Today in European history: the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212)

For a relatively small confrontation—probably fewer than 50,000 soldiers combined—the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa had far-reaching ramifications for the history of both Iberia and North Africa. The Almohad Caliphate, at or near the height of its territorial growth, suffered a defeat that helped send it into a decades-long spiral eventually ending with its demise. On the flip side, the battle reinvigorated Christian efforts to conquer the peninsula, and we all presumably know how that turned out.

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