After recapturing the Emirate of Granada from his uncle, the SultanMuhammed X in 1447, Muhammed IX continued his bellicose policies with regards to the Kingdom of Castile. His predecessor had managed to retake a few frontier towns from the Kingdom of Murcia through regular raids or Razzis which terrorized the region's Christian population. Most of these incursions into Christian territory took advantage of squabbles within the Kingdom of Murcia's ruling family, the House of Fajardo. In 1448, Muslim forces captured and sackedthe town of Cieza, and soon defeated Christian forces at the Battle of Hellín. The continued Muslim incursions into Murcia obliged the Castilian monarch, John II of Castile to ask for a truce in 1450 in order to concentrate his own forces in a separate war againstJuan Pacheco, the Marquis of Villena. However, Muhammad IX refused the truce, preferring to take full advantage of the disunity amongst Castilian nobles. The Granadan Sultan's fresh incursion into Murcia brought back much plunder in 1451. Muhammad IX then planned a large scale Algara against the area of Campo de Cartagena. This raid captured 40,000 heads of cattle and around 40 prisoners, mostly herdsmen. The immensity of this raid incursion forced Castile's Christians to put aside their internal squabbles and form a united front against the Kingdom of Granada. The Alcalde of Lorca Castle, Alonso Fajardo, nicknamed el Bravo sent heralds to various towns within the Kingdom of Murcia. The resulting army from Aledo, Caravaca de la Cruz, and Murcia totaled around 300 knights and 2,000 infantry soldiers. They encamped outside Lorca, in a field called Los Alporchones, knowing that the Muslim raiders would have to pass through the area when returning from their pillaging expedition.
Battle
On 17 March 1452, the Moorish army finally arrived at Los Alporchones and an action was fought between the two parties. The Castilian attack came initially as a surprise and the Christian forces were able to get an early advantage over the Granadan army. The Castilian army was nearly immediately victorious; however the Granadan commander, Malik ibn al-Abbas who was renowned for his courage and competence, succeeded in reforming his line twice during the engagement. The chronicles recount that the Alcalde, Alonso Fajardo, arriving at the conclusion that the fight could go either way, decided to enter into single combat with the enemy captain. The pair fought until Fajardo managed to unhorse al-Abbas, taking him prisoner. The capture of the Granadan captain broke the morale of the Muslim army who were routed from the field. They were pursued by the Castilian forces all the way to Vera in the Province of Almería where it is mentioned that only 300 managed to escape. The Granadan casualties were very high with around 400 captured, whilst the Castilian casualties were around 40 dead and 200 wounded.
Consequences
The battle had many lasting consequences. Incursions into the territory of the Kingdom of Murcia stopped altogether as the Kingdom of Granada asked for a five-year truce. Future conflicts would remain on Granadan territory until the Granada War. The prestige of Lorca and in particular the House of Fajardo rose significantly. It was one of the branches of this noble house that would eventually go on to form the powerful :es:Casa de los Vélez|House of los Vélez. In homage to St Patrick of Ireland, whose saint's day is celebrated on 17 March, the same day as the battle, he was named the patron saint of the city of Murcia. A church was built in Lorca which would later house the :es:Colegiata de San Patricio|Colegiata de San Patricio. Malik ibn al-Abbas was executed by his captors shortly after the battle whilst the victor, Alonso Fajardo el Bravo would go on to be slain in a battle in Caravaca de la Cruz against soldiers under the command of his cousin, Pedro Fajardo, the Adelantado in the service of Henry IV of Castile.
Legacy
The battle, as many battles of the Reconquista, was the subject of poetical works. The following Spanish language text is an excerpt from the beginning of a short poem describing the events of the battle. Of note, the Arabic names have all been used with their Spanish equivalents, the names that they would have been known by to their Spanish enemies. For example, Malik ibn al-Abbas was known as Alabez de Vera.
Allá en Granada la rica instrumentos oí tocar en la calle Gomeles a la puerta de Abidvar el cual es moro valiente y muy fuerte capitán Manda juntar muchos moros bien diestros en pelear porque en el Campo de Lorca se determinan de entrar con él salen tres alcaides aquí los quiero nombrar: Almoradí de Guadix éste es de sangre real Abenaciz es el otro y de Baza natural y de Vera es Alabez de esfuerzo muy singular y en cualquier guerra su gente bien la sabe acaudillar
