Battle of the Puig The Battle of the Puig , also known as the Battle of the Puig de Santa Maria , the Battle of the Puig de Enesa , or the Battle of the Puig de Cepolla was a battle of the Spanish Reconquista and of the Aragonese Conquest of Valencia . The battle took place in 1237 , pitting the forces of the Crown of Aragon , under the command of Bernat Guillem d ' Entença , against the forces of the Taifa of Valencia , under the command of Zayyan ibn Mardanish . The battle resulted in a decisive Aragonese victory and the conquest of Valencia by the crown of Aragon . Context . The Almohades had successfully integrated the Emirates of the Iberian Peninsula together with those in North Africa into a somewhat unstable political entity . The Almohad governors of Balansiya , Zayd Abu Abd Allah Muhammad and Zayd Abu Zayd were able to act with complete autonomy , including giving titles of kingship . They never exercised this right by coined money or renouncing their fealty to the Almohad Caliphate or to its emperor . After the Almohad defeat at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa , the empire disintegrated and fractured in smaller kingdoms called taifas . The most important of these were the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada or Emirate of Granada , the Hafsid Taifa of Tunisia , the Banu Zian Taifa of Algeria , and Marinid controlled Morocco . In 1224 , James I of Aragon called on his nobles from Aragon and Catalonia to initiate the conquest of Muslim controlled Balansiya , entering the area through Teruel . Zayd Abu Zayd promptly asked the Aragonese monarch for a truce which he accepted in return for one fifth of the income from Balansiya and Mursiyya . During the summer of 1225 , James I attempted to take the castle at Peñíscola by laying siege to it . That siege was ultimately unsuccessful as the Aragonese nobles abandoned it . By 1228 , an indigenous Valencian - Muslim rebellion led by Ibn Hud , gained enough support to take the city of Madina Mursiyya and to dominate the regions of Orihuela , Dénia , Gandia , Xàtiva , and Al - Yazirat Suquar . The rebellion further laid siege to Balensiya itself , albeit unsuccessfully due to the menace of a relief force from the Kingdom of Castile . Ibn Hud retired to Madina Mursiyya without taking Balensiya . The pact between the Christian king and Abū Zayd caused many Muslims to switch their allegiance in favor of Zayyan ibn Mardanish , the grandson of Abu al - Hajjaj , thinking that Abū Zayd had betrayed them and abandoned Islam . Abū Zayd fled Valencia and headed north while Zayyan triumphantly entered the city in the winter of 1229 without proclaiming himself king . From Madina Mursiyya , the anit - Almohad rebel , Ibn Hud , laid siege to Valencia , pressuring Zayyan into abandoning the city . James I of Aragon , who had recently conquered Majorca in 1229 , decided to try once again to conquer the Taifa of Valencia . The Campaign for Valencia . In 1235 , the Crown of Aragon was conducting attacks in the area around Balansiya at Albalat and Cullera , but the Christian army was forced to retire . On 25 June 1235 , James I of Aragon laid siege to the castle at Foios on the outskirts of Balansiya . The Muslims fighting for Zayyan ibn Mardanish , who were forced to retire to the south , destroyed the fortifications at El Puig . James I met with the dethroned Emir Abū Zayd in Teruel to establish a new pact between them . Instead of his signature , the document was stamped with Abū Zayd ' s crest , an eagle and the Castilian motto : " Sciello de Ceit Buceit nieto de [ Emir al ] Momenin " . The date was set at 28 May 1236 and it stipulated that a fourth of the territory of Valencia would go to Abū Zayd upon the conquest and that Abū Zayd and his descendants would declare themselves the vassals of James I and of any children he had with Violant of Hungary . It was at this time that Abu Zayd had converted to Christianity and adopted the name Vicens Bellvis . He married a woman from Zaragoza named María Ferrandia . Some sources incorrectly cite one " Dominga López " . In the documents from 1236 , the Catalan and Aragonese forces are already preparing for their eventual attack on Balensiya . On 13 October 1236 , the cohorts of Monzón attempted the conquest . On a document dated to the 28th of October issued in Lérida , James I proclaimed that once the city of Valencia was conquered , he would donate to its church , saying : " " apud Montesonum in curia generali quam convocavimus pro facienda exercitus contra mauros " " . The same day he promised to turn the city ' s central mosque into a Catholic church . On November 13 , James I issued a decree stating that once the city was taken , the church of Valencia would become a dependent of the See of Tarragona . In further preparation for Valencian life after the conquest , James I decreed that the provincial master for the Order of the Temple would have the power to mint coinage in its territories . The Campaign in Palancia . After the Siege of Burriana and the Siege of Cullera , James I of Aragon positioned himself for the final push into the Province of Valencia . He gathered his forces at Monzón on 28 October 1236 where he gained approval from Pope Gregory IX to name the conquest an official Crusade by order of Papal Bull on 2 February 1237 . After encamping in Montpellier from the end of 1236 through the beginnings of 1237 , the army concentrated on Teruel and followed the Palancia River , taking La Vall d ' Uixó , Nules , and Almenara . They further took the towns of Bétera , Paterna , Moncada , and finally El Puig on 25 June 1237 which was situated close to the city of Balensiya . The Aragonese forces rebuilt the fortifications of El Puig , building a wall of mud and stone that stretched all the way to the sea . After 2 months , the defensive works were ready and the castle was occupied by a garrison of 100 knights and many more peasants commanded by Bernat Guillem d ' Entença , a relative of the king . According to the Muslim historian Ibn Khaldun , from 16 September to 4 September of 1236 , the Christians had attacked the Saracens , building seven encampments , two of which were concentrated against Balansiya , Al - Yazirat Suquar , and Xàtiva . While Castilian forces took the city of Córdoba under the command of the Castilian king , James I took power over the majority of the Castilians in his area of operations . After building a castle at Enesa to facilitate his besieging of Balansiya , he returned home . The Battle . Zayyan ibn Mardanish mustered the people of Játiva and the Júcar and advanced towards El Puig . According to the chronicles of James I , his force numbered around 600 knights and 11 , 000 peasants or foot soldiers . He attacked the Aragonese forces on 15 August 1237 . According to the Muslim historian Ahmed Mohammed al - Maqqari , the attack occurred shortly after James I had left El Puig for Huesca . Ibn al - Abbar , who had been Abū Zayd ' s secretary when he presided over Valencia , became Zayyan ' s scribe after Aby Zayd left the city . He recorded the battle as having happened around noon . The Muslim Almohad forces under Zayyan were routed and a great many of their soldiers were slain in the action . Amongst the Almohad dead was the preacher Aburrebii ibn Salim Elcolaí " the wise " . When news reached James I of Aragon of the victory , he traveled to the site of the battle where he remained a few days , after which time he returned to Aragon . This decisive Aragonese victory had a great influence over the overall fight for the control of Balensiya . After the battle , the number of Christian forces in the region swelled , forcing many Muslims to flee south . Consequences . Whilst James I of Aragon was in Aragon , the commander of the Aragonese army at El Puig , Bernat Guillem d ' Entença , died of wounds received during the action . This greatly disheartened the nobles , especially those of Aragon . At the council of magnates , Blasco I of Alagonia , speaking on behalf of many other barons , voiced that it would be better to evacuate El Puig and temporarily abandon the gains made during that portion of the campaign . James I refused to follow the advice of the nobles and proceeded to continue the campaign . The king again returned to El Puig de Santa Maria on 24 January 1238 , bringing with him the son of Bernat Guillem d ' Entença , Guillem d ' Entença who was about 10 to 11 years of age at the time . In front of all the nobles present and the representatives of the military orders , the king knighted Guillem and pronounced him the heir to all the titles and lands of his father . He further provisionally appointed Berenguer de Entenza as a captain of the castle . The gestures made by the king did little to halt the opposition to the continuation of the campaign . On the contrary , once knowing that the king was en rounte , a large portion of the garrison at Puig met secretly and agreed to abandon their position . One of the Dominican friars who resided in the garrison denounced the plot against the king . The following day , he gave a sermon to the nobles of the castle who there after promised to continue the fight until victory . Once back at the Puig , James I received a message from Zayyan offering all the castles from the Turia River to Tortosa and Teruel , the construction of a lavish palace for the king in Saïda Province and the payment of ten thousand besantes annually in return for James ' promise to abandon his attack of the capital . James I of Aragon responded negatively to the offer citing the changed circumstances and proceeded with his conquest .