The
War of Barbastro (also known as the Siege
of Barbastro) was an international expedition, sanctioned
by Pope Alexander II, to take the
Spanish
city of Barbastro
from the Moors. A large
army composed of elements from all over
Western Europe took part in the successful
siege of the city (
1063). The war was part of
the
Reconquista, but in its
international and papal character it presaged the
Crusades of the next two centuries.
Expedition
Alexander II first preached the Reconquista in 1063 as a "Christian
emergency." It was also preached in
Burgundy, probably with the permission of
participation of
Hugh of Cluny, where
the abbot's brother,
Thomas de
Chalon, led the army.
Certainly zeal for the crusade spread
elsewhere in France
, for
Amatus of Montecassino notes
that "grant chevalerie de Francoiz et de Borguegnons et d'autre
gent" were present at the siege. Thus, a large army,
primarily of Frenchmen and Burgundians, along with a papal
contingent, mostly of Italo-Normans,
and local Spanish armies, Catalan
and Aragonese
, was present at the siege when it began in
1063. The leader of the papal contingent was a Norman by the
name of
William of Montreuil.
The leader of the Spaniards was
Sancho
Ramírez,
King of Aragon, whose
realm was greatly threatened by the Moors to the south.
The
largest component, the Aquitainian
, was led by the Duke Guy Geoffrey. Though the
makeup of this grand army has been subject to much dispute, that it
was largely a force of knights of Frankish extraction is generally
agreed.
The duke
of Aquitaine led the army through the Pyrenees
at Somport
. He
joined the Catalan army at
Gerona early in
1064.
The entire army then marched past Graus
, which had
resisted assault twice before, and moved against Barbastro, then
part of the taifa of Lleida
ruled by
al-Muzaffar. The city,
which received no reinforcements from Lleida and had its water
supply cut off, was besieged and quickly fell. The crusaders
plundered and sacked it without mercy. It has been said that 50,000
Moslems were killed.
Legacy
The crusaders made off with a lot of booty. Records indicate the
capture of a good many Saracen girls and Saracen treasures.
Armengol III of Urgel was
given the lordship of the city. In
1065, in a
counterattack, the Moors easily retook the city and undid all the
crusaders' work, massacring the small garrison.
Thibaut, the Burgundian leader, died, possible of wounds received
on campaign, while returning to France after the loss of the city
in 1065.
The War of Barbastro has been seen as a proto-Crusade, giving
impetus to the Crusading movement in France.
Historiography
Historian
Reinhart Dozy first began a
study of the War in the mid-nineteenth century based on a the
scarce primary sources, mainly Amatus and
Ibn
Hayyan. Dozy first suggested the participation of a papal
element based on Ibn Hayyan's reference to the "chivalry of Rome."
Subsequent
hisoriography has stressed the Cluniac
element in
the War, primarily the result of Ferdinand I of León's recent
attempts to introduce the Cluniac
reform to Spain and inspired by the death of Ramiro I of Aragon following the failed
Siege of
Graus
.
This interpretation has been attacked in more recent decades,
especially the papal connection and Italian involvement. It has
been alleged that Alexander was preoccupied with the
Antipope Cadalus at the time and did not
preach a
plenary indulgence for
warriors of the Reconquista until the
1073
campaign of
Ebles II of Roucy. It
has thus been alleged that it was not William of Montreuil, but Guy
Geoffrey, who was the "Roman" leader implied by Ibn Hayyan.
Notes
- Bishko, p 62.
- Ibid.
- Ibid, meaning "grand chivalry of the French and Burgundians and
other peoples."
- Ibid. He calls him the "Christian generalissimo," implying
headship over the whole enterprise.
- Ibid.
- Chaytor, p 137.
- Ibid. Bishko.
Sources
, pp. 85–104.
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