In 882 AD, at the First Battle of Cellorigo, the Banu Qasi ruler Muhammad ibn Lubb al-Qasawi and al-Mundhir of Córdoba, the son of the Cordoban emir Muhammad I of Córdoba, were repelled from the castle at Cellorigo by Vela Jiménez, count of the Asturian county of Álava.

A year later, in 883 AD, al-Mundhir gathered together an army under the command of generals Almonder and Abuhalit.

After breaching the walls of Zaragoza and sacking the city of Villamayor de Monjardín and other towns of Navarre, he set off to take the mountain pass castle at Cellorigo.

After he was initially repulsed by the Cellorigo defenders, al-Mundhir attempted a second assault on the castle at Pancorbo and another at Castrojeriz.

Humiliated, al-Mundhir sent an envoy to King Alfonso III of Asturias to sue for peace.