The traditional start of the
Reconquista is identified with the defeat of the Muslims in the
Battle of Covadonga in 722. After the
First Crusade in 1095–1099,
Pope Paschal II urged Iberian crusaders (
Portuguese,
Castilians,
Leonese,
Aragonese, and others) to remain at home, where their own warfare was considered just as worthy as that of crusaders travelling to
Jerusalem. During the
siege of Lisbon in 1142,
Afonso Henriques, taking advantage of the passage of a group of
Anglo-Norman crusaders on their way to the Holy Land, attempted to use them to take the Muslim-ruled city of
Lisbon. Although this attempt ultimately failed, leaving some distrust among the crusader forces, it showed the Portuguese monarch the usefulness of such force in future attempts. The
fall of Edessa in 1144 led to a call for a new crusade by
Pope Eugene III in 1145 and 1146. In the spring of 1147, the Pope also authorized a crusade in the
Iberian Peninsula, where "the war against the
Moors had been going on for hundreds of years." Pope Eugene encouraged
Marseille,
Pisa,
Genoa, and other Mediterranean cities to fight in Iberia. He also authorized
Alfonso VII of León and Castile to equate his campaigns against the Moors with the rest of the
Second Crusade. On 19 May 1147, a contingent of crusaders left from
Dartmouth in England, consisting of crusaders from
Flanders,
Frisia, France, England,
Scotland and some German polities No prince or king was in charge of the expedition, and its participants seem to have been largely made up of townsmen, who organised themselves using a sworn oath. Other crusader captains included
Arnout IV, Count of Aarschot leading the Rhinelanders,
Christian de Ghistelles leading the Flemish and French forces from the
County of Boulogne, and the Anglo-Norman forces led by
Simon of Dover,
Andrew of London, and
Saher of Archelle. Important decisions were made collectively by the commanders.
Redirected efforts According to
Odo of Deuil there were 164 ships bound for the
Holy Land, and there may have been as many as 200 by the time they reached the Iberian shore. Bad weather forced the ships to stop on the Portuguese coast, at the northern city of
Porto on 16 June 1147. There they were convinced by the bishop of Porto,
Pedro II Pitões, to meet with King Afonso. The king, who had reached the
Tagus and
conquered Santarém on 15 March, had also been negotiating with the pope for the recognition of his title of King. He was notified of the arrival of a first party and hastened to meet them. King Afonso promised to divide the conquered territories as
fiefs among the leaders. He reserved the power of
advocatus and released those who were at the siege and their heirs trading in Portugal from the commercial tax called the
pedicata. The English crusaders were at first unenthusiastic at this change of plan, but Hervey de Glanville convinced them to participate. However, some, led by William Viel and his brother, refused to take part on account of the failed joint attempt to capture Lisbon in 1142. Hostages were exchanged as sureties for the oaths. After a brief riotous insurrection, which the Anglo-Norman chronicler attributes to
"the men of Cologne and the Flemings", the city was entered by the Christian conquerors, on 25 October. The terms of the surrender indicated that the Muslim garrison of the city would be allowed to keep their lives and property, but as soon as the Christians entered the city these terms were broken. According to the
De expugnatione Lyxbonensi, Furthermore, according to the
De expugnatione Lyxbonensi, the Flemish and those from Cologne were the ones who broke their oath, but even according to this they were more concerned with plundering than killing any of the inhabitants: ==Aftermath==