1309 - La Torre de Don Alonso - 1333 - La Torre de Don Alfonso
Alonso Pérez de Guzmán and Don Álvaro de Bazán
Fernando IV and Alfonso XI
Marquis of Santa Cruz and Luis Bravo de Acuña,
The accepted history of this elusive tower - which no longer exists - is that it was built in 1309 during the first siege of Gibraltar by the Spanish military hero, Alonso Pérez de Guzmán. He did so on his own initiative but on behalf of his boss - Ferdinand IV of Castile. ( see LINK )
Alonso Pérez de Guzmán ( 1791 - Retratos de Españoles Ilustres - detail )
The tower was constructed somewhere above whatever structure roughly occupied the same position as the Moorish Castle does today and almost certainly on a prominent north eastern cliff face known as Salto del Lobo which can be found more or less half way up the Rock. Twenty odd years later the tower was used once again by Alonso XI's forces during the fourth siege of Gibraltar.
Alonso XI of Castile ( 1410 - Jean Foissart )
Another hundred years and Gibraltar was now permanently in Christian hands and Don Álvaro de Bazán the elder, Admiral of Castile, Marquis del Viso, and General-Captain of the Galleys of Spain was overall Governor of the Rock. He also happened to be the father of the more famous first Marquis of Santa Cruz, who, to the confusion of more than one historian also happened to be named Don Álvaro de Bazán and was also a governor of the Rock.
Renowned for his naval exploits Bazán the elder took it upon himself to warn the Emperor Charles V that the Rock's defences were now obsolete and unable to cope with the newer, more powerful heavy artillery. Among various other proposals he suggested that the northern defences should be extended from the Castle right up to the Torre de Don Alonso.
This particular part of his plan may have been put into practice during his term of office as a drawing of the Rock by Luis Bravo de Acuña, an early 17th century engineer - who incidentally also became Governor of the Rock - clearly shows a wall - La Muralla de San Ignacio - climbing up the Rock from the Castle to what is almost certainly la Torre de Don Alonso. The actual existence of the tower was also confirmed a few years later by Gibraltar's first historian, Alonso Hernández del Portillo.
Gibraltar ( 1627 - Luis Bravo de Acuña - detail )
Nevertheless there are problems with the above interpretation as regards who actually built the Torre de Don Alonso. Perhaps a quick read through the references below - all of which were used to produce the above summary - will allow the reader to make up his or her mind as to whether it is correct or not.
References
Pedro de Medina - La Crónica de los duques de Medinasidonia - Col. Documentos Inéditos - 1561
Ignacio López de Ayala - Historia de Gibraltar - 1782 (see LINK )
D. Alonso Pérez que estaba encima de la sierra (que es el mismo monte de Gibraltar, que también se llama la sierra), comenzó a gran priesa a hacer una torre donde se defendiese de los moros y de donde les ofendiese; porque tenía en la sierra todo aderezo para la hacer.
Y de aquella torre hay un pedazo del fundamento, cuanto un estado o poco mas de altura, la cual hasta hoy se llama la torre de D. Alonso. Es maciza, las paredes fuertes y lo de dentro terreño. En esta torre puso D. Alonso Pérez de Guzmán' el Bueno' dos ingenios que se llamaban trabucos con la cuales echaban tantas piedras y tan gruesas en el castillo y en la ciudad, que asolaba las casas y las torres.( see LINK )
Ignacio López de Ayala - Historia de Gibraltar - 1782 (see LINK )
Determinó acometerla por todas partes , i quedando en los arenales i puerta de tierra el Arzobispo i Don Juan Núñez; pasó en barcas al monte con las tropas restantes , que colocadas sobre las alturas. que dominan al Castillo principiaron á combatirlo.En aquella ocasión se edificó la torre de Don Alonso , que llamaron así por este D. Alonso Pérez de Guzmán , i no por D. Alonso rey onceno de Castilla. Hecha la fábrica con tanta diligencia como fortaleza , revestida de anchos i terraplenados muros , colocaron dos trabucos en la torre que comenzaron á despedir gruesos peñascos contra la de la Calahorra , contra el castillo i la Barcina , que era la población principal.
Alonso Hernández del Portillo - 1620s
Tiene este castillo dentro de sí una torre que llaman la Calahorra, nombre a mi parecer Árabe; . . . Tiene por delante un reducto que llaman La Giralda, de fortísima muralla, y capaz de recibir gente bastante para defender la fuerza como vio el año 1333 cuando estubo sobre ella el Rey Don Alonso sin aprovecharle una torre que le fabricó encima que con su nombre dura hoy parte de ella.
The simplest interpretation is that it was Alonso XI who was responsible for building the tower during his failed attempt to retake the Rock during the fourth siege, and that it was therefore named after him.
. . .Visto esto por el Rey ( Alonso XI ) . . . Apretóse el cerco por muchas partes, principalmente por la sierra y torre de Don Alonso, y los trabucos tenían ya desmochada la torre de la Calahorra, y deshechos todos los reparos que los Moros para su defensa en ella tenían, y con todo eso se defendían sin poder entrarlos.
El Rey mandó hacer mantas de madera forradas y muy fuertes con que fuesen los hombres cubiertos hasta llegar a picar a pie de la torre y prometió dos doblas de oro por cada piedra que les trajesen quitada de la torre, porque ganada esta estaba acabada la guerra.
Not much further forward here.
. . . en 1333 . . fue acordado que se señalase gente cierta que cercase la villa y Castillo por esta parte y hizo traer trabucos que era la artillería de aquel tiempo para que desde un cerro que estaba sobre el castillo le tirasen.. . Sobre este cerro y ahora la torre que hoy llaman de don Alonso, puede ser haberse edificado aunque la verdad de este edificio se verá en el libro cuarto después del principio. Está esta torre sobre la de la Calahorra y la tiene debajo, como dicen a caballero. También desde aquí tiraban estos tabucos a las galeras de los Moros que estaban sobre la atarazana . . .
Portillo seems to have had second thoughts. So what does he say in Book 4 of his history?
Alonso Pérez de Guzmán . . . .Tengo para mí que este señor para ganar a Gibraltar hizo la torre que llaman de Don Alonso, que está a caballo sobre la torre de la Calahorra; y no el Rey Don Alonso, pues no se dice en su historia.
A change of mind? Alonso Pérez de Guzmán is now identified as the builder and this is probably why Ayala - and almost every other historian since - identifies him as such. However, the reason Portillo gives as to why he decides on Guzman rather than Alonso XI is because as he so rightly says there is no mention of it in 'su historia' by which he almost certainly means the Crónicas de Don Alonso XI.
First page of a copy of the Cronicas de Alfonso XI found in in the Escorial
Crónicas de Don Alonso XI (Tomo 1 ) - 1551
El Rey facia mucho por recobrar este lugar . . . e aquellos que le avian a voluntad de le servir, acudieron de tirar con los engeñios, señaladamente a la torre de omenaje, de manera que la tenían todo desmochada, que no avia de ella ninguna almena nin antepecho tras que podían estar los Moros para la defender.Et por algunos dixeron el Rey, que si mandase facer gatas de madera, et mantas so que pudiese ir la gente, que avría y muchos que llegarían a cavar en el pie de aquella torre, pues desde encima non la podían defender . . .
Alonso XI agreed to the above and offered to pay two doblas for each stone removed from the ruins of the castle. Also and as Portillo states, there is no mention of the Torre de Don Alonso. Support for this kind of reasoning, however, is weakened by the fact that the equivalent Crónicas for Ferdinand IV do not mention the tower either.
Frontispiece of an edition of the Crónicas del Muy Valeroso Rey Don Fernando IV el cual Ganó a Gibraltar ( 1554 )
Cronicas de Don Fernando IV ( Tomo 1 )
A luego a pocos días desque el Rey D Fernando ovo cercado a Algeciras, enbio a Don Juan Nuñez e a Don Alonso Perez de Guzman e el Obispo de Sevilla con el concejo de Sevilla á cercar á Gibraltar ; e pusieron dos engeños e combatieronle muy fuerte a la redonda con ellos, en quisa que non pudieron sofrir los moros; e ovieron de pleytear con el rey . . .
No mention of the tower which is odd as the impression one gets is that the bombardments from above the castle, whether from a tower, or simply from the top of the cliff, were crucial factors in both the first and the fourth sieges.
Alonso Pérez de Guzmán won the first, and it could be argued that the only reason that Alonso XI gave up on his attempt was because of a counter attack from Merinid Sultan of Granada which forced a stalemate and an eventual truce. There is, however, a second reference to a tower in the Cronicas de Fernando IV;
É mandó labrar los muros de la villa que derrivarón los engeños.É otrosi mandó labrar una torre encima del recuesto de la villa.É otrosi mandó labrar una atarazana desde la villa fasta la mar, porque esloviesen las galeas en salvo é tornóse el rey D. Fernando para su hueste de Algesira que tenia cercada.
This is the complete list of Fernando's instructions - after he had taken Gibraltar. It means that the reference to the 'torre' must refer to the castle itself and not to the Torre de Don Alonso. In fact, to repeat, there is no mention of the Torre de Don Alonso in the entire chronicle. As regards the positioning of the tower;
Alonso Hernández del Portillo - 1620s
Don Álvaro de Bazán padre del primer Marqués de Santa Cruz . . . Este caballero decía que se había de cercar un pedazo del monte que es lo último de él a la banda del norte que esta sobre el Castillo que es donde dicen el Salto del Lobo; corriendo la muralla con baluartes y trabeses a lo moderno a la torre de Don Alonso a parar a la silleta.
The above together with Luis Bravo de Acuña's map as shown, identifies the position of the tower somewhere to the north east of the Moorish Castle.
Darren Fa and Clive Finlayson - The Fortifications of Gibraltar - 2006
In 1535 Álvaro de Bazán the elder, Captain General of the galleys of Spain, warned the king of Spain Chales I ( Charles V was his title as Holy Roman Emperor ) that the current defences were at least a century and a half old and totally inadequate . . . However nothing was none.
Nevertheless I would say that Bazán must have been instrumental in the building of the Muralla de San Ignacio. After all he and his family actually lived in the Castle and would have wanted the best possible protection against any further attacks from above.
Conclusions
The most likely scenario is the accepted one - Alonso Perez de Guzman 'El Bueno' takes the credit for building the tower and Alonso XI's men probably made use of it later. The fact that Perez de Guzman's first name is always referred to as Alonso whereas the king's alternates between Alonso and Alfonso also favours the status quo.
Nevertheless it should be remembered that from Portillo's point of view Alonso Perez de Guzman was one of the great military heroes of Spanish history, ( see LINK ) and his exploits in Tarifa and elsewhere, his nickname of 'el Bueno' and the fact that he died near Gibraltar in Gaucin very shortly after the siege only added to his mythical aura.
Modern research has surprisingly revealed that he was actually of Moorish origin. Portillo would have been horrified. To him Guzmán was a glorious part of Gibraltar's history. Alonso XI on the other hand was fundamentally a loser. His second attempt at retaking the town that his son had won and that he had lost resulted in his death. He died during the fifth siege, not in the battlefield but as a victim of the bubonic plaque.