The Battle of Toro was part of the War of the Castilian Succession, fought on 1 March 1476, near the city of Toro, between the Castilian-Aragonese troops of the Catholic Monarchs and the Portuguese-Castilian forces of Afonso V and Prince John of Portugal.
The battle was militarily inconclusive,Desormeaux p. 25: "...The result of the battle was very uncertain; Ferdinand defeated the enemy's right wing led by Alfonso, but the Prince had the same advantage over the Castilians".Marlés: "...the infant [Prince John] and the duke [of Alba, the main Castilian commander] remained masters, each on his side, of the battlefield. The latter withdrew during the night...", p. 190.Schaeffer pp. 554–555: "The two Kings had left the battlefield before the action was decided... In the end, the prince stood alone on the field as a winner after the defeat of the main [Portuguese] body. Until that defeat, [Prince] John chased the six divisions beaten by him..."McMurdo, p. 515: "...the battle of Toro in which both adversaries proclaimed themselves conquerors, (...) it was no more than a success of war sufficiently doubtful for either party, ...were it not that the cause of D. Alfonso V was already virtually lost by the successive defection of his partisans..."Damas, p. 35: "But Alfonso failed to defeat the supporters of Isabella and Ferdinand, and the battle of Toro (1476) resulted indecisive." as both sides claimed victory: the Castilian right wing was defeated by the forces under Prince John who possessed the battlefield, but the troops of Afonso V were beaten by the Castilian left-centre led by the Duke of Alba and Cardinal Mendoza.Bury, p. 523: "After nine months, occupied with frontier raids and fruitless negotiations, the Castilian and Portuguese armies met at Toro...and fought an indecisive battle, for while Afonso was beaten and fled, his son john destroyed the forces opposed to him."Dumont, p. 49: "In the centre, leading the popular milicia, Ferdinand achieves victory taking the standards of the King of Portugal and causing his troops to flee. In the [Portuguese] right wing, the forces of Cardinal [Mendoza] and Duke of Alba and the nobles do the same. But in the [Portuguese] left Wing, in front of the Asturians and Galician, the reinforcement army of the Prince heir of Portugal, well provided with artillery, could leave the battlefield with its head high. The battle resulted this way, inconclusive. But its global result stays after that decided by the withdrawal of the Portugal's King [not as its direct consequence since this only happened three months and a half later, on 13 June 1476, after several military operations], the surrender of the Zamora's fortress on Mars 19, and the multiple adhesions of the nobles to the young princes."
However, it was a major political victory for the Catholic Monarchs by assuring to Isabella the throne of Castile:Rubio, p. 34: "The solution of this conflict is also similar to the previous one. The indecisive battle of Toro, which was certainly not in its results and consequences, puts an end to the indubitable "Portuguese danger" to Castile".Castell, p. 132: "The King of Portugal simply remained on the defensive; the first March 1476, he was attacked by Ferdinand of Aragon in front of the town of Toro. The battle was indecisive, but [with] the supporters of the Catholic Monarchs asserting their superiority, the Portuguese King withdrew". The remnants of the nobles loyal to Juana de Trastámara adhered to Isabella. With great political vision, Isabella took advantage of the moment and summoned the 'Cortes' at Madrigal-Segovia (April–October 1476).Lunenfeld, p. 27: "In 1476, immediately after the indecisive battle of Peleagonzalo, Ferdinand and Isabella hailed the result as a great victory and called the 'Cortes' at Madrigal. The newly created prestige was used to gain municipal support from their allies...". See also p. 29. There her daughter was proclaimed heiress of Castile's crown, which was equivalent to legitimising her own throne.
As noted by Spanish academic António Serrano: "From all of this it can be deduced that the battle [of Toro] was inconclusive, but Isabella and Ferdinand made it fly with wings of victory. (...) Actually, since this battle transformed in victory; since 1 March 1476, Isabella and Ferdinand started to rule the Spanish throne. (...) The inconclusive wings of the battle became the secure and powerful wings of San Juan's eagle [the commemorative temple of the battle of Toro] ".Serrano, pp. 55–70.
The war continued until the peace of Alcáçovas (1479), and the official propaganda transformed the Battle of Toro into a victory which avenged Aljubarrota.Torres p. 303: "...later... were those [attempts] of Alfonso V to the Castilian crown [that] also finished by tiredness and not by the indecisive battle of Toro, which was transformed by the Spanish in another Aljubarrota..."Lozoya, p. 85: "This famous Franciscan convent [San Juan de los Reyes] intended to be a replica of the Batalha [the Portuguese monastery built after Aljubarrota], and was built to commemorate the indecisive battle of Toro."Spanish historian Beretta, p. 56: "His moment is the inconclusive Battle of Toro.(...) both sides attributed themselves the victory (...) The letters written by the King [Ferdinand] to the main cities (...) are a model of skill. (...) what a powerful description of the battle! The nebulous transforms into light, the doubtful acquires the profile of a certain triumph. The politic [Ferdinand] achieved the fruits of a discussed victory."Palenzuela: "That is the battle of Toro. The Portuguese army had not been exactly defeated, however, the sensation was that D. Juana's cause had completely sunk. It made sense that for the Castilians Toro was considered as the divine retribution, the compensation desired by God to compensate the terrible disaster of Aljubarrota, still alive in the Castilian memory". (Electronic version).
Overview Spanish historians Luis Suárez Fernández, Juan de Mata Carriazo and Manuel Fernández Álvarez :
Precedents
Background
The death of Henry IV of Castile, in 1474, led to a succession crisis and the formation of two rival parties: Isabella, the King's half sister, received the support of the majority of the noblemen, clerks and people, whereas Juana de Trastámara, the King's daughter, was supported by some powerful nobles.Palenzuela.
This rivalry degenerated in civil war and the Portuguese King Afonso V intervened in the defence of his niece Juana's rights, to whom he married. He tried to unify the crowns of Castile and Portugal as an alternative to the union of Castile with Aragon, personified in the marriage of Isabella to Ferdinand, the heir of Aragon's throne.
Burgos expedition: turning point of the war
After some skirmishes, Afonso V's army marched for the rescue of the besieged castle inside Burgos. On the way, at Baltanás, it defeated and imprisoned a force of 400 spearmen of the Count of Benavente (18 – XI – 1475)Pina, 3rd book, chapter CLXXX. and also took Cantalapiedra, reaching the distance of only 60 km from Burgos.Fernández, p. 139.
The Castilian allies pressed Afonso V to advance south towards Madrid, where they assured him many supporters. The King, who did not want to stretch his communication lines with Portugal, did not listen to them and withdrew leaving Burgos to its fate. The city surrendered on 28 January 1476, and Afonso's prestige sank. It is the turning point of the war: Ocaña and other places changed side, the Estuñiga family defected, the mighty Marquis of Villena, Diego López Pacheco, denied his military support and the Juanista band began its dissolution.
Zamora: prelude to the Battle of Toro Afonso V preferred to secure its line of cities and strongholds along the Duero River, but on 4 December 1475, a part of the Zamora's garrisona key Juanista cityrebelled and besieged the inner fortress, where the Portuguese took refuge. Ferdinand II of Aragon entered the city next day.
At the end of January 1476, Afonso V received the reinforcement troops led by his own son, the Perfect Prince,Title awarded to him by Lope de Vega in his piece The Perfect Prince, part I. and in the middle of February 1476, the combined Portuguese forces besieged Ferdinand's Army (locked inside the city of Zamora), putting him in the curious situation of besieger being besieged.
After two cold and rainy weeks, the besiegers decided to leave and rest in the city of Toro. Ferdinand pursued and reached them near Toro, where both armies decided to engage in battle.
Disposition of the forces
Isabelist army of D. Ferdinand
Centre: Commanded by Ferdinand, it included the royal guard and forces of several hidalgos, like Count of Lemos and the mayordomo mayor Enrique Enriquez. It was formed mainly by popular militias of several cities like Zamora, Ciudad Rodrigo or Valladolid.Pulgar, chapter XLV. Right wing: it had 6 divisions ("batallas" or "battles") of light cavalry or jennets,Góis, chapters LXXVII and LXXVIII (description of both armies). Sometimes Góis mentions 6 divisions in the Castilian right and other times 2 big divisions, because the Castilian right wing was divided in two parts: 5 advanced battles and a rear one (as a reserve). commanded by their captains: Álvaro de Mendoza (the main captain), the Bishop of Ávila and Alfonso de Fonseca (these two men shared the command of one battle), Pedro de Guzmán, Bernal Francés, Vasco de Vivero and Pedro de Velasco. This wing is sometimes called vanguard as some of his men closely followed the Portuguese from Zamora to Toro. It was divided in two lines: five battles at the forefront and one in the rear. Left wing: here were many knights with heavy armour, divided in 3 corps: the left one, near the Portuguese, commanded by Admiral Enríquéz; the centre one, led by Cardinal Mendoza, and on the right, the force headed by the Duke of Alba. It was the most powerful. Reserve forces: the men of Enrique Enríquez, Count of Alba de Aliste (King Ferdinand's uncle and Galicia's governor, who would be taken prisoner by the Portuguese); and the horsemen from the marquis of Astorga.
The foot soldiers were in the middle of all those battles. In practical terms, the Isabelist army fought on two separate fronts: right wing and left-centre or Royal Battle (due to the presence of Ferdinand).
Portuguese-Castilian army of Afonso V / The Perfect Prince
Centre: commanded by Afonso V, it was formed by the knights of several noblemen from his House and the Castilian knights loyal to D. Juana led by Rui Pereira. It also had 4 bodies of footmen with their backs turned to the Duero River. Right wing: troops of some Portuguese nobles and the Castilians of the Toledo's Archbishop, Alfonso Carrillo. Left wing: here were the elite troops of the kingdom (chevaliers) together with the army's artillery (arquebusiers) and the javelin throwers. It was commanded by the Perfect Prince, who had as his main captain the Bishop of Évora. It included a rear guard battle under Pedro de Meneses.Góis, chapters LXXVII and LXXVIII.
Because of the split of leadership between the King and Prince, the Portuguese army also fought divided into two parts which did not help each other:Mattoso, p. 382. left wing or Prince's battle and right-centre or Royal Battle.
Battle
The Perfect Prince defeats the right wing of Ferdinand's army The forces of Prince John and of the Bishop of Évora, formed by arquebusiers, javelin throwers, and by the Portuguese elite knights, screaming "St. George! St. George!", invested the six bodies or battles in the right wing of the Castilian army. The Prince attacked the five advanced battles while the battle of Pedro de Meneses attacked the other one.Góis, chapter LXXVIII. The Castilian forces (which were very select) withdrew in disorder, after suffering heavy losses.