An indecisive tug of war ensued over the following years between Muslim and Christian. Then, in 1118, another Alfonso (b. 1074)—surnamed the “Battler” or “Warrior”—took charge of and spearheaded the Reconquista. Described as the “quintessential crusader devoted to the destruction of Islam until his dying day,” this founder of the new kingdom of Aragon attacked the Ebro River Valley and, with the aid of Frankish veterans from the First Crusade, retook Saragossa in 1118.70 This was the first major Christian victory over Islam since Toledo thirty-three years earlier.
