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Norwegian Crusade | ||||||||||
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Part of the Crusades (aftermath of First Crusade) and the Reconquista | ||||||||||
Sigurd entering Constantinople | ||||||||||
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Belligerents | ||||||||||
Supported by: Byzantine Empire | Fatimid Caliphate Almoravid Empire Taifa of Badajoz Taifa of Majorca | Kingdom of Galicia (Raid on Santiago de Compostela) | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | ||||||||||
Governor of Sidon [a] | Unknown | |||||||||
Strength | ||||||||||
Franks
Venetians
| Fatimids
Saracens
| Unknown |
The Norwegian Crusade, led by Norwegian King Sigurd I, [2] was a crusade or a pilgrimage (sources differ) [3] that lasted from 1107 to 1111, in the aftermath of the First Crusade. The Norwegian Crusade marks the first time a European king personally went to the Holy Land. [4]
Sigurd and his men sailed from Norway in the autumn of 1107 with sixty ships and perhaps around 5,000 men. [5] In the autumn he arrived in England, where Henry I was king. Sigurd and his men stayed there the entire winter, until the spring of 1108, when they set sail southwards.
After several months they came to the town of Santiago de Compostela (Jakobsland) [3] in the Kingdom of Galicia (Galizuland) where they were allowed by a local lord to stay for the winter. However, when the winter came there was a shortage of food, which caused the lord to refuse to sell food and goods to the Norwegians. Sigurd gathered his army, attacked the lord's castle and looted what they could there. The identity of the local lord or count is uncertain. [6]
In the spring they continued along the coast of Portugal, capturing eight Saracen galleys on their way, and conquered a castle at Sintra (probably referring to Colares, which is closer to the sea), after which they continued to Lisbon, a "half Christian and half heathen" city, said to be on the dividing line between Christian and Muslim Iberia, where they won another battle. On their continued journey they sacked the town of Alkasse (probably Alcácer do Sal), and on their way into the Mediterranean, near the Strait of Gibraltar (Norfasund), met and defeated a Muslim squadron. [3]
The Siege of Lisbon in 1109 marked a significant chapter in their expedition. Positioned as a pivotal point between Christian and Muslim territories, the raiders confronted the diverse cultural and religious landscape of the Iberian Peninsula. Their triumph in Lisbon was one of many on their way to the holy land. [7]
After entering the Mediterranean (Griklands haf) they sailed along the coast of the land of the Saracens (Serkland) to the Balearic Islands. The Balearics were at the time perceived by Christians to be nothing more than a pirate haven and slaving centre. The Norwegian raids are also the first recorded Christian attacks on the Islamic Balearic Islands (though smaller attacks certainly had occurred). [3]
The first place they arrived at was Formentera, where they encountered a great number of blámenn (blue men) and Serkir (Saracens) [3] who had taken up their dwelling in a cave. The course of the fight is the most detailed of the entire crusade through written sources. [3] After this battle, the Norwegians supposedly acquired the greatest treasures they had ever acquired. They then went on to successfully attack Ibiza and Menorca. The Norwegians seem to have avoided attacking the largest of the Balearic Islands, Majorca, most likely because it was at the time the most prosperous and well-fortified centre of an independent taifa kingdom. [3] Tales of their success may have inspired the Catalan–Pisan conquest of the Balearics in 1113–1115. [3]
In the Spring of 1109, they arrived at Sicily (Sikiley), where they were welcomed by the ruling Count Roger II, who was 12–13 years old at the time.
In the summer of 1110, they arrived at the port of Acre (Akrsborg) [3] (or perhaps in Jaffa), [5] and went to Jerusalem (Jórsalir), where they met the ruling crusader king Baldwin I. They were warmly welcomed, and Baldwin rode together with Sigurd to the river Jordan, and back again to Jerusalem.
The Norwegians were given many treasures and relics, including a splinter off the True Cross that Jesus had allegedly been crucified on. This was given on the condition that they would continue to promote Christianity and bring the relic to the burial site of St Olaf.
Later, Sigurd returned to his ships at Acre, and when Baldwin was going to the Muslim town of Sidon (Sætt) in Syria (Sýrland), Sigurd and his men accompanied him in the siege. The siege resulted in Sidon being taken and the subsequent creation of the Lordship of Sidon.
After this, Sigurd and his men sailed to Constantinople (Old Norse : Miklagarðr), where Sigurd and his army ended up celebrating together with the Byzantine Emperor. The Byzantines usually had a negative viewpoint of Crusaders, due to different events. Sigurd was provided both economic and diplomatic support for his crusade and after the celebrations, Sigurd left all of his ships and valuable figureheads, and many of his men, and then made his way back to Norway by land, arriving there in 1111. [3] [8]
The Kingdom of Jerusalem, also known as the Crusader Kingdom, was a Crusader state that was established in the Levant immediately after the First Crusade. It lasted for almost two hundred years, from the accession of Godfrey of Bouillon in 1099 until the fall of Acre in 1291. Its history is divided into two periods with a brief interruption in its existence, beginning with its collapse after the siege of Jerusalem in 1187 and its restoration after the Third Crusade in 1192.
The 1100s was a decade of the Julian Calendar which began on January 1, 1100, and ended on December 31, 1109.
Year 1108# (MCVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.
The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic rule. While Jerusalem had been under Muslim rule for hundreds of years, by the 11th century the Seljuk takeover of the region threatened local Christian populations, pilgrimages from the West, and the Byzantine Empire itself. The earliest initiative for the First Crusade began in 1095 when Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos requested military support from the Council of Piacenza in the empire's conflict with the Seljuk-led Turks. This was followed later in the year by the Council of Clermont, during which Pope Urban II supported the Byzantine request for military assistance and also urged faithful Christians to undertake an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
Lord Edward's Crusade, sometimes called the Ninth Crusade, was a military expedition to the Holy Land under the command of Edward, Duke of Gascony in 1271–1272. In practice an extension of the Eighth Crusade, it was the last of the Crusades to reach the Holy Land before the fall of Acre in 1291 brought an end to the permanent crusader presence there.
The Battle of Montgisard was fought between the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Ayyubid Dynasty on 25 November 1177 at Montgisard, in the Levant between Ramla and Yibna. The 16-year-old Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, severely afflicted by leprosy, led outnumbered Christian forces against Saladin's troops in what became one of the most notable engagements of the Crusades. The Muslim Army was quickly routed and pursued for twelve miles. Saladin fled back to Cairo, reaching the city on 8 December, with only a tenth of his army. Muslim historians considered Saladin's defeat to be so severe that it was only redeemed by his victory ten years later at the battles of Cresson and Hattin and the Siege of Jerusalem in 1187. Saladin did defeat Baldwin IV in the Battle of Marj Ayyun and the Siege of Jacob’s Ford in 1179, only to be defeated by Baldwin again at the Battle of Belvoir Castle in 1182 and the Siege of Kerak in 1183.
Sigurd Magnusson, also known as Sigurd the Crusader, was King of Norway from 1103 to 1130. His rule, together with his half-brother Øystein, has been regarded by historians as a golden age for the medieval Kingdom of Norway. He is otherwise famous for leading the Norwegian Crusade (1107–1110), earning him the eponym "the Crusader", and was the first European king to participate in a crusade personally.
Kungälv is a city and the seat of Kungälv Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It is also a part of Greater Gothenburg Metropolitan Area. It had 22,768 inhabitants in 2010. In 2021, the main Kungälv - Ytterby - Kareby conurbation had a combined population approaching 30,000.
The Battle of Cresson was a small battle between Frankish and Ayyubid forces on 1 May 1187 at the "Spring of the Cresson." While the exact location of the spring is unknown, it is located in the environs of Nazareth. The conflict was a prelude to the decisive defeat of the Kingdom of Jerusalem at the Battle of Hattin two months later.
Eysteinn Magnusson was king of Norway from 1103 to 1123 together with his brothers Sigurd the Crusader and Olaf Magnusson, although since Olaf died before adulthood, only Eystein and Sigurd were effective rulers of the country.
Balian of Ibelin, also known as Barisan the Younger, was a crusader noble of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century. He was Lord of Ibelin from 1170 to 1193. As the leader of the defense of the city during the siege of Jerusalem in 1187, he surrendered Jerusalem to Saladin on 2 October 1187.
Eustace I Granier, also known as Eustace Grenier or Eustace Garnier, called in Latin Eustachius Granarius in the charters, was a Flemish crusader who took part in the First Crusade. He became lord of Caesarea in 1101 and lord of Sidon in 1110. On 18 April 1123, he was elected constable and bailiff of Jerusalem during the captivity of Baldwin II of Jerusalem. Shortly before his death, he defeated a Fatimid army at the Battle of Yibneh near Ibelin.
Eustace Grenier is quoted in a text in verse written during his life in honour of the knights of the diocese of Thérouanne who accompanied Baldwin of Boulogne to the Holy Land.
Contemporary authors and historians identify Eustace Grenier as a nobleman from the diocese of Thérouanne in the County of Saint-Pol. Alan V. Murray, historian of the Crusades, writes: "However, his origins can be established with a high degree of certainty. The Versus de viris illustribus diocesis Tarvanensis qui in sacra fuere expeditione identifies him as a Fleming from the diocese of Therouanne".
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Christian Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these military expeditions are those to the Holy Land between 1095 and 1291 that had the objective of reconquering Jerusalem and its surrounding area from Muslim rule after the region had been conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate centuries earlier. Beginning with the First Crusade, which resulted in the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099, dozens of military campaigns were organised, providing a focal point of European history for centuries. Crusading declined rapidly after the 15th century.
The Battle of Marj Ayyun was a military confrontation fought at Marj Ayyun near the Litani River in June 1179 between the Kingdom of Jerusalem under Baldwin IV and the Ayyubid armies under the leadership of Saladin. It ended in a decisive victory for the Muslims and is considered the first in the long series of Islamic victories under Saladin against the Christians. However, the Christian King, Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, who was crippled by leprosy, was saved by his bodyguard and narrowly escaped capture.
The siege of Sidon was an event in the aftermath of the First Crusade. The coastal city of Sidon was captured by the forces of Baldwin I of Jerusalem and Sigurd I of Norway, with assistance from the Ordelafo Faliero, Doge of Venice.
The Barons' Crusade (1239–1241), also called the Crusade of 1239, was a crusade to the Holy Land that, in territorial terms, was the most successful crusade since the First Crusade. Called by Pope Gregory IX, the Barons' Crusade broadly embodied the highest point of papal endeavor "to make crusading a universal Christian undertaking." Gregory IX called for a crusade in France, England, and Hungary with different degrees of success. Although the crusaders did not achieve any glorious military victories, they used diplomacy to successfully play the two warring factions of the Ayyubid dynasty against one another for even more concessions than Frederick II had gained during the more well-known Sixth Crusade. For a few years, the Barons' Crusade returned the Kingdom of Jerusalem to its largest size since 1187.
The siege of Beirut was an event in the aftermath of the First Crusade. The coastal city of Beirut was captured from the Fatimids by the forces of Baldwin I of Jerusalem on 13 May 1110, with the assistance of Bertrand of Toulouse and a Genoese fleet.
The siege of Lisbon was a military campaign and siege at the city of Lisbon. The Norwegian Realm fought the Iberian Muslims at the city in 1109. The Norwegians eventually won, suffering very low casualties. The siege in particular had a significant impact on Lisbon because of the ongoing Christian and Muslim conflicts on the Iberian Peninsula.
The Battle of Formentera (1109) was a part of a military campaign against the muslims of the Balearic Islands. The raid was a huge success for the Norwegian crusaders, facing low casualties. Islamic scholars have referred to the Norwegian raids in the region as part of a larger history of Islamic Spain.
The Battle of Ibiza, also known as The Raid on Ibiza, was a part of a military campaign against the Muslims of the Balearic Islands. Islamic scholars have referred to the Norwegian raids in the region as part of a larger history of Islamic Spain. After winning a battle at the island of Formentera, Sigurd would go on to attack the islands of Ibiza, which is only separated from Formentera by a narrow channel.