Siege of Lisbon (1142)

Last updated
Siege of Lisbon (1142)
Part of the Portuguese Reconquista
DateSummer of 1142 (?)
Location
Result Crusader forces failed to capture Lisbon
Belligerents
PortugueseFlag1143.svg Portugal
Cross-Pattee-red.svg Crusaders
Taifa of Badajoz
Commanders and leaders
Afonso I of Portugal
William Vitalus
Ralph Vitalus
Unknown
Strength
  • Unknown Portuguese forces
  • 70 Ships of Anglo-Norman Crusaders

In or about 1142 according to a brief reference in the Anglo-Norman text known as De expugnatione Lyxbonensi and the Portuguese text known as the Chronica Gothorum , a group of Anglo-Norman crusaders on their way to Jerusalem were invited by King Afonso I Henriques of Portugal to participate in an attempt to capture the Almoravid-controlled city of Lisbon. [1] The Anglo-Norman forces might have been led by the brothers William and Ralph Vitalus as it is implied by the De expugnatione Lyxbonensi. [2]

According to the sources the crusaders and the Portuguese monarch agreed to capture the city but they were too few in number to be able to sustain a long siege of the city which according to sources was very populous and well supplied. Alternatively, the Christian forces resorted to destroying the outskirts of the city before departing. [3] According to the Chronica Gothorum the Anglo-Norman Crusaders continued on their way to the Holy Land, while the Portuguese returned to their territory. [4] It seems that the inability of the Christian forces to capture Lisbon left some of the Anglo-Norman Crusaders dissatisfied with their Portuguese allies resolve. This would later hinder the negotiations between Afonso Henriques and the Crusader forces that ultimately helped him in the Siege of Lisbon in 1147 as part of the Second Crusade. [5]

Ultimately, however, despite the failure to capture Lisbon, the campaign did provide the Portuguese monarch with a precedent for the later cooperation with Northern Crusaders in the capture of the city in 1147. [6] On the other hand, this fiasco probably convinced the Portuguese monarch of the need to close the river supply lines of the city by capturing Santarem. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afonso I of Portugal</span> King of Portugal from 1139 to 1185

Afonso I, also called Afonso Henriques, nicknamed the Conqueror and the Founder by the Portuguese, was the first king of Portugal. He achieved the independence of the County of Portugal, establishing a new kingdom and doubling its area with the Reconquista, an objective that he pursued until his death.

Year 1142 (MCXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Crusade</span> 1147-1149 European Christian holy war

The Second Crusade (1147–1150) was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crusade (1096–1099) by King Baldwin I of Jerusalem in 1098. While it was the first Crusader state to be founded, it was also the first to fall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santarém, Portugal</span> Municipality in Lisbon, Portugal

Santarém is a city and municipality located in the district of Santarém in Portugal. The population in 2021 was 58 671, in an area of 552.54 km2. The population of the city proper was 29,929 in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patriarchate of Lisbon</span> Roman Catholic archdiocese in Portugal

The Metropolitan Patriarchate of Lisbon is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or patriarchal archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Lisbon</span> Sieges involving Portugal

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.

This is a historical timeline of Portugal.

Events from the 1140s in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Normans</span> European ethnic group

The Normans were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers, West Franks, and Gallo-Romans. The term is also used to denote emigrants from the duchy who conquered other territories such as England and Sicily. The Norse settlements in West Francia followed a series of raids on the French northern coast mainly from Denmark, although some also sailed from Norway and Sweden. These settlements were finally legitimized when Rollo, a Scandinavian Viking leader, agreed to swear fealty to King Charles III of West Francia following the siege of Chartres in 911. The intermingling in Normandy produced an ethnic and cultural "Norman" identity in the first half of the 10th century, an identity which continued to evolve over the centuries.

<i>Chronicon Lusitanum</i> Chronicle of the history of Portugal

The Chronicon Lusitanum or Lusitano is a chronicle of the history of Portugal from the earliest migrations of the Visigoths through the reign of Portugal's first king, Afonso Henriques (1139–85). The entries in the chronicle, ordered by year and dated by the Spanish Era, get increasingly longer and the majority of the text deals with the reign of Afonso. The conventional title of the chronicle means "Lusitanian chronicle" or "chronicle of the Goths". It was first given by the editor Enrique Flórez, who rejected the title under which it had previously been edited because of its subject matter. Flórez also claims that the manuscript of the Chronicon had previously been utilised by André de Resende, the first archaeologist of Portugal, and Manuel Severim de Faria, the first journalist of Portugal; it was also edited in the third volume of the Monarchia Lusitana by António Brandão (1632).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conquest of Santarém</span> 1147 event of the Portuguese Reconquista

The conquest of Santarém took place on 15 March 1147, when the troops of the Kingdom of Portugal under the leadership of Afonso I of Portugal captured the Taifa of Badajoz city of Santarém.

<i>De expugnatione Lyxbonensi</i> Eyewitness account of the Siege of Lisbon

De expugnatione Lyxbonensi is an eyewitness account of the Siege of Lisbon at the start of the Second Crusade, and covers the expedition from the departure of the English contingent on 23 May 1147 until the fall of Lisbon on 28 June 1148. It was written in Latin by one Raol, an Anglo-Fleming and probably a chaplain of Hervey de Glanvill in the army from East Anglia. It is an important source for the organisation of the crusade, especially among the middle ranks of society. An English translation by Charles Wendell David appeared in 1936 and was reprinted in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hervey de Glanvill</span>

Hervey de Glanvill [Glanville] was an Anglo-Norman nobleman and military leader. He was a scion of a younger line of the Glanvill family, which had been established in East Anglia, especially Suffolk, since before 1086. He had several sons and daughters, the most prominent of which was Ranulf de Glanvill, who became justiciar of England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Tortosa (1148)</span> Military action of the Second Crusade (1147–49) in Spain

The siege of Tortosa was a military action of the Second Crusade (1147–49) in Spain. A multinational force under the command of Count Raymond Berengar IV of Barcelona besieged the city of Tortosa, then a part of the Almoravid Emirate, for six months before the garrison surrendered.

De itinere Frisonum is an eyewitness account written in Latin of the Frisian crusaders' journey from Friesland to Acre during the Fifth Crusade (1217–1218). The narrative was composed by an anonymous participant of the venture who most likely was a member of the clergy. Abbot Emo of Friesland of the Premonstratensian monastery of Bloemhof copied it without alterations into his chronicle. Emo's version is the only surviving copy of the lost original and it is kept in the Library of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. The narrative is noteworthy for its detailed description of the geography of the lands encountered by the Frisian Crusaders on their journey and the author's perspective on the motivations of his compatriots during the venture. The narrative runs parallel up to the Frisian fleet's arrival to Lisbon with the Rhenish text known as Gesta crucigerorum Rhenanorum.

<i>De expugnatione Scalabis</i>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Silves (1189)</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Alcácer do Sal</span> Part of the Fifth Crusade and the Reconquista (1217)

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.

<i>Carmen de expugnatione Salaciae</i>

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.

Portugal in the <i>Reconquista</i>

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.

References

  1. Lucas Villegas-Aristizábal (2013), "Revisiting the Anglo-Norman Crusaders’ Failed Attempt to Conquer Lisbon c. 1142," Portuguese Studies 29:1 (2013), pp. 7-20.
  2. The Conquest of Lisbon: De expugnatione Lyxbonensi, trans. Charles. W. David (Philadelphia, 2000), pp. 100–03, n. 1.
  3. Villegas-Aristizabal, p. 17.
  4. Villegas-Aristizabal, p. 20.
  5. De expugnatione Lyxbonensi, pp. 102-105.
  6. Villegas-Aristizabal, p. 18.
  7. Wilson, Jonathan, The Conquest of Santarém and Goswin’s Song of the Conquest of Alcácer do Sal (London, 2021).