The conquest of Santarém took place on 15 March 1147, when the troops of the

Kingdom of Portugal The Kingdom of Portugal was a Portuguese monarchy, monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and 1910, it was also known as the Kingdom of Portugal a ...

under the leadership of

Afonso I of Portugal Dom Afonso IOr also ''Affonso'' (Archaic Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonso'' (Portuguese-Galician languages, Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonsus'' (Latin version), sometimes rendered in English as ''Alphonzo'' or ''Alphonse'', depending on th ...

captured the

Taifa of Badajoz The Taifa of Badajoz (from ) was a medieval Islamic Moorish kingdom located in what is now parts of Portugal and Spain. It was centred on the city of Badajoz which exists today as the first city of Extremadura, in Spain.Santarém (at the time called Shantarin).

Prelude

On 10 March 1147, King Afonso I of Portugal departed from

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ), officially the City of Coimbra (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2021 census was 140,796, in an area of . The fourth-largest agglomerated urban area in Po ...

with 250 of his best

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

sÂngelo Ribeiro, p. 69 intending to capture the Moorish city of Santarém, a goal that he had previously failed to achieve. The conquest of Santarém was of vital importance to Afonso's strategy; its possession would mean the end of the frequent Moorish attacks on

Leiria Leiria () is a city and municipality in the Central Region, Portugal, Central Region of Portugal. It is the 2nd largest city in that same region, after Coimbra, with a municipality population of 128,640 (as of 2021) in an area of . It is the seat o ...

and would also allow a future attack on

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

. The plan now was to attack the city during the night under cover of darkness, in order to catch the Moorish garrison by surprise. King Afonso had previously sent the Portuguese Mem Ramires to Santarém disguised as a businessman, in order to secretly study the city for the conquest. After the first day of the journey from Coimbra to Santarém, King Afonso I sent an emissary to Santarém announcing to the Moors that the

truce A ceasefire (also known as a truce), also spelled cease-fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions often due to mediation by a third party. Ceasefires may b ...

had ended, for which three days' notice was required.

Fall of Santarém

On the night of 14 March, King Afonso and his army arrived at Santarém and hid ladders in the fields. Before dawn the next morning, 25 knights scaled the walls, killed the Moorish sentries and forced their way to the gate, allowing the main Portuguese army to enter the city. Awakened by the screams of their sentries, the Moors ran from all sides to face the Portuguese attackers in the streets, offering very strong resistance, but ended up being defeated and slaughtered. By morning the conquest was already complete and Santarém became part of the recently formed Kingdom of Portugal. One of the attacking knights was Mem Moniz de Gandarei (grandfather of Portuguese politician Martim Machado Pires), who was said to have broken down the city doors with an axe.

Aftermath

After the conquest of Santarém,

turned his attention to the important Moorish city of

, which he would

conquer Conquer may refer to: * Conquer (Soulfly album), 2008 * Conquer (Carl Thomas album), 2011 * "Conquer" (''The Walking Dead''), an episode of the television series ''The Walking Dead'' See also * *Conquistador (disambiguation) Conquistador is a ...

in October with the help of a crusader fleet of the

Second Crusade The Second Crusade (1147–1149) 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 Crus ...

who stopped in Portugal while on course to the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

.Ângelo Ribeiro, p. 70 The earliest and most detailed source for the conquest of Santarém is the '' De expugnatione Scalabis''.

Notes

References

*H. V. Livermore
''A new history of Portugal''
(Cambridge University Press, 1976) *Ângelo Ribeiro, ''A Formação do Território-Da Lusitânia ao Alargamento do País'' (2004) * See esp. pp. 7–23. {{DEFAULTSORT:Conquest of Santarem Santarém Santarém Santarém Santarém Santarém Santarém Santarém Santarém