is not known from any documents dating later than 981 . Further , he was a king , unlike Ramiro Sánchez . Antonio Ubieto Arteta and José María Lacarra , however , date Ramiro Garcés ' s death rather to 991 . A document of 15 August 981 records the donation of Sancho II of Pamplona and Urraca Fernández to Abbot Eximino of the monastery of Leyre , where Ramiro was already buried , the property in the village of Apardués that he had possessed in life , his palaces and belongings both movable and immovable . Another donation of the same year , possibly the same day , records the obligations of the village of Apardués to the monastery . Though the list of confirmants seems to demonstrate the document ' s authenticity , the three confirming bishops — Sisebutus , Atus , and Vincentus — were not all in power in 981 , but correspond perfectly with a date of 991 , in which year , on 15 February , Sancho and Urraca made a similar donation of Ramiro ' s former possessions in Navardún to the monastery of Leyre . Possibly , the donations of 981 were re - confirmed in the presence of the bishops during the ceremony of 991 .