The Second Battle of Olmedo was fought on 20 August 1467 near Olmedo in Castile (now in the

province of Valladolid Valladolid () is a province of northwest Spain, in the central part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It has a population of 520,716 people in a total of 225 municipalities, an area of and a population density of 64.19 people per ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

) as part of the

War of the Castilian Succession The War of the Castilian Succession was the military conflict contested from 1475 to 1479 for the succession of the Crown of Castile fought between the supporters of Joanna 'la Beltraneja', reputed daughter of the late monarch Henry IV of Casti ...

between

Henry IV of Castile Henry IV of Castile ( Castilian: ''Enrique IV''; 5 January 1425 – 11 December 1474), King of Castile and León, nicknamed the Impotent, was the last of the weak late-medieval kings of Castile and León. During Henry's reign, the nobles became ...

and his half-brother Alfonso, Prince of Asturias. Alfonso's troops advanced eastwards along the valley of the

Duero The Douro (, , ; es, Duero ; la, Durius) is the highest-flow river of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province, central Spain, meanders south briefly then flows generally west through the north-west part o ...

towards central Castile, while the troops loyal to Henry moved north from

Cuéllar Cuéllar () is a municipality in the Province of Segovia, within the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. The municipality had a population of 9,730 inhabitants according to the municipal register of inhabitants (INE) as of 1 Jan ...

towards

Medina del Campo Medina del Campo is a town and municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Part of the Province of Valladolid, it is the centre of a farming area. History Medina del Campo grew in importance thanks to its fai ...

to try to cut them off: the two armies met near Olmedo. Henry's troops comprised: *at the vanguard, Pedro de Velasco, his brothers Luis and Sancho and his cousin Juan; *in the second line, the Marquess of Santillana with his brothers Hurtado and Pedro (who was bishop of Calahorra), along with the royal guard under the command of

Juan Fernández Galindo ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

; *the rearguard under the command of

Beltrán de la Cueva Beltrán is a Spanish male given name and surname. In non-Spanish speaking countries, the accent is usually omitted as Beltran. It derives from the Germanic words berht ("bright") and hramn ("raven"). It shares this same Germanic origin with Bertra ...

. A notable absence among Henry's troops was Juan Pacheco, who was occupied with securing the leadership of the

Order of Santiago The Order of Santiago (; es, Orden de Santiago ), is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the Patron Saint of Spain, "Santiago" (St. James the Greater). Its initial objective was to protect the pilgri ...

. With Prince Alfonso fought the troops of the

Archbishop of Toledo This is a list of Bishops and Archbishops of Toledo ( la, Archidioecesis Metropolitae Toletana).

, the

Archbishop of Seville The Archdiocese of Seville is part of the Catholic Church in Seville, Spain. The Diocese of Seville was founded in the 3rd century. It was raised to the level of an archdiocese in the 4th century. The current archbishop is José Ángel Saiz Mene ...

, of the Counts of Luna,

Plasencia Plasencia () is a walled market city in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Western Spain. , it has a population of 41,047. Situated on the bank of the Jerte River, Plasencia has a historic quarter that is a consequence of the city's stra ...

and Ribadeo, as well as of the

Order of Calatrava The Order of Calatrava ( es, Orden de Calatrava, pt, Ordem de Calatrava) was one of the four Spanish military orders and the first military order founded in Castile, but the second to receive papal approval. The papal bull confirming the Orde ...

. Fernando de Fonseca, fighting for Alfonso, was killed in this battle by

. The battle was considered a stand-off and thus was considered a victory for Henry. However, after the battle, Henry lost the support of Pedro Arias de Ávila and of the Count of Alba, the latter won over by favours from the Marquess of Villena and from the Archbishop of Toledo.

References

* * {{coord missing, Spain Olmedo 2 Olmedo 1 Olmedo 15th century in Castile 1467 in Europe History of the province of Valladolid

See also

References