Battle of Huete The Battle of Huete took place in 1164 between the Lara family and its allies , and the Castro family and its supporters . It was part of the civil war which engulfed the Kingdom of Castile following the death of Sancho III ( 1158 ) , wherein competing factions sought control of his minor son and successor , Alfonso VIII . In 1162 the same two factions had met at the Battle of Lobregal . At Huete the Lara leaders were the three brothers Manrique , Nuño , and Álvaro Pérez de Lara . The Castro were led by Fernando Rodríguez de Castro , who had been in exile at the court of Ferdinand II of León since 1160 . Fernando was with the court of León at least as late as 16 April , but by early summer he was in the castle of Huete in Toledo amassing forces for an invasion of Castile . According to the mid - thirteenth - century " Crónica de la población de Ávila " the town of Ávila joined with the king and " his other vassals " , obviously the Lara and their allies , and " went to besiege Toledo " , where Fernando was . It explains how the Castilians " chased Fernando from place to place " and forced him to abandon the kingdom , that is , the kingdom of Toledo , which Ferdinand of León had conquered in 1162 . It is probable that Fernando fled to Huete at this time . Manrique , bringing the child Alfonso VIII along with him , led a force against Fernando at Huete . In the words of the " Chronica latina regum castellae " , " at that time Count Manrique fought against Fernando Rodríguez , who had with him the people of Huete . The Count had with him the child [ king ] " . Fernando ' s troops were drawn from Toledo and the Transierra , especially the towns of Huete , Toledo , and Zorita . According to the late " Crónica de Veinte Reyes " Manrique demanded that Fernando turn over the castle of Huete , but the latter refused , citing Sancho III ' s command that tenants should continue to hold their royal fiefs until Alfonso VIII came of age . Manrique then ordered his brother Nuño to guard the young king and take him to Zorita if he was in any danger . Battle was joined in front of Huete and , as at Lobregal , the Castro were the victors . This time Manrique was killed in the field by Fernando . Nevertheless the young Alfonso remained in the control of the Lara and Fernando was forced to return to León . After Manrique ' s death , his brothers led the retreat to Zorita with the king and from there to Ávila , where the prelates with them negotiated their reception and afterwards a cessation to hostilities . The date of this battle is uncertain . The " Anales toledanos primeros " date it to 9 July and note Manrique ' s death : " They killed Count Manrique on the ninth day of the month of July in the Era 1202 < nowiki > [ < / nowiki > AD 1164 ] . " There is a charter in the " Becerro mayor de Aguilar de Campoo " ( the main cartulary of the monastery of Santa María la Real de Aguilar ) dated 21 June 1164 , an earlier source than the " Anales " , that places the battle on 3 June : . . . in the year this charter was written when Fernando Rodríguez with those of Toledo and of Huete fought with the count Don Manrique and this same count Don Manrique was killed , and many other Castilians [ with him ] . . . This charter was made on the fifth day of the week , the eleventh kalends of July [ Thursday , 21 June ] . Under the Era 1202 [ AD 1164 ] . Fifteen and three days before this charter was made [ 3 June ] Count Don Manrique and his knights were killed . The cartulary copy of this charter is much later than 1164 and it is not improbable that its dating clause is in error .