Battle of Monte Laturce The Battle of Monte Laturce , also known as the second Battle of Albelda , was a victory for the forces of Ordoño I of the Kingdom of Asturias and his ally García Íñiguez of Pamplona . They defeated the latter ' s uncle and former ally , the Banu Qasi lord of Borja , Tarazona , Terrer , and Tudela , Musa ibn Musa , a marcher baron so powerful and independent that he was called by a Muslim chronicler " The Third King of Spain " . The battle took place during the Asturian siege of a new fortress under construction by Musa at Albelda . The fortress was taken a few days after the battle . After Monte Laturce , Musa was forced to fully submit to the Emir of Córdoba , who took advantage of Musa ' s weakness to remove him as wāli of the Upper March , initiating a decade - long eclipse of the Banu Qasi . The " Chronicle of Alfonso III " relates how , in an unspecified year , Ordoño marched against the Musa while the latter was constructing a massive fortification at Albelda . While the Asturian monarch circumvallated the new fortress , Musa camped his army on the nearby hill of Monte Laturce , hoping to force the raising of the siege . Ordoño divided his forces , leaving one half to tend to the ongoing siege and taking the other to challenge Musa . In a pitched battle the Muslims were routed ; Musa was severely injured and barely evaded capture , while his Basque son - in - law , García ( distinct from García Íñiguez ) , was killed . The Christians counted 12 , 000 Muslim cavalry among the dead , and in the Muslim camp were found the treasures which Charles the Bald , king of West Francia , had recently sent to the Muslim warlord . Ordoño then concentrated all his men on taking the fortress , which they did on the seventh day of the siege . Its defenders were executed and then its walls razed . Musa ' s son , Lubb ibn Musa , the governor of Toledo , on learning of his father ' s defeat , immediately submitted to Ordoño and remained loyal to him until his death . The battle appears to have impressed itself on the memory of its generation ( at least regionally ) , for the Riojan " Chronica Prophetica " ( composed in 882 ) contains a regnal list of Asturian kings coloured with a few annotations . Besides the name and reign of Ordoño I is the notice " Ipse allisit Albaida " : This one destroyed Albelda . The Battle of Monte Laturce provided aspects for the fictional Battle of Clavijo . The " Chronica Albeldensis " , probably composed in Rioja and possibly by an eye - witness , records that Ordoño entered the city of Albelda after a bloody siege , adding that Musa was spreading lies from his encampment atop Monte Laturce before his army was annihilated . He himself was pierced by an arrow and would have been captured had not a friend of his — " a Christian soldier in another time , " the " Chronica " says — offered his own horse to save Musa ' s life . The rout of Monte Laturce is usually dated to 859 or 860 . The only source which may directly speak of Monte Laturce under the year 859 is Ibn al - Athir , who wrote that in 245 AH ( which began 7 April 859 ) the Muslim governor of Tarazona ( who is known to have been Musa at the time ) invaded the Kingdom of Pamplona and captured a Christian castle , taking its inhabitants prisoner . The next day he was defeated in battle and many Muslims lost their lives as martyrs . The " Chronicle of Alfonso III " records that , after the Battle of Albelda in 851 , and partly by means of war , partly by treachery , Musa captured two Frankish leaders , Sancho and Emenon , whom he threw into a dungeon . The date of Sancho and Emenon ' s capture is not given . The " gifts " from the Charles the Bald which Ordoño ' s soldiers found in the camp of Musa at Monte Laturce may have been the ransom paid for Sancho and Emenon , in which case their capture occurred prior to 859 / 60 .