Page 65 - All About History - Issue 56-17

Prizes and plunder
To persuade the Crusaders to join his cause,
King Afonso I of Portugal said that the Anglo-
Norman, German and Flemish forces would
receive the plunder of Lisbon’s inhabitants
and the money derived from ransoming high-
ranking captives, while he would get full
control of the citadel and surrounding city.
SIEGE OF LISBON

LISBON, PORTUGAL, 1 July – 24 OctOber 1147

Written by William E. Welsh

s Europeans were preparing to celebrate at Lisbon on 28 June. The 4,500 Anglo-Normans
Christmas in 1144, more than 4,000 encamped on the west side of the city and the
kilometres to the southeast, Seljuk warriors 5,500 Flemish and Germans bivouacked together
captured the Frankish stronghold of Edessa. to the east. The two camps built siege towers and
Crusader navy A The bold move by the governor of Mosul trebuchets to batter the city’s walls.
Control of the Tagus estuary, which led out
to sea, was essential to a successful siege of sent shockwaves through Christendom. The County The Muslim garrison sortied frequently to torch
Lisbon. A few ships routinely patrolled the of Edessa in Upper Mesopotamia had been the first the Crusaders’ siege engines. But in late summer,
river to intercept attempts to smuggle food crusader state founded to stop Muslim nations from the Crusaders intercepted a message intended for
into the city, which the Crusaders knew was expanding into the Holy Land in 1098 — and now it the ruler of neighbouring Evora, in which Lisbon
desperately running out of supplies.
was the first to fall. requested aid as the city had nearly exhausted its
Fearing that the Kingdom of Jerusalem supplies. They also seized the reply stating that there
would be next, Pope Eugene III called for a new would be no relief army, which was forwarded to the
crusade to recapture the fallen fortress. The principal enemy garrison to shatter its morale.
crusade preacher, Bernard of Clairvaux, promoted The Crusaders launched an attack in mid-
the cause in Flanders and Friesland in 1146. Eugene October to stretch the city’s defences. The Flemish
and Bernard also wrote letters to the English and Germans torched the timbers in a large mine,
requesting their assistance, which were then read collapsing a 60-metre section of wall, but the
aloud in churches and cathedrals. defenders plugged the breach. Shortly after, the
In response to the call, 10,000 Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Normans pushed a siege tower against the
Flemish and Germans set sail on the Second fortress’ southwest corner. With archers covering
Crusade in 1147. However, when the fleet dropped them, the knights stormed onto the ramparts.
anchor to replenish supplies at Porto in northern Fearing slaughter, the Muslims surrendered.
Portugal, emissaries of the Portuguese king, Afonso Despite the easy victory, dividing the spoils nearly
I, were waiting for them. Before they sailed on, he went awry. The Crusaders squabbled with Afonso
wanted their help liberating Lisbon from Moorish over control of the captives held for ransom, and the
occupation. Though many of the Crusaders were German-Flemish soldiers also disrupted the orderly
initially resistant, the monarch persuaded them by process of confiscating the property of the residents
promising them all of the plunder in the city, plus for an even distribution of the booty, pouring into
the money that would be made from ransoming the city and violently ransacking it.
high-ranking hostages. After wintering in Lisbon, the Crusaders who
Lisbon was ruled by the Almoravid dynasty. weren’t injured during the siege or lost their zeal
Once a mighty force in the region, by 1147 they for holy war sailed for Jerusalem on 1 January 1148.
had lost ground to several foes in Iberia and were Once in the Holy Land, they joined forces with
in the midst of an internal power struggle with French, German and local Crusaders in a failed
a rebel force, the Almohad Caliphate. This meant attack on Damascus. They didn’t even try to reach
the Almoravids were caught off guard when the Edessa. In the end, the siege of Lisbon stood out as
Crusaders sailed up the Tagus and disembarked the only victory in a drearily unsuccessful crusade.

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