Norwegian Crusade

The Norwegian Crusade, led by Norwegian king Sigurd I,¹ was a crusade² that lasted from 1107 to 1111, in the aftermath of the First Crusade. The Norwegian Crusade marks the first time a European king personally went to the Holy Land.³

Journey to Jerusalem

From Norway to England (1107–08)

Sigurd and his men sailed from Norway in the autumn of 1107 with 60 ships and around 5,000 men.⁴ He soon arrived in England, where Henry I was king. Sigurd and his men stayed there the entire winter until the spring of 1108, when they set sail southwards.

Iberia (1108–09)

After several months they came to Santiago de Compostela (Jakobsland)² in the Kingdom of Galicia (Galizuland) where they were allowed by a local lord to stay for the winter. However, when the winter came there was a shortage of food, which caused the lord to refuse to sell food and goods to the Norwegians. Sigurd gathered his army, attacked the lord's castle and looted what they could there. The identity of the local lord or count is uncertain.⁵

In the spring of 1109, they continued along the coast of Portugal, capturing eight Saracen galleys on their way, and conquered a castle at Sintra (probably referring to Colares, which is closer to the sea), after which they continued to , a "half Christian and half heathen" city, said to be on the dividing line between Christian and , where they won another battle. On their continued journey they sacked the town of (probably ), and on their way into the Mediterranean, near the (), met and defeated a Muslim squadron.