1113–1115 Balearic Islands expedition
Encyclopedia
In 1114, an expedition to the Balearic Islands
, then a Muslim
taifa
, was launched in the form of a Crusade. Founded on a treaty of 1113 between the Republic of Pisa
and Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona
, the expedition had the support of Pope Paschal II
and the participation of many lords of Catalonia
and Occitania
, as well as contingents from northern and central Italy
, Sardinia
, and Corsica
. The Crusaders were perhaps inspired by the Norwegian king Sigurd I's
attack on Formentera
in 1108 or 1109 during the Norwegian Crusade
. The expedition ended in 1115 in the conquest of the Balearics, but only until the next year. The main source for the event is the Pisan Liber maiolichinus, completed by 1125.
had granted suzerainty over the Balearics to Pisa. In September 1113 a Pisan fleet making an expedition to Majorca was put off course by a storm and ended up near Blanes
on the coast of Catalonia, which they initially mistook for the Balearics. The Pisans met with the Count of Barcelona in the port of Sant Feliu de Guíxols
, where on 7 September they signed a treaty causa corroborandae societatis et amicitiae ("for the cause of social cooperation and friendship"). Specifically the Pisans were exempted from the usagium and the jus naufragii
in all the territories, present and future, of the Count of Barcelona, though Arles
and Saint-Gilles
, in the recently-acquired March of Provence, were singled out for special mention (three times).
The only surviving copy of the treaty between Pisa and Barcelona is found interpolated in a charter of James I
granted to Pisa in 1233. It affirms that the meeting was unplanned and apparently arranged by God. Some scholars have expressed doubt about the lack of preparation, citing the Catalans' rapid response to the presence of the Pisans as evidence of some previous contact. The attribution of the meeting to Providence
alone may have been concocted to add an "aura of sacredness" to the alliance and the crusade.
The treaty, or what survives of it, does not refer to military cooperation or a venture against Majorca; perhaps that agreement was oral, or perhaps its record has been lost, but a Crusade was planned for 1114. The chief goal was the freeing of Christian captives and the suppression of Muslim piracy. Most of the Pisan fleet returned to Pisa, but some ships damaged by the storm remained to be repaired and some men remained behind to construct siege engines. In the spring of 1114 a new fleet of eighty ships arrived from Pisa, following the French coast, briefly staying at Marseille
.
The fleet brought with it Cardinal Bosone, an envoy from Paschal II, who vigorously supported the expedition, authorising it in a bull
as early as 1113. Paschal had also granted the Pisans the Romana signa, sedis apostolicae vexillum ("Roman standard, the flag of the apostolic see"), and his appeals for the expedition had borne fruit. Besides the 300 ships of the Pisan contingent, there were 120 Catalan and Occitan vessels (plus a large army), contingents from the Italian cities of Florence
, Lucca
, Pistoia
, Rome
, Siena
, and Volterra
, and from Sardinia and Corsica under Saltaro
, the son of Constantine I of Logudoro. Among the Catalan princes there were Ramon Berenguer, Hug II of Empúries, and Ramon Folc II of Cardona. The most important lords of Occitania participated, with the exception of the Count of Toulouse, Alfonso Jordan: William V of Montpellier
, with twenty ships; Aimeric II of Narbonne, with twenty ships; and Raymond I of Baux, with seven ships. Bernard Ato IV
, the chief of the Trencavel
family, also participated. Ramon Berenguer and his wife, Douce
, borrowed 100 morabatins from the Ramon Guillem, the Bishop of Barcelona, to finance the expedition.
in June, and destroyed its defences, since Ibiza lay between Majorca and the mainland and would have posed a continued threat during a siege. The Liber maiolichinus also records the taking of captives, who were trying to hide in careae (probably caves), on Formentera. Ibiza was under Crusader control by August. The Crusaders invested Palma de Majorca in August 1114. As the siege dragged on the counts of Barcelona and Empúries entered into peace negotiations with the Muslim ruler of Majorca, but the cardinal and Pietro Moriconi
, the Archbishop of Pisa, interfered to put an end to the discussions. Probably the Catalan rulers, whose lands lay nearest the Balearics, expected an annual payment of parias
(tribute) from the Muslims and the cessation of pirate raids in return for lifting the siege.
Muslims reinforcements, Almoravids
from the Iberian port of Denia
, surprised a Pisan flotilla of six in the waters off Ibiza, with only two of the Pisan vessels making it to safety, which consisted of the remains of a fortress burned by the king of Norway a decade earlier. In April 1115 the city capitulated and its entire population was enslaved. This victory was followed by the capture of most of the Balearics' major settlements and the freeing of most captive Christians on the islands. The independent Muslim taifa ruler was taken back to Pisa a captive. The greatest victory, however, was the annihilation of Majorcan piracy.
The conquest of the Balearics lasted no more than a few months. In 1116 they were reconquered by the Almoravids of peninsular Iberia.
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...
, then a Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
taifa
Taifa
In the history of the Iberian Peninsula, a taifa was an independent Muslim-ruled principality, usually an emirate or petty kingdom, though there was one oligarchy, of which a number formed in the Al-Andalus after the final collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba in 1031.-Rise:The origins of...
, was launched in the form of a Crusade. Founded on a treaty of 1113 between the Republic of Pisa
Republic of Pisa
The Republic of Pisa was a de facto independent state centered on the Tuscan city of Pisa during the late tenth and eleventh centuries. It rose to become an economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated Mediterranean and Italian trade for a century before being surpassed and...
and Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona
Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona
Ramon Berenguer III the Great was the count of Barcelona, Girona, and Ausona from 1082 , Besalú from 1111, Cerdanya from 1117, and Provence, in the Holy Roman Empire, from 1112, all until his death in Barcelona in 1131...
, the expedition had the support of Pope Paschal II
Pope Paschal II
Pope Paschal II , born Ranierius, was Pope from August 13, 1099, until his death. A monk of the Cluniac order, he was created cardinal priest of the Titulus S...
and the participation of many lords of Catalonia
Principality of Catalonia
The Principality of Catalonia , is a historic territory in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula, mostly in Spain and with an adjoining portion in southern France....
and Occitania
Occitania
Occitania , also sometimes lo País d'Òc, "the Oc Country"), is the region in southern Europe where Occitan was historically the main language spoken, and where it is sometimes still used, for the most part as a second language...
, as well as contingents from northern and central Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
, and Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
. The Crusaders were perhaps inspired by the Norwegian king Sigurd I's
Sigurd I of Norway
Sigurd I Magnusson , also known as Sigurd the Crusader , was King of Norway from 1103 to 1130. His rule, together with his brother Eystein I of Norway , has been regarded by historians as a golden age for the medieval Kingdom of Norway...
attack on Formentera
Formentera
Formentera is the smaller and more southerly island of the Pine Islands group , which belongs to the Balearic Islands autonomous community .-Geography:...
in 1108 or 1109 during the Norwegian Crusade
Norwegian Crusade
The Norwegian Crusade was a crusade that lasted from 1107 to 1110, in the aftermath of the First Crusade, by the lead of the Norwegian king Sigurd I. Sigurd was the first European king to ever go on crusade to the Holy Land, and not one battle during the crusade was lost...
. The expedition ended in 1115 in the conquest of the Balearics, but only until the next year. The main source for the event is the Pisan Liber maiolichinus, completed by 1125.
Treaty and preparations
In 1085 Pope Gregory VIIPope Gregory VII
Pope St. Gregory VII , born Hildebrand of Sovana , was Pope from April 22, 1073, until his death. One of the great reforming popes, he is perhaps best known for the part he played in the Investiture Controversy, his dispute with Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor affirming the primacy of the papal...
had granted suzerainty over the Balearics to Pisa. In September 1113 a Pisan fleet making an expedition to Majorca was put off course by a storm and ended up near Blanes
Blanes
Blanes is a town on the Costa Brava in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain.The coast of Blanes has 4 km of different kinds of beaches, including the Blanes beach and S'Abanell beach.-Main sights:...
on the coast of Catalonia, which they initially mistook for the Balearics. The Pisans met with the Count of Barcelona in the port of Sant Feliu de Guíxols
Sant Feliu de Guíxols
Sant Feliu de Guíxols is a municipality in the comarca of the Baix Empordà inCatalonia, Spain. It is situated on the Costa Brava and is an important port and tourist centre. The district abuts to the north, the upmarket s'Agaró resort built round the Sant Pol Beach. In addition to tourism and the...
, where on 7 September they signed a treaty causa corroborandae societatis et amicitiae ("for the cause of social cooperation and friendship"). Specifically the Pisans were exempted from the usagium and the jus naufragii
Jus naufragii
The jus naufragii , sometimes lex naufragii , was a medieval custom which allowed the inhabitants or lord of a territory to seize all that washed ashore from the wreck of a ship along its coast...
in all the territories, present and future, of the Count of Barcelona, though Arles
Arles
Arles is a city and commune in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture, in the former province of Provence....
and Saint-Gilles
Saint-Gilles, Gard
Saint-Gilles or Saint-Gilles-du-Gard is a commune in the Gard department in southern France.It is the second most populous commune in the Nîmes metropolitan area.-Geography:...
, in the recently-acquired March of Provence, were singled out for special mention (three times).
The only surviving copy of the treaty between Pisa and Barcelona is found interpolated in a charter of James I
James I of Aragon
James I the Conqueror was the King of Aragon, Count of Barcelona, and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1276...
granted to Pisa in 1233. It affirms that the meeting was unplanned and apparently arranged by God. Some scholars have expressed doubt about the lack of preparation, citing the Catalans' rapid response to the presence of the Pisans as evidence of some previous contact. The attribution of the meeting to Providence
Divine Providence
In Christian theology, divine providence, or simply providence, is God's activity in the world. " Providence" is also used as a title of God exercising His providence, and then the word are usually capitalized...
alone may have been concocted to add an "aura of sacredness" to the alliance and the crusade.
The treaty, or what survives of it, does not refer to military cooperation or a venture against Majorca; perhaps that agreement was oral, or perhaps its record has been lost, but a Crusade was planned for 1114. The chief goal was the freeing of Christian captives and the suppression of Muslim piracy. Most of the Pisan fleet returned to Pisa, but some ships damaged by the storm remained to be repaired and some men remained behind to construct siege engines. In the spring of 1114 a new fleet of eighty ships arrived from Pisa, following the French coast, briefly staying at Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
.
The fleet brought with it Cardinal Bosone, an envoy from Paschal II, who vigorously supported the expedition, authorising it in a bull
Papal bull
A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....
as early as 1113. Paschal had also granted the Pisans the Romana signa, sedis apostolicae vexillum ("Roman standard, the flag of the apostolic see"), and his appeals for the expedition had borne fruit. Besides the 300 ships of the Pisan contingent, there were 120 Catalan and Occitan vessels (plus a large army), contingents from the Italian cities of Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, Lucca
Lucca
Lucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plainnear the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...
, Pistoia
Pistoia
Pistoia is a city and comune in the Tuscany region of Italy, the capital of a province of the same name, located about 30 km west and north of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno.-History:...
, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Siena
Siena
Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008...
, and Volterra
Volterra
Volterra, known to the ancient Etruscans as Velathri, to the Romans as Volaterrae, is a town and comune in the Tuscany region of Italy.-History:...
, and from Sardinia and Corsica under Saltaro
Saltaro of Torres
Saltaro was the son of Constantine I of Logudoro. His mother is unknown, it may have been Marcusa. Whether or not he is the same person as the "Saltaro de Gunale" pretender to the throne of Logudoro in 1127 during the reign of Gonario II is unknown....
, the son of Constantine I of Logudoro. Among the Catalan princes there were Ramon Berenguer, Hug II of Empúries, and Ramon Folc II of Cardona. The most important lords of Occitania participated, with the exception of the Count of Toulouse, Alfonso Jordan: William V of Montpellier
William V of Montpellier
William V was the Lord of Montpellier from an early age until his death. He was the son of Bernard William IV.Soon after his father's death, his mother, Ermengarde, quit Montpellier to marry the Lord of Anduze...
, with twenty ships; Aimeric II of Narbonne, with twenty ships; and Raymond I of Baux, with seven ships. Bernard Ato IV
Bernard Ato IV
Bernard Ato IV was the Viscount of Nîmes of the Trencavel family from 1074 to his death.Bernard Ato was the son of Raymond Bernard of Nîmes and Ermengarde of Carcassonne.In 1125, Bernard Ato retook Carcassonne....
, the chief of the Trencavel
Trencavel
The Trencavel were an important noble family in Languedoc during the 10th through 13th centuries. The name "Trencavel," originally a nickname and later a family name, may derive from the Occitan words for "nutcracker"...
family, also participated. Ramon Berenguer and his wife, Douce
Douce I of Provence
Douce I was the daughter of Gilbert I of Gévaudan and Gerberga of Provence and wife of Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona. In 1112, she inherited the county of Provence through her mother...
, borrowed 100 morabatins from the Ramon Guillem, the Bishop of Barcelona, to finance the expedition.
Conquest and loss
The combined Crusader fleet raided IbizaIbiza
Ibiza or Eivissa is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses. Its largest cities are Ibiza...
in June, and destroyed its defences, since Ibiza lay between Majorca and the mainland and would have posed a continued threat during a siege. The Liber maiolichinus also records the taking of captives, who were trying to hide in careae (probably caves), on Formentera. Ibiza was under Crusader control by August. The Crusaders invested Palma de Majorca in August 1114. As the siege dragged on the counts of Barcelona and Empúries entered into peace negotiations with the Muslim ruler of Majorca, but the cardinal and Pietro Moriconi
Pietro Moriconi
Pietro Moriconi was the Archbishop of Pisa from 1105, succeeding Dagobert. According to tradition he belonged to the noble lineage of Moriconi of Vico. He first appears as archbishop in a document of 19 March 1106, and is credited with strengthening the Pisan church...
, the Archbishop of Pisa, interfered to put an end to the discussions. Probably the Catalan rulers, whose lands lay nearest the Balearics, expected an annual payment of parias
Parias
In medieval Spain, parias were a form of tribute paid by the taifas of al-Andalus to the Christian kingdoms of the north...
(tribute) from the Muslims and the cessation of pirate raids in return for lifting the siege.
Muslims reinforcements, Almoravids
Almoravids
The Almoravids were a Berber dynasty of Morocco, who formed an empire in the 11th-century that stretched over the western Maghreb and Al-Andalus. Their capital was Marrakesh, a city which they founded in 1062 C.E...
from the Iberian port of Denia
Dénia
Dénia is a city in the province of Alicante, Spain, on the Costa Blanca halfway between Alicante and Valencia, the judicial seat of the comarca of Marina Alta...
, surprised a Pisan flotilla of six in the waters off Ibiza, with only two of the Pisan vessels making it to safety, which consisted of the remains of a fortress burned by the king of Norway a decade earlier. In April 1115 the city capitulated and its entire population was enslaved. This victory was followed by the capture of most of the Balearics' major settlements and the freeing of most captive Christians on the islands. The independent Muslim taifa ruler was taken back to Pisa a captive. The greatest victory, however, was the annihilation of Majorcan piracy.
The conquest of the Balearics lasted no more than a few months. In 1116 they were reconquered by the Almoravids of peninsular Iberia.