Battle of Tordesillas (1520)

Battle of Tordesillas
	Part of Revolt of the Comuneros
	; View of Tordesillas, site of the battle
Date	December 5, 1520
Location	Tordesillas, province of Valladolid (Spain)
Result	Royalist victory
Belligerents
Comuneros	Royalists
Commanders and leaders
Pedro Girón y Velasco; Suero del Águila; Luis de Quintanilla	Constable of Castile, Count of Haro; Admiral of Castile
Strength
4,000 infantrymen; 180 spears	± 7,000 infantrymen; ± 2,000 spears; 20 artillery pieces
Casualties and losses
Unknown	50, including dead and injured
	Consequences:; Valladolid becomes the new headquarters of the Santa Junta.; Guadalajara and Soria abandon the comunero side.; Pedro Girón y Velasco resigns from his position as captain general.;

The Battle of Tordesillas was an armed conflict fought during the Revolt of the Comuneros, that engaged the royalist forces commanded by the Count of Haro and the comuneros garrison of the Valladolid town of Tordesillas, the headquarters of the rebels, on December 5, 1520.

At the end of November the army of the Santa Junta, led by Pedro Girón y Velasco, had advanced towards Medina de Rioseco, establishing its headquarters in the town of Villabrágima, only a league away from the royal army. This one, composed fundamentally of contingents provided and commanded by the nobility, was limited to occupy towns to avoid the advance and to cut the lines of communication.

The situation was maintained until December 2, when the rebel army left Villabrágima for Villalpando. With this movement the route to Tordesillas —headquarters of the Junta and residence of Queen Joanna the Mad— was left unprotected, so the royal army took advantage of the occasion and on December 4 headed out. The following day the army attacked the city and after a long and hard fight with the defensive garrison, it was able to seize the city.

On the political level, the occupation of Tordesillas was a major defeat for the comuneros, who lost Queen Joanna, and with her, their hopes that she would heed their claims. In addition, many of the procurators were imprisoned, and those who were not, had fled. On the military level, the angry criticism towards the General-in-chief Pedro Girón due to the movement of the troops, forced him to resign from his post and withdraw from the conflict, which in turn produced important desertions in the bulk of the comuneros troops.

The nobles, on the other hand, did not take advantage of the victory. Deeply divided, with scarce numbers, and fearing reprisals from the comuneros within their fiefdoms, they limited themselves to establishing garrisons in some strategic places, after which they discharged most of the troops and returned to their domains.