The Battle of Araviana was a cavalry action fought during the War of the Two Peters on 22 September 1359. Eight hundred Aragonese horse, many of them Castilian exiles in service of the Crown of Aragon under Henry of Trastámara, had launched a cavalgada in Castilian territory when, near the Castilian town of Ágreda, confronted and routed a Castilian force under Juan Fernández de Henestrosa set to guard the frontier. Numerous Castilian noblemen and knights were killed, including Henestrosa, while many other were captured. Background The War of the Two Peters broke in 1356 when a squadron of 9 Catalan galleys under Francesc de Perellós sent by the king Peter IV of Argon to assist the House of Valois in their succession conflict with the House of Plantagenet, captured near Sanlúcar de Barrameda two ships under the flag of the Republic of Genoa, at that time engaged in a war against the Republic of Venice and the Crown of Aragon. The king Peter I of Castile, who was present at Sanlúcar during the event, feel offended and demanded Perellós the free of the Genoese vessels. Perellós refused Peter's demands and was therefore chased by Castilian warships till the Portuguese coast. Peter of Castile complained afterwards to the king Peter IV Aragon, but as he did not obtained the desired results, he declared war on the Crown of Aragon. He promptly began the operations besieging by sea the Valencian town of Guardamar, unsuccessfully, and launching some cavalgadas through the frontier. In 1359 the Castilian fleet raided the Valencian and Catalan coasts, not obtaining satisfying results but menacing the town of Alicante. Peter IV, seeing that his southern frontier was in danger, dispatched several horse companies led by Pere de Xèrica to defend the area around Orihuela, Crevillente and Elche, and also ordered all the fortresses to be provisioned with enough ammunitions and supplies. Battle Over the following months the action displaced to the Aragonese border with Castille. In September, Henry of Trastámara, pretender to the Castilian throne and half-broder and rival of Peter I, together with his younger brother Tello and several members of the Aragonese House of Luna, as Pedro, Juan Martínez and Fray Artal de Luna, launched a raid in Castilian territory invading the country near the town of Almazán. This force consisting of about 800 horse, encountered a considerable larger Castilian company of 1,500 horse led by the