Conquest of Balaguer

The Conquest of Balaguer was the capture of Balaguer by Ermengol VI of Urgell from the Almoravids in 1105.

Lubb ibn Muhammad, after defeating Wilfred the Hairy by mortally wounding him in the raid of 897, decided to build an important fortress in Balaguer, which in the 11th century became a palace. The name Suda, which he acquires at that time, indicates the double defensive and lordly character.

In 1039, Al-Musta'in conquered the Taifa of Zaragoza and reigned throughout the Upper March. His son, Yussuf ibn Sulayman al-Mudhaffar inherited the Taifa of Lérida, ceding in 1050, Camarasa and Cubells to the county of Barcelona,^[1] and the Taifa was taken from him by his brother Ahmad al-Muqtadir of Zaragoza, who when he died left the Taifa of Lérida, with those of Tortosa and Dénia, to Mundhir al-Hajib, and upon his death in 1090 the kingdom passed to his young heir Sulayman Sayyid-ad-Dawla.^[2]

At the beginning of 1094, Balaguer fell into the hands of Ermengol IV of Urgell, but by the end of the year it was again in the hands of Sayyid-ad-Dawla, who was helped by the Almoravids. At the end of 1100 or the beginning of 1101 it fell into the hands of Ermengol V of Urgell, and was captured by the Almoravids in 1103, who from 1102 dominated Lérida,^[3] and sent a relief army from Albesa.^[4]

Pedro Ansúrez, tutor of Ermengol VI d'Urgell, with the help of Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona captured the Muslim city of Balaguer in 1105.^[5]

With the conquest in 1105, the Counts of Urgell occupied the Suda to temporarily make it their residence, and set themselves the target of capturing Lleida, which was put within reach with the siege of Corbins in 1116, which was recovered by the Muslims in 1126, and the taking of the territory surrounding Balaguer was not completed until 1130.^[6]