''De expugnatione Lyxbonensi'' ('On the Conquest of Lisbon') is an eyewitness account of the

Siege of Lisbon The siege of Lisbon, from 1 July to 25 October 1147, was the military action that brought the city of Lisbon under definitive Portuguese control and expelled its Moorish overlords. The siege of Lisbon was one of the few Christian victories of ...

at the start of the Second Crusade, and covers the expedition from the departure of the English contingent on 23 May 1147 until the fall of Lisbon on 28 June 1148. It was written in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

by one Raol, an

Anglo Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from, the Angles, England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term ''Anglosphere''. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to peopl ...

- Fleming and probably a chaplain of

Hervey de Glanvill Hervey de Glanvill ''Glanville(fl. c. 1140–50) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman and military leader. He was a scion of a younger line of the Glanvill family, which had been established in East Anglia, especially Suffolk, since before 1086. He had s ...

in the army from East Anglia. It is an important source for the organisation of the crusade, especially among the middle ranks of society.

Christopher Tyerman Christopher Tyerman (born 22 May 1953) is an academic historian focusing on the Crusades. In 2015, he was appointed Professor of History of the Crusades at the University of Oxford. Life and career He graduated from New College, Oxford, with a f ...

, ''England and the Crusades, 1095–1588'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996), 32–35. An English translation by

Charles Wendell David Charles Wendell David (1885–1984) was a noted American bibliophile, medievalist and librarian. He worked tirelessly both to reconstruct Europe's war-torn repositories and to establish new libraries in the United States. Biography David went to ...

appeared in 1936 and was reprinted in 2001.

Manuscript

''De expugnatione'' is untitled in its sole manuscript. Its first English editor,

William Stubbs William Stubbs (21 June 182522 April 1901) was an English historian and Anglican bishop. He was Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford between 1866 and 1884. He was Bishop of Chester from 1884 to 1889 and Bishop of O ...

, gave it its modern title, which was picked up by Charles Wendell David, who preferred it for its similarity to the titles used by the Lisbon Academy, by

Reinhold Pauli Reinhold Pauli (25 May 1823 in Berlin – 3 June 1882 in Bremen) was a German historian of England. Life He studied at the universities of Bonn and Berlin, where he received his PhD in 1846. In 1847 he moved to England, where he served as private ...

for his German edition of some excerpts, and in the bibliographies of

August Potthast August Potthast (13 August 1824, Höxter, Province of Westphalia13 February 1898, Leobschütz), was a German historian, was born at Höxter, and was educated at Paderborn, Münster and Berlin. He assisted GH Pertz, the editor of the '' Monu ...

and Auguste Molinier.C. W. David, "The Authorship of the ''De Expugnatione Lyxbonensi''", '' Speculum'', 7:1 (1932), 50–51.

Charles Purton Cooper Charles Purton Cooper Queen's Counsel, QC, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (1793–1873) was an English lawyer and antiquary. Life He was educated at Wadham College, Oxford, where he was a contemporary of Richard Bethell, 1st Baron Westbury, Ric ...

, in recognition of the text's form as an epistle, designates it ''Cruce Signati anglici Epistola de expugnatione Ulisiponis'' ("English Crusaders' Letter on the Conquest of Lisbon"). The unique manuscript was believed by Stubbs and Pauli to be the original autograph. David suggests however that it was not the original, which was probably written hastily during the crusade, but rather a later autograph edited by the author later, perhaps in his old age. The manuscript is located in the Parker Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, Manuscript 470, fol. 125-146.

Authorship

The author of the ''De expugnatione'' names himself in his opening lines, although in an obscure abbreviated form that has perplexed scholars: ''Osb. de Baldr. R. salutem''. Since at least the time of Archbishop

Matthew Parker Matthew Parker (6 August 1504 – 17 May 1575) was an English bishop. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England from 1559 until his death in 1575. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder (with a p ...

he has been known as "Osbern" and the manuscript's table of contents, written in a Renaissance hand, lists the work as ''Historia Osberni de Expeditione etc.'' ("Osbern's History of the Expedition, etc."). This purely conjectural name has been oft repeated and has become traditional. Ulrich Cosack, in his doctoral dissertation, argued that "Osbern" was an

Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to: *Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066 * Anglo-Norman language **Anglo-Norman literature * Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 10 ...

on the grounds that he showed a marked preference for narrating their deeds. Pauli argued the same on the grounds that he used

gallicism A Gallicism can be: * a mode of speech peculiar to the French; * a French idiom; * in general, a French mode or custom. * a loanword, word or phrase borrowed from French. See also * Francization * Franglais * Gallic (disambiguation) * Gallican R ...

s, like ''garciones'' ("men"), but he also used anglicisms, like ''worma''. He probably hailed from the east of England, for the men of Suffolk appear frequently in his account, such as the seven youths of

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

who defended the

siege tower A Roman siege tower or breaching tower (or in the Middle Ages, a belfry''Castle: Stephen Biesty's Cross-Sections''. Dorling Kindersley Pub (T); 1st American edition (September 1994). Siege towers were invented in 300 BC. ) is a specialized siege ...

using the protection of a mobile

siege engine A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent heavy castle doors, thick city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some are immobile, constructed in place to attack enemy fortifications from a distance, while oth ...

called the "Welsh cat".

Speeches

''De expugnatione'' contains three speeches about crusading, from the mouths of three (probably deliberately) different men: Pedro Pitões,

Bishop of Porto The Portuguese Roman Catholic Diocese of Porto ( la, Dioecesis Portugallensis) (Oporto) is a suffragan of the archdiocese of Braga. Its see at Porto is in the Norte region, and the second largest city in Portugal. History The diocese was pro ...

, Hervey de Glanvill and an anonymous "certain priest", possibly Raol himself. They are not "verbatim reports utmore or less formal reconstructions". The bishop, who persuaded the crusaders to turn aside and attack Lisbon, had seen his own cathedral of Santa Maria plundered by the Muslims in 1140, when they took off with some liturgical vestments and killed and enslaved members of his clergy.Joseph F. O'Callaghan, ''Reconquest and Crusade in Medieval Spain'' (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004), 178–79. To incite them to his aid, Pedro called the crusaders "God's people", who were on "a blessed pilgrimage", and told them that " e praiseworthy thing is not to have been to Jerusalem but to have lived a good life while on the way". His pleading lacks confidence, suggesting ethical uncertainty, and his sermon, based on

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North A ...

Isidore Isidore ( ; also spelled Isador, Isadore and Isidor) is an English and French masculine given name. The name is derived from the Greek name ''Isídōros'' (Ἰσίδωρος) and can literally be translated to "gift of Isis." The name has survived ...

and Ivo of Chartres, is dry, but his use of the crusade for an attack on Lisbon suggests that concept was still flexible and could be detached from the pilgrimage to Jerusalem at that point in time. In his effort to soothe the crusaders' consciences, he urged them to "act like good soldiers" and affirmed that " n is not in waging war but in waging war for the sake of plunder" and " en a war had been entered upon by God's will it is not permitted to doubt that it has been rightly undertaken". The bishop ultimately offered to pay the crusaders for their assistance, and did so with plunder from the successful siege. Hervey's speech appeals to family pride, the desire for glory, "the counsels of honour" and the unity to which the crusaders had sworn at the onset of the expedition. The priest, after reminding the soldiers that the Muslims had desecrated a cross "with the filth of their posteriors", held up a relic of the

True Cross The True Cross is the cross upon which Jesus was said to have been crucified, particularly as an object of religious veneration. There are no early accounts that the apostles or early Christians preserved the physical cross themselves, althoug ...

David, "Authorship", 51 n. 3: ''sacerdos quidam sacrosanctam ligni Dominici tenens in manibus particulam, sermonem huiusmodi habuit'' ("a certain priest holding piece ofthe Lord's holy wood rossin his own hands made a sermon in that manner"). and reduced the host to tears before assuring them that " in this sign, if you do not hesitate, you will conquer. . . orif it should happen that anyone signed with this cross should die, we do not believe that life has been taken from him, for we have no doubt that he is changed into something better". He ended with a line he probably got from a letter written by Bernard de Clairvaux to the English crusaders in 1146: "Here, therefore, to live is glory and to die is gain". After the priest's sermon many of those present re-took the cross, and presumably some who had not yet done so were inaugurated into the ranks of the ''crucesignati'' (cross-signed). The influence of Bernard on both the bishop and the priest is evident.

Notes

{{Reflist

Manuscript

Authorship

Speeches

Notes

Further reading