Siege of Lisbon - Second Crusade

Second Crusade

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.

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. 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 May 19, 1147, the first contingents of crusaders left from Dartmouth in England, consisting of Flemish, Frisian, Norman, English, and Scottish crusaders, and some from Cologne, who collectively considered themselves "Franks". No prince or king led this part of the crusade, England at the time being in the midst of The Anarchy. The fleet was commanded by Henry Glanville, Constable of Suffolk. Other crusader captains included Arnold III of Aerschot, Christian of Ghistelles, Simon of Dover, Andrew of London, and Saher of Archelle.