In 1107, a fleet of sixty ships carrying five thousand warriors set sail from the Norwegian fjords. Leading them was King Sigurd I, determined to reach the Holy Land and support the fledgling Crusader states in their struggle against the Muslims. This expedition went down in history as the first crusade personally led by a European monarch.
Bloody Route Through Iberia
The Norwegians spent their first winter peacefully in England, but the real challenges awaited them on the Iberian Peninsula. When they arrived in Galicia in the spring of 1108, local nobles initially agreed to host them.
The situation changed dramatically when the Norwegian forces ran low on supplies and the Spaniards refused to sell food. Sigurd was unwilling to let his army starve, so he gave his soldiers free rein to acquire provisions.
The Nordic warriors quickly recalled the skills of their Viking ancestors. They plundered local lords’ estates without much remorse. Upon encountering a pirate fleet in search of easy loot, they completely destroyed it and seized eight additional ships. These successes whetted their appetite for further conquests, this time targeting the Muslim territory of Al-Andalus.
The castle of Sintra fell first, with its defenders given an ultimatum: baptism or death. Lisbon, a city lying on the border of two worlds, suffered a similar fate, as did Alcácer, where the Norwegians carried out such a thorough massacre of the Muslim population that the settlement was nearly depopulated. The crusaders gathered significant spoils, which funded the expedition further.
Raiding the Pirates
After passing through the Strait of Gibraltar and defeating another pirate flotilla, the Norwegians headed toward the Balearic Islands. Among Christians, these islands had a notorious reputation as a center of slave trade and a base for Muslim corsairs. Sigurd’s attack was the first major Christian blow against the pirates there, since previous attempts were either undocumented or insignificant.
On Formentera, the Norwegians clashed with a sizable opponent described in Scandinavian sources as a mix of Africans and Saracens. This battle is one of the best-documented episodes of the entire crusade and remains a significant event in the island’s history. Sigurd’s warriors achieved a decisive victory and seized rich loot previously gathered by the pirates.
Additional assaults on Ibiza and Minorca also ended in success for the Norse crusaders. However, Sigurd showed prudence by refraining from attempting to conquer Majorca, where a powerful and independent Muslim taifa still operated.
News of the Norwegian triumphs in the Balearics reached other Christian rulers. It was likely these reports that convinced the Catalans and Pisans to launch a grand expedition in 1113, which resulted in the entire archipelago being taken from the Muslims two years later.
At the Gates of Jerusalem
In the spring of 1109, the fleet, exhausted from the campaigns, reached Sicily, then ruled by the young Roger II, the future king. The Norwegians used their stay on the island to recuperate before the final leg of their journey. The following summer, they finally landed at Acre, from where Sigurd set out to meet Baldwin I, ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
The reception was extremely cordial, prompted by the desperate position of the crusaders surrounded by Muslim foes. Every ally was treated with utmost honor. Sigurd was gifted numerous relics, including a splinter supposedly from Christ’s cross. The Norwegian king participated in Baldwin’s campaign to the Jordan River, demonstrating solidarity with the Latin rulers of the East.
The culmination of the Norwegians’ military engagement was the siege of Sidon in Syria, conducted together with Baldwin’s forces and a Venetian fleet led by Doge Ordelafo Faliero. Capturing the city was a tangible success for the crusade and fulfilled Sigurd’s commitments to his Christian allies. After this triumph, Sigurd considered his mission accomplished and decided to return home.
The End of the Expedition
The return journey proved as long as the expedition itself. Through Cyprus and Greece, the Norwegians arrived in Constantinople, where Emperor Alexios I Komnenos received them with honors. The arrival of the Nordic fleet caused a huge sensation among the residents of the Byzantine capital, who were accustomed to northern mercenaries but rarely saw such a large royal escort.
Sigurd made a pragmatic decision to hand over all his ships to Byzantium in exchange for horses and supplies for the overland route. Many of his warriors chose to stay in Constantinople, enlisting for imperial military service. This tradition stretched deep into the past, and the Varangian Guard, composed of Nordic mercenaries, enjoyed a well-earned reputation.
The king finally traveled through Bulgaria, Hungary, Swabia, and Bavaria, where he met Emperor Lothair III. The last leg of the journey led him through Denmark, where King Niels the Old provided Sigurd with a ship to return to Norway. When the king finally set foot on his homeland in 1113, he faced opposition that had grown stronger during his six-year absence. The crusade brought him fame, but the cost of his long absence was yet to be paid.
Autor
Margot Cleverly
Margot's journey into women's history began with a box of forgotten letters in a Cambridge archive – suffragettes whose voices had been silenced for over a century. Since then, she's been on a mission to uncover the stories history overlooked.
What she writes about: Queens who ruled from the shadows. Scientists whose male colleagues took credit. Revolutionaries who risked everything. But also ordinary women – those who survived wars, raised families through upheaval, and shaped their communities in ways no one bothered to record.
Margot turns historical figures into real people. She writes with warmth and detail, making centuries-old stories feel surprisingly relevant. Rigorous research meets accessible storytelling – no dusty academic jargon, just compelling narratives backed by solid facts.
When she's not writing, you'll find her in regional archives, collecting oral histories, or visiting sites connected to the women she writes about.