Siege of Lisbon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Battle of Legnica | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Reconquista | |||||||
 The Siege of Lisbon by D. Afonso Henriques (1840), by Joaquim Rodrigues Braga |
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| Combatants | |||||||
| Portugal Crusaders |
Moors | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Afonso I of Portugal Arnold III of Aerschot Christian of Ghistelles Henry Glanville Simon of Dover Andrew of London Saher of Archelle |
Unknown | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| Reconquista |
|---|
| Covadonga – Roncevaux Pass – Simancas – Atapuerca – Graus – Az-Zallaqah – Ucles – Ourique – Lisbon – Alarcos – Las Navas de Tolosa – Jerez – Granada |
The Siege of Lisbon, from July 1 to October 25 of 1147, was the military action that brought the city of Lisbon under definitive Christian (Portuguese) control and expelled its Moorish overlords, in the process of the Reconquista, the general, centuries-long conflict for control of the Iberian peninsula against the Islamic force that invaded Visigothic Hispania. The Siege of Lisbon was the only success of the Second Crusade for the Christian crusaders.
Several attempts to conquer Lisbon from the Moors had been made over the centuries and sometimes the city had been sacked. After the rise of Portugal as an independent nation, these attempts became more frequent, as Lisbon emerged as a central objective for King Afonso I of Portugal. The Portuguese monarch had tried and failed to conquer Lisbon at least two or three times prior to 1147. Only with the help of the crusaders of the Second Crusade the conquest of Lisbon was achieved.
The Fall of Edessa in 1144 led to a call for a new crusade by Pope Eugene III in 1145 and 1146. The Pope also authorized a crusade in the Iberian peninsula (modern Portugal and Spain), although the war against the Moors had been going on for hundreds of years, since the defeat of the Muslims at Covadonga in 718. At the beginning of the First Crusade in 1095, Pope Urban II had urged Iberian crusaders (Portuguese, Castilians, Leonese, Aragonese, etc.) to remain at home, where their own warfare was considered just as worthy as that of crusaders travelling to Jerusalem. Eugene repeated this, and also authorized Marseilles, Pisa, Genoa, and other Mediterranean cities to fight in Iberia as well.
On May 19 the first contingents of crusaders left from Dartmouth in England, consisting of Flemish, Frisian, Norman, English, Scottish, and some German crusaders. According to Odo of Deuil there were 164 ships, and there may have been as many as 200 by the time they reached Portugal. No prince or king led this part of the crusade; England at the time was in the midst of The Anarchy. The fleet was commanded by Arnold III of Aerschot (nephew of Godfrey of Louvain) Christian of Ghistelles, Henry Glanville (constable of Suffolk), Simon of Dover, Andrew of London, and Saher of Archelle.
They arrived at the northern city of Porto on June 16, and were convinced by the bishop, Pedro II Pitões, to continue to Lisbon. King Alfonso, who had reached the Tagus River and conquered Santarém in March, went to meet them in Lisbon when he heard a crusader fleet was on its way and the crusaders agreed to help him there. The English crusaders were at first unenthusiastic, but Henry Glanville convinced them to participate.
The siege began on July 1. The Christians soon captured the surrounding territories and besieged the walls of Lisbon itself, although the Muslim defenders were able to destroy their siege engines. After four months, the Moorish rulers agreed to surrender (October 21), primarily due to hunger within the city. The city fell to the Christian conquerors on October 25. The terms of the surrender indicated that the Muslim garrison of the city would be allowed to flee, but as soon as the Christians entered the city these terms were broken.
According to Osbernus "...[when the enemy] had been despoiled in the city, left the town through three gates continuously from Saturday morning until the following Wednesday. There was such a multitude of people that it seemed as if all of Spain were mingled in the crowd."
Some of the crusaders settled in the newly captured city, and Gilbert of Hastings was elected bishop, but most of the crusaders' fleet continued to the east in 1148.
Legend says that a brave Portuguese warrior and nobleman, Martim Moniz (a real historical character), sacrificed himself in order to keep the city doors open to the conquering Christian armies.
Lisbon eventually became capital city of the kingdom of Portugal in 1255.
The Nobel Prize winning author José Saramago wrote an alternate history of the siege História do Cerco de Lisboa (1989) (English: The History of the Siege of Lisbon (1996)), wherein the Crusaders elected not to aid King Afonso Henriques.
[edit] Sources
- Odo of Deuil. De profectione Ludovici VII in orientem. Edited and translated by Virginia Gingerick Berry. Columbia University Press, 1948.
- Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, vol. II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Frankish East, 1100–1187. Cambridge University Press, 1952.
- Kenneth Setton, ed. A History of the Crusades, vol. I. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1958.
- Osbernus, De expugnatione Lyxbonensi[[1]]
