Battle of Alcácer Quibir
King Sebastian’s crusade in Morocco ended in catastrophe: the Saadi army of Sultan Abd al-Malik destroyed the Portuguese force, the king disappeared in the battle, and the death of the childless monarch opened a succession crisis that cost Portugal its independence.
- Date
- 4 August 1578exact dateDate in the Julian calendar
- Place
- Wadi al-Makhazin near Ksar el-Kebirapproximate locationtoday: near Ksar el-Kebir, Morocco · Africa
- Participants
- Sebastian of Portugal, Kingdom of Portugal, Saadi Sultanate
- Threads
- History of Portugal since the Battle of Aljubarrota
- Also known as
- Battle of the Three Kings; Battle of Wadi al-Makhazin; Битва трёх королей; Битва при Эль-Ксар-эль-Кебире
Sebastian, raised by Jesuits and dreaming of reviving the crusades, took the side of the deposed sultan Abu Abdallah Muhammad II against his uncle Abd al-Malik, who had won the throne with Ottoman support. Against the advice of his uncle Philip II of Spain, he landed in Morocco with about 23,000 men, including thousands of foreign mercenaries and the flower of the Portuguese nobility.
On 4 August 1578, near the Loukkos River north of Ksar el-Kebir, the Moroccan cavalry encircled the Portuguese army; after about four hours of fighting some 8,000 men lay dead and about 15,000 were taken prisoner. All three rulers perished — Sebastian, Abu Abdallah, who drowned while fleeing, and the gravely ill Abd al-Malik — hence the Moroccan name “Battle of the Three Kings”. Ransoming the captive nobles nearly bankrupted Portugal, and as Sebastian’s death was never reliably confirmed, the belief that the “hidden king” would return — Sebastianism — lived on for centuries.
Connections
Consequences
- Cortes of Tomar: Philip II becomes King of PortugalApril 1581 · Western and Central EuropeSebastian died childless; after the brief reign of his great-uncle, Cardinal Henry, Philip II of Spain claimed the throne
Related events
- Portuguese conquest of Ceuta21 August 1415 · Africathe Moroccan ventures begun at Ceuta ended in disaster at Alcácer Quibir
- Publication of The Lusiads1572 · Western and Central Europethe poem was dedicated to King Sebastian, who fell at Alcácer Quibir six years later
Same participants
- Portuguese settle in Macau1557 · East Asiavia Kingdom of Portugal
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within 25 years of this event
Western and Central Europe
Eastern Europe
- Annexation of the Astrakhan Khanate26 August 1556
Central and Northern Asia
- Bento de Góis’s journey from India to Chinabetween October 1602 and February 1603 – 11 April 1607
South Asia
East Asia
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Battle of Alcácer Quibir
- Wikipedia (Russian): Битва при Эль-Ксар-эль-Кебире
- Disney A. R. A History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire: From Beginnings to 1807. Vol. 1: Portugal. — Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
- Wikidata: Q1121532