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

Kingdom of Portugal The Kingdom of Portugal ( la, Regnum Portugalliae, pt, Reino de Portugal) was a 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 kno ...

under the leadership of

Afonso I of Portugal Afonso I of PortugalOr also ''Affonso'' (Archaic Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonso'' (Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonsus'' (Latin version), sometimes rendered in English as ''Alphonzo'' or ''Alphonse'', depending on the Spanish or French inf ...

captured the

Almoravid The Almoravid dynasty ( ar, المرابطون, translit=Al-Murābiṭūn, lit=those from the ribats) was an imperial Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century that s ...

city of Santarém.

Prelude

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

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto Metropolitan Area, Porto, and Bra ...

with 250 of his best

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of 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. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

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 (; cel-x-proto, ɸlāryo) is a city and municipality in the Central Region of Portugal. It is the 2nd largest city in that same region, with a municipality population of 128,640 (as of 2021) in an area of . It is the seat of its own distr ...

and would also allow a future attack on

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

. 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 or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...

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.

Aftermath

After the conquest of Santarém,

turned his attention to the important Moorish city of

, which he would conquer in October with the help of a crusader fleet of the

Second Crusade The Second Crusade (1145–1149) 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 Crusa ...

who stopped in Portugal while on course to the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

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

De expugnatione Scalabis ''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. The title ''De expugnatione S ...

''.

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

Prelude

Fall of Santarém

Aftermath

See also

Notes

References