The year 1064 witnessed a dramatic and bloody episode on the Iberian Peninsula that would echo through the centuries as a harbinger of the great crusading age to come. The Crusade of Barbastro – sometimes called the Siege or Battle of Barbastro – was an international Christian campaign, sanctioned by the papacy, to wrest the city of Barbastro from Muslim control. Though overshadowed by the later, more famous crusades to the Holy Land, Barbastro was the ‘crusade before the crusades,’ blending religious fervor, political ambition, and the brutal realities of early medieval warfare.
Background: The Iberian Peninsula and the Reconquista
Since the early 8th century, most of the Iberian Peninsula had been under Muslim rule, following the rapid expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate. Over the centuries, Christian kingdoms in the north – such as León, Castile, Navarre, and Aragón – slowly began to push back, in a long, intermittent struggle known as the Reconquista. By the mid-11th century, these Christian polities were both threatened and tempted by the wealthy Muslim taifas (independent kingdoms who had split away from the Umayyas Caliphate) to the south.
Barbastro, an important city in the Hudid Emirate of Lārida (Lleida), stood as a formidable Muslim stronghold between the Christian north and the rich lands of al-Andalus. Its capture would not only be a strategic victory but also a symbolic blow against Islam in Iberia.
The Papal Call: Holy War on the Ebro
The spark for the Barbastro campaign came from Rome. In 1063, Pope Alexander II issued a call to arms, framing the struggle in Spain as a Christian emergency and, crucially, granting spiritual rewards to those who took up the cross. This was a radical innovation: for the first time, the pope extended the concept of holy war and papal indulgences – later to become hallmarks of the crusading movement – to the Iberian conflict.
The call was taken up with enthusiasm, especially in Burgundy and France, where the influential Abbey of Cluny helped spread the message. Knights and adventurers from across Western Europe, including French, Burgundians, Normans, and Italians, answered the summons. The campaign thus became a truly international enterprise, foreshadowing the composition of later crusader armies.
The Christian Coalition: Leaders and Motivations
The leadership of the expedition reflected its diverse origins:
- Sancho Ramírez, King of Aragón and Navarre, led the Spanish contingent. For him, the campaign was both a matter of survival—his small kingdom was threatened by powerful Muslim neighbors—and an opportunity to expand his territory and prestige.
- William VIII (Guy-Geoffrey), Duke of Aquitaine, commanded the largest foreign force, bringing with him a formidable army of French knights and some Italians. His presence underscored the campaign’s pan-European character.
- William of Montreuil, a Norman, led the papal contingent, while other notable Normans, such as Robert Crispin, commanded smaller groups.
The motivations of the participants were mixed. For some, the campaign was a genuine act of faith, inspired by papal rhetoric and the promise of spiritual rewards. For others, it was a chance for glory, loot, and land -a pattern that would repeat in later crusades.
The March South: Gathering the Host
The Christian army assembled in the spring of 1064. William VIII led his troops over the Pyrenees at Somport, joining the Catalan and Aragonese forces at Girona. The combined host marched through lands already scarred by previous conflicts, passing by Graus – a city that had twice resisted Christian assault – before turning their sights on Barbastro.
The Seige Begins
Barbastro, a jewel of the Hudid Emirate of Lārida, was a city of learning, trade, and faith. Its governor, Yusuf ibn Sulayman ibn Hud, faced the impossible: defending a city whose walls, though strong, were not built to withstand the combined might of Europe.
The besiegers moved swiftly, taking control of the poorer districts and encircling the city. They cut off the aqueduct, choking the city’s lifeblood and leaving its people to thirst under the relentless sun. Inside, the citizens – merchants, scholars, soldiers, and children – waited, hoping for relief that would never come.
Forty Days of Desperation
As the siege ground on, Barbastro’s defenders grew desperate. With water running out and no hope of rescue, emissaries were sent to the Christian camp. They offered surrender: their lives and the lives of their children in exchange for safe passage, leaving the city with nothing but their lives. The Normans and their allies agreed – at least, so it seemed.
On the fortieth day, the gates of Barbastro opened. The defenders, weary and parched, emerged into the blinding light. What followed was not mercy, but massacre. The pact was broken as soon as it was made. The besiegers fell upon the surrendered soldiers and citizens alike. According to some accounts, only a handful of dignitaries – Barbastro’s commander Ibn al-Tawil, its judge Ibn Isa, and a few nobles – were spared.
The Sack and Its Aftermath
The city was plundered without restraint. Contemporary Muslim chroniclers describe the horror: mosques desecrated, their call to prayer silenced by the laughter of the conquerors; the faithful dragged away like cattle; homes and treasures seized by the victors. The scale of the violence was staggering with thousands of civilians killed or enslaved.
The spoils were immense. Each conqueror took possession of a house and its inhabitants. Even the campaign’s leader, William of Montreuil, reportedly claimed 1,500 slave girls and 500 camel loads of clothing. The city’s wealth, accumulated over centuries, vanished in days.
Barbastro’s mosques became churches. The Qur’an was replaced by the cross. The city, once a bastion of Muslim learning and prosperity, was left in ruins, its people scattered.
The siege of Barbastro was more than just a military victory; it was a template for the wars to come. Described by some historians as “a crusade before the crusades,” it marked the first time a papal banner united European knights for holy war in Spain. The brutality, the broken promises, and the immense scale of the operation would be repeated – on an even larger stage – decades later in the Holy Land. Barbastro’s forty days of war were over, but the age of crusade had only just begun.
Aftermath: A Pyrrhic Victory
The fall of Barbastro sent shockwaves through al-Andalus. The city, described by Ibn Hayyan as “the most important stronghold of Barbithanyya, located between Lérida and Zaragoza,” had been a bastion of Islam for over three centuries. Its loss was mourned as a catastrophe, and fears spread that other great cities, including Córdoba, might soon share its fate.
Yet the Christian victory was fleeting. The coalition that had stormed Barbastro soon fractured. The Normans, notorious for their brutality, alienated their Spanish allies. Many foreign knights returned home or sought new adventures elsewhere, as the Norman focus shifted to England and southern Italy. The city, poorly defended after the sack, was retaken by the Muslim king of Zaragoza, Al-Muqtadir, within eight months. It would not permanently fall to Christian hands until decades later.
Legacy: Barbastro as a Forerunner of the Crusades
Despite its short-term impact, the Crusade of Barbastro had profound long-term significance:
- Religious Innovation: It marked the first time the papacy explicitly sanctioned a holy war against Islam, granting spiritual rewards to participants. This set a precedent for the later, larger crusades to the Holy Land.
- International Cooperation: The campaign brought together warriors from across Europe, foreshadowing the multinational character of future crusader armies.
- Template for Crusading Warfare: Barbastro established patterns – siege, massacre, plunder, and the breaking of surrender terms – that would recur in later crusades.
- Political Ramifications: For Sancho Ramírez and the Aragonese, the campaign strengthened ties with Rome and the French nobility, bolstering their position in the fractious politics of Christian Spain.
Historians continue to debate whether Barbastro should be considered a “true” crusade. Some argue that the absence of a grand plan for conversion, and the lack of formal papal indulgences, distinguishes it from later crusades. Others, however, see in Barbastro all the essential elements: papal sanction, religious rhetoric, international participation, and the promise of spiritual and material rewards.
