Siege of Santarém (1184)

Siege of Santarém
Part of the Portuguese Reconquista
Date June–July 1184 Location Santarém, Portugal Result Decisive Christian victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Portugal Kingdom of León	Almohad Empire
Commanders and leaders
Afonso I of Portugal Ferdinand II of León	Abu Yaqub Yusuf †
Strength
unknown	unknown
Casualties and losses
unknown	unknown

The Siege of Santarém, lasted from June 1184 to July 1184. In the spring of 1184, Abu Yaqub Yusuf assembled an army, crossed the straits of Gibraltar and marched to Seville. From there he marched towards Badajoz and headed west to besiege Santarém, which was defended by Afonso I of Portugal.^[1] Upon hearing of Abu Yusuf's attack, Ferdinand II of León marched his troops to Santarém to support his father-in-law, Afonso I.

Death of Yusuf

Abu Yusuf, believing he had sufficient troops to maintain the siege, sent orders for part of his army to march to Lisbon and lay siege to that city. The orders were misinterpreted and his army, seeing large contingents of men leaving the battle, became confused and started to retreat. Abu Yusuf, in an attempt to rally his troops, was wounded by a crossbow bolt^[2] and died on July 29, 1184.^[3]

Papal recognition

The victory at Santarém was a major achievement for Afonso I. Pope Alexander III formally recognized him as rex Portugalensium.^[4]

References

1. O'Callaghan, Joseph F., A History of Medieval Spain, (Cornell University Press, 1975), 241.
2. E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936, Vol. 2, Ed. Martijn Theodoor Houtsma, (BRILL, 1987), 153.
3. Hirtenstein, Stephen, The unlimited mercifier: the life and thought of Ibn ʻArabī, (Anqa Publishing, 1999), 254.
4. O'Callaghan, 241.