De itinere navali ('Of the Seaborne Journey') is an anonymous Latin account of the siege and capture of Silves in 1189, one of the expeditions of the Third Crusade. It was written by an eyewitness shortly after the events it records. It is known from a single copy made a few decades later. It has been translated into English three times.
De itinere navali survives in a single manuscript, now shelfmark MM. V. 11 at the Turin Academy of Sciences . It is a copy, not an autograph. The manuscript contains only twelve folios in a mediocre state of preservation. In a few places, the text is illegible. Large initials set partially into the margin indicate the basic divisions of the text. The manuscript dates to the early 13th century and was possibly copied in southern France. In places the original handwriting has been corrected by a superior scribe using a higher quality ink. [2] Besides De itinere navali, the manuscript contains one other text relating to the Third Crusade, the short Epistola de morte Friderici imperatoris . [3]
The manuscript was purchased in 1837 in Aix-en-Provence by Costanzo Gazzera , who paginated it and had it bound in calfskin. He brought it to scholarly attention and left it to the Turin Academy. [2] He also published the first edition in 1840. João Baptista da Silva Lopes published Gazzera's edition with a Portuguese translation in 1844. Anton Chroust published a new edition for the Monumenta Germaniae Historica (MGH) in 1928, although it contains many errors. [4] Charles Wendell David prepared a corrected edition in 1939. [5] The first partial English translation, of only the part dealing with the conquest of Silves, was by John Slaughter in 1968. It was based on the Portuguese translation of Silva Lopes. [6] The first full English translation, by Jonathan Wilson, appeared in 2009. [7] A translation by Graham Loud appeared the following year. [8] Most recently, Dana Cushing has published an edition and translation with a facsimile of the manuscript. [9]
De itinere navali is untitled in the manuscript. Every editor has supplied his or her own title (in Latin). [10]
The author of De itinere navali is anonymous. He was a participant in the expedition and an eyewitness to the events he describes. His account is contemporary. In light of its victorious tone, it is probable that he composed it before the city of Silves was recaptured by the Almohads in July 1191. [3] He refers to the siege of Lisbon (1147) as having taken place 44 years earlier, which is either an error for 42 if counting from the time of the expedition or else indicates that he was writing in 1191. [17] (The author also refers to the siege of Tortosa of 1148 as having taken place at the same time as Lisbon.) [18] Although it itself is not a diary, the Narratio was probably composed from notes taken as events occurred. One result of this is that at no point does the narrative reference events which have not yet occurred. [19]
He was a German from the Kingdom of Germany in the Holy Roman Empire. He refers to "we of the German kingdom" (nos de regno Teutonico) and the "ships of our empire" (naves de nostro imperio). He uses the German mile (miliare Teutonicum). He was probably from northern Germany, where his expedition originated. He compares the Tagus to the Elbe and the city of Silves to Goslar. [20] Chroust and David considered him in all likelihood a priest, although De itinere navali is not an especially pious or learned work. His education appears to have been "rudimentary". [20] Cushing argues that he was in fact a layman of the artisan or merchant class. [21] His description of the sea voyage indicates that he was not an experienced sailor. [20]
De itinere navali begins with a statement of purpose and inspiration:
Antiquorum provide consuetud[in]i morem gerens qui gesta sua scripture laqueis innodare satagerunt ut posteritatis noticiam non evaderent, itineris navalis multiformes eventus qui peregrinis Jerosolimam tendentibus acciderunt simpliciter explicare decrevi. [22] | Following the example of the wise custom of the Ancients, who were at pains to record their deeds through the adornment of writing, so that they did not escape the notice of posterity, I have decided to give a simple account of the many different events that took place on the seaborne journey of the pilgrims who were heading to Jerusalem. [15] |
This is followed by a brief statement on background, referencing the fall of Jerusalem to Saladin in 1187 and the preaching of the Third Crusade, which "moved a huge number of people ... to avenge this offence." The narrator's expedition started from Bremen and went out to sea from Blexen on 22 April 1189. [15]
De itinere navali is mostly a day-to-day account of the expedition until its arrival in Marseille in October 1189. [23] The fleet of eleven ships sailed first to England, where they arrived on 24 April at Lowestoft. They put out to cross the Channel on 24 May from Yarmouth. They then followed the coast of France, stopping at La Rochelle, before putting in at Gozón in the kingdom of León on 18 June. During the sea voyage, "many of [the] company saw two candles burning for a long time", which may have been Saint Elmo's fire. They also saw pods of dolpins or porpoises: "a huge multitude of fish, six or seven feet long and resembling sturgeon, very often passed our ships at high speed, with all their bodies out of the water." From Gozón, they made a brief pilgrimage overland to Oviedo Cathedral before sailing to Lisbon, where they arrived in July. [24] At this juncture, the author repeats the legend of the mares of Sintra, which "conceive from the wind ... horses that are ... extraordinarily speedy, but live for no more than eight years." This legend is also found in De expugnatione Lyxbonensi . [25]
At Lisbon, having learned that a previous group of crusaders had sacked Alvor, the crusaders were asked by King Sancho I of Portugal to assist him in capturing Silves. The expedition was augmented by 37 ships from Galicia plus a Portuguese squadron. At Silves, they were joined by a ship from Brittany. [26] At this point in the narrative, the author gives a detailed description of Silves. [27] The siege began on 21 July and is recounted in detail, including the use of siege engines by both sides and extensive tunneling. On 3 September, the city was handed over by agreement. The author notes when the crusaders acted "in defiance of the treaty" and how this created bad blood between them and King Sancho. [28]
After a description of the division of—and disputes over—the booty, the author notes that nine other castles came into Portuguese hands as a consequence of the fall of Silves. [29] The expedition entered the Atlantic again on 20 September. The remainder of the narrative describes the voyage as far as Marseille, noting the places passed along the way. [30]
De itinere navali is the most valuable historical source for the expedition and the siege of Silves. The author was a keen observer with a special interest in geography and generally accurate with numbers. He scrupulously records the days as they pass, allowing for the precise dating of events. The numbers he gives of ships and people are reasonable. So far as can be checked, he is generally accurate on both counts. [31]
De itinere navali is also a valuable geographical source, given its author penchant for naming places and giving geographical asides. He even includes references to political and ethnic geography, as when he notes that three of the nine bishoprics of Brittany are Breton-speaking and the rest French-speaking. [32] He notes the "five kingdoms of the Spanish", which are Aragon, Navarre, Castile ("of those people who are specifically called the 'Spanish'"), León (which he calls Galicia) and Portugal. [33] He occasionally goes beyond what he himself saw to describe places further afield, such as Marrakesh and Mecca. In these cases he is somewhat less accurate. [34]
De itinere navali displays some anti-Flemish and anti-Portuguese bias. The most praised individual, however, was a Galician knight who single-handedly removed a stone from the wall while under fire and returned to camp. Respect is shown to the fighting abilities of the crusaders' Muslim adversaries. The author had no tolerance for violations of contracts and promises. [35]
De itinere navali does not provide particulars on the organization of its expedition. [36] It appears, however, that it was composed of "urbanite burghers". [37] There is no indication that any of the crusaders were other than commoners. The only person of knightly rank mentioned is the Galician and no higher noble is mention. The leaders of the expedition are called "magistrates" (magistri) or collectively the magistratus. The members of the expedition are called "associates" (socii) and a contubernium . Decisions are said to be made in common or in council. [36]
Of historical interest is the mention of duces vie ('leaders of the way') that conducted the fleet into La Rochelle. These seem to be pilots. Likewise, the Galician knight is described as dux ... navis nostre ('leader of our ship'). [38] De itinere navali is also one of the few texts to imply that the Order of the Holy Sepulchre was a military order, although it is probably a mistake based on the close association of the order in Spain with the Templars and Hospitallers. [39]
Year 1189 (MCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. In English law, 1189 - specifically the beginning of the reign of Richard I - is considered the end of time immemorial.
Year 1190 (MCXC) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.
The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt led by three European monarchs of Western Christianity to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in 1187. For this reason, the Third Crusade is also known as the Kings' Crusade.
Sancho I of Portugal, nicknamed "the Populator", King of Portugal was the second but only surviving legitimate son and fifth child of Afonso I of Portugal by his wife, Maud of Savoy. Sancho succeeded his father and was crowned in Coimbra when he was 31 years old on 9 December 1185. He used the title King of Silves from 1189 until he lost the territory to Almohad control in 1191.
Silves is a city and municipality in the Portuguese region of Algarve, in southern Portugal. The population of the entire municipality of Silves in 2011 was 37,126, in an area of 680.06 km2. The urbanized area of the city proper has approximately 11,000 inhabitants. Silves is the former capital of the Kingdom of the Algarve (1249–1910), a nominal kingdom within the Kingdom of Portugal (1139-1910), and is of great historical importance.
The siege of Lisbon, from 1 July to 25 October 1147, was the military action against the Muslim-ruled Taifa of Badajoz that brought the city of Lisbon under the definitive control of the new Christian power, the Kingdom of Portugal.
Frisian involvement in the Crusades is attested from the very beginning of the First Crusade, but their presence is only felt substantially during the Fifth Crusade. They participated in almost all the major Crusades and the Reconquista. The Frisians are almost always referred to collectively by contemporary chroniclers of the Crusades and few names of individual Frisian crusaders can be found in the historical record. They generally composed a naval force in conjunction with other larger bodies of crusaders.
The Crusade of 1197, also known as the Crusade of Henry VI or the German Crusade, was a crusade launched by the Hohenstaufen emperor Henry VI in response to the aborted attempt of his father, Emperor Frederick I, during the Third Crusade in 1189–90. Thus the military campaign is also known as the "Emperor's Crusade".
Charles Wendell David (1885–1984) was a noted American bibliophile, medievalist and librarian. He worked tirelessly both to reconstruct Europe's war-torn repositories and to establish new libraries in the United States.
The History of the Expedition of the Emperor Frederick is an anonymous Latin account of the campaign waged by Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, as part of the Third Crusade. It covers the period 1187–1196, but is centred on the expedition of 1189–1190.
The Letter on the Death of the Emperor Frederick is an anonymous Latin newsletter about the sudden death of the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa on 10 June 1190 during the Third Crusade. The letter was written by an eyewitness before the crusader army arrived at Antioch on 19 June. It begins with the reception of Frederick's crusade by Béla III of Hungary on 4 June 1189, followed by a brief account its progress through Hungary, Byzantium and Turkey. It ends with the army's arrival in Tarsus on 17 June 1190.
The Almohad Caliphate launched a major offensive against the Kingdom of Portugal in the spring of 1190 that lasted into the summer of 1191. The Caliph Yaʿqūb al-Manṣūr crossed over from Africa to take personal command of his forces. The campaign of 1190 was underwhelming because of assistance Portugal received from passing armies of the Third Crusade. The sieges of Tomar, Santarém and Silves had to be abandoned, but the caliph overwintered in Seville. The campaign of 1191 reversed Portugal's recent reconquests, captured Silves after a second siege and pushed the frontier north to the Tagus.
De expugnatione Scalabis is an anonymous Latin account of the Portuguese conquest of Santarém on 15 March 1147. It is the earliest and most detailed source for that event and is informed by eyewitness accounts.
The Alvor massacre took place in June 1189 during the Third Crusade, when a fleet of crusaders from the Holy Roman Empire, Denmark and the County of Flanders stormed the castle of Alvor in the Algarve, then part of the Almohad Caliphate, and massacred 5,600 people. The place of the conquest and massacre of Alvor in the Portuguese Reconquista is unclear, but there are grounds for thinking that it was part of the strategy of King Sancho I, who launched a siege of Silves a month later.
The siege of Silves was an action of the Third Crusade and the Portuguese Reconquista in 1189. The city of Silves in the Almohad Caliphate was besieged from 21 July until 3 September by the forces of Portugal and a group of crusaders from northern Europe on their way to the siege of Acre. The defenders capitulated on terms, the city was handed over to Portugal and the crusaders took a portion of the spoils.
Nicholas was the bishop of Silves (1189–1191) and bishop of Viseu (1192–1213) during the Portuguese Reconquista.
The siege of Alcácer do Sal lasted from 30 July to 18 October 1217. The well fortified city of Alcácer do Sal was a frontier outpost of the Almohad Caliphate facing Portugal. It was besieged by forces from Portugal, León, the military orders and the Fifth Crusade. The latter were led by Count William I of Holland. The expedition was the brainchild of Bishop Soeiro II of Lisbon, whose diocese was threatened by regular raids from Alcácer. King Afonso II of Portugal did not take part in person, but the city was incorporated into his kingdom after its capitulation. The crusaders who took part in the siege, mainly from the Rhineland and the Low Countries, did so without papal authorization and were afterwards ordered to continue on to the Holy Land.
The Carmen de expugnatione Salaciae is a Latin epic poem in 115 elegiac couplets describing the siege of Alcácer do Sal in 1217. It was written by Goswin of Bossut for Soeiro Viegas, bishop of Lisbon.
Portuguese participation in the Reconquista occurred from when the County of Portugal was founded in 868 and continued for 381 years until the last cities still in Muslim control in the Algarve were captured in 1249. Portugal was created during this prolonged process and largely owes its geographic form to it.
The Via ad Terram Sanctam is an anonymous Old French treatise on the recovery of the Holy Land from around 1300. There is a Latin translation made about the same time that goes under the title Memoria Terre Sancte. Within a century, one excerpt had also appeared in a Hebrew translation.