Conquest of Santarém

1147 event of the Portuguese Reconquista

Conquest of Santarém

Part of the Portuguese Reconquista

The Conquest of Santarém by Alfredo Roque Gameiro
| Date| 15 March 1147

|

Location|

Santarém, Portugal

Result|  Portuguese victory[1]
Belligerents
Kingdom of Portugal|  Taifa of Badajoz
Commanders and leaders
Afonso I of Portugal|  Auzary, governor of Shantarin
Strength
250 knights|  Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown|  Very high

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Battles in the Reconquista

8th century

* Covadonga
* 1st Roncevaux Pass
* Burbia River
* Orbieu River
* Lutos
* Las Babias
* Río Quirós
* Oviedo
* 1st Lisbon

9th century

* 1st Barcelona
* 1st Tortosa
* Pancorbo
* 2nd Roncevaux Pass
* Clavijo
* Albelda
* Guadalacete
* Monte Laturce
* Morcuera
* Polvoraria
* 1st Cellorigo
* 2nd Cellorigo
* 2nd Barcelona

10th century

* Day of Zamora
* 1st Majorca
* Pallars and Ribagorza
* 1st San Esteban de Gormaz
* 2nd San Esteban de Gormaz
* Valdejunquera
* 1st Toledo
* Alhandic
* Simancas
* Estercuel
* Torrevicente
* Rueda
* Rovirans
* 3rd Barcelona

11th century

* Cervera
* Calatañazor
* Torà
* Albesa
* Aqbat al-Bakr
* Graus
* Coimbra
* Barbastro
* Paterna
* Cabra
* Piedra Pisada
* Morella
* 2nd Toledo
* 1st Zaragoza
* Sagrajas
* Tudela
* Tévar
* Aledo
* 3rd Toledo
* Almodóvar del Río
* 1st Valencia
* Quart de Poblet
* 2nd Lisbon
* Alcoraz
* Bairén
* Consuegra
* 4th Toledo
* 5th Toledo

12th century

* 2nd Valencia
* Mollerussa
* Balaguer
* Uclés
* Norwegian raid
* 3rd Lisbon
* Talavera
* Formentera
* Ibiza
* 1st Balearic Islands
* 6th Toledo
* Vatalandi
* 1st Santarém
* 2nd Balearic Islands
* Martorell
* Coimbra
* 2nd Zaragoza
* Calatayud
* Cutanda
* 1st Lleida
* 1st Granada
* Arnisol
* Corbins
* Alcalá
* 3rd Valencia
* Aceca
* Alamin
* 1st Andalusia
* 1st Badajoz
* Fraga
* Leiria
* Guadalquivir
* 1st Coria
* Ourique
* Oreja
* Trancoso
* 2nd Coria
* 4th Lisbon
* 1st Montiel
* Soure
* Albacete
* 1st Córdoba
* 1st Almería
* Al-Ludjdj
* 2nd Santarém
* Sacavém
* 5th Lisbon
* 2nd Tortosa
* 2nd Lleida
* 2nd Almería
* 1st Alcácer do Sal
* Palmela
* 1st Évora
* 2nd Badajoz
* Juromenha
* 3rd Santarém
* Tarragona
* Cuenca
* Calatrava
* 2nd Seville
* Abrantes
* 2nd Évora
* 1st Silves
* 4th Santarém
* Alvor
* 2nd Silves
* 3rd Silves
* Tomar
* 2nd Alcácer do Sal
* 4th Silves
* Alarcos
* Talamanca

13th century

* Al-Dāmūs
* Las Navas de Tolosa
* Úbeda
* 3rd Alcácer do Sal
* 1st Jaén
* Peníscola
* Aragonese raid
* 2nd Majorca
* Portopí
* Artà
* 2nd Jaén
* 1st Jerez
* Ares
* Burriana
* 2nd Córdoba
* El Puig
* 4th Valencia
* Algarve
* 1st Xàtiva
* 2nd Xàtiva
* Biar
* 3rd Jaén
* 3rd Seville
* Faro
* 2nd Jerez
* Mudéjar revolt
* 3rd Jerez
* 1st Murcia
* Écija
* 1st Martos
* 2nd Andalusia
* 1st Algeciras
* 2nd Algeciras
* 1st Moclín
* Tarifa
* Iznalloz
* Arjona

14th century

* 1st Gibraltar
* 3rd Algeciras
* 3rd Almería
* 2nd Gibraltar
* Vega de Granada
* Shepherds' Crusade
* 2nd Martos
* Teba
* Guardamar
* 3rd Gibraltar
* 4th Gibraltar
* Vega de Pagana
* Getares
* Río Salado
* Estepona
* Guadalmesí
* 4th Algeciras
* 5th Gibraltar
* Linuesa
* Guadix
* 2nd Montiel
* 5th Algeciras
* 2nd Murcia
* Puerto Lope

15th century

* Collejares
* Setenil
* Antequera
* 6th Gibraltar
* La Higueruela
* Archidona
* 7th Gibraltar
* Castril
* Río Verde
* Hellín
* Los Alporchones
* 8th Gibraltar
* 2nd Granada campaign
* Loja
* Axarquía
* Lucena
* 2nd Moclín
* Málaga

Post-Reconquista Rebellions

* 1st Alpujarras
* 2nd Alpujarras

* * *

North Africa

* 1st Ceuta
* Salé
* Strait
* 2nd Ceuta
* 3rd Ceuta
* Tétouan
* 4th Ceuta
* 5th Ceuta
* 1st Tangier
* 2nd Tangier
* Asilah
* 3rd Tangier

The conquest of Santarém took place on 15 March 1147, when the troops of the Kingdom of Portugal under the leadership of Afonso I of Portugal captured the Taifa of Badajoz city of Santarém (at the time called Shantarin).

## Prelude

[edit]

On 10 March 1147, King Afonso I of Portugal departed from Coimbra with 250 of his best knights[2] intending to capture the Moorish city of Santarém, a goal that he had previously failed to achieve.[2] 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 and would also allow a future attack on Lisbon.[3]

The plan now was to attack the city during the night under cover of darkness, in order to catch the Moorish garrison by surprise.[2] 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.[2]

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 had ended, for which three days' notice was required.[1]

## Fall of Santarém

[edit]

On the night of 14 March, King Afonso and his army arrived at Santarém[2] and hid ladders in the fields.[1] 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.[2] 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.[2]

By morning the conquest was already complete and Santarém became part of the recently formed Kingdom of Portugal.[2]

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.[4]

## Aftermath

[edit]

After the conquest of Santarém, Afonso I of Portugal turned his attention to the important Moorish city of Lisbon, which he would conquer in October with the help of a crusader fleet of the Second Crusade who stopped in Portugal while on course to the Holy Land.[5]

The earliest and most detailed source for the conquest of Santarém is the De expugnatione Scalabis.[6]

## See also

[edit]

* Siege of Santarém (1184)
* Portugal in the Middle Ages
* Portugal in the Reconquista
* Timeline of Portuguese history (First Dynasty)

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b c H. V. Livermore, p. 57
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Ângelo Ribeiro, p. 69
3. ^ "Speech delivered by the President of the Republic in Santarém County Hall on the occasion of the Commemorations of the National Day of Portugal, Camões and the Portuguese Communities".
4. ^ Felgueiras Gaio, Manuel José da Costa (1939). Nobiliário das Famílias de Portugal (in Portuguese). Vol. XIX. p. 62\. OCLC 40553228.
5. ^ Ângelo Ribeiro, p. 70
6. ^ Wilson 2021, p. 3.

## References

[edit]

* H. V. Livermore, A new history of Portugal (Cambridge University Press, 1976) ISBN 0-521-29103-8
* Ângelo Ribeiro, A Formação do Território-Da Lusitânia ao Alargamento do País (2004) ISBN 989-554-106-6
* Wilson, Jonathan, ed. (2021). The Conquest of Santarém and Goswin's Song of the Conquest of Alcácer do Sal: Editions and Translations of De expugnatione Scalabis and Gosuini de expugnatione Salaciae carmen. Crusade Texts in Translation. Routledge. See esp. pp. 7–23.

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