Siege of Tortosa
1148 CE.
Shown on the map at 40.800°, 0.517°.
The siege of Tortosa (1 July – 30 December 1148) was a military action of the Second Crusade (1147–49) in Spain. A multinational force under the command of Count Raymond Berengar IV of Barcelona besieged the city of Tortosa (Arabic Ṭurṭūsha), then a part of the Almoravid Emirate, for six months before the garrison surrendered. The campaign originated in an agreement between Barcelona and the Italian city-state of Genoa in 1146, following a Genoese raid on Almoravid territory. At the same time, the Genoese also agreed to aid the Castilians in an expedition against Almoravid Almería. Papal approval, which connected the two Spanish endeavours to the call for a second crusade to the Holy Land, was obtained the next year. Participants in the siege of Tortosa were called "pilgrims" (peregrini), the same term used for those en route to the Holy Land. The siege itself was a hard-fought battle. Siege engines were employed on both sides. Even after the outer walls were breached, the defenders fought in the streets to prevent the crusaders from advancing on the citadel.
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