[1] The battle occurred when the troops of the Caliph of Córdoba, Abd al-Rahman III assaulted the walls of Zamora.

The fighting was so bloody that the tide of the battle did not turn until the moat surrounding the city walls was entirely filled with corpses.

He wanted to consolidate his power base and reestablish the internal order of the Emirate of Córdoba.

He decided to go to the border and attack the cities that acted as a protective buffer against the Asturian / Leonese lands to the north.

His strategy was to fill the moat around the city with bodies and debris so that his men could more easily climb the parapets and thus engage the defending soldiers directly.