# Norwegian Crusade (1152–1155)

The Norwegian Crusade (1152–1155), was led by the Norwegian Earl of Orkney, Rögnvald Kali Kolsson as a late wave of the Second Crusade.

## Background

The Norwegian crusade in 1152, which is seen as a late wave of the Second Crusade, occurred during the earl’s visit to Norway in 1150. According to the sagas, Earl Ragnvald was invited to Norway by the supporters of the King, Inge Haraldsson during increasing internal pressure between the three brothers and co-rulers Inge, Eystein and Sigurd. This was according to the sagas an attempt to strengthen the bond between Ragnvald and Inge’s faction so that the earl "might be a dearer friend of Inge than of his brother".
In the summer of 1150, Ragnvald and King Inge met at the kings court. During Ragnvalds stay a man named Eindride 'the Young' who was a noble and a lendman and had for a long times served in the Varangian Guard in Constantinople who brought back news from the Holy Land where its thought that he mentioned the loss of Edessa and the possibility of a Second Crusade. Eindride said to the Earl of Orkney: “it would best suit such men as you are to be there on account of your great accomplishments, and you will be honoured above all others wherever you come among noblemen".
His speech convinced Ragnvald to pick up the cross and go on a crusade. Erling Skakke was also present, and held a long speech in support of a crusade and along with many nobles he agreed to partake in his Crusade. It was also arranged that all participants should use two years to prepare for the crusade by building ships and gathering supplies. Among the participants were the lendmen Jon Petterson Fot, Eindride the Young Aslak Erlendsson, Guttorm Mjolekoll, Magnus Håvardssonand and five people whose identities are unknown along with the bishop of Orkney, William the Old.

## The Crusade

The Norwegian Crusaders sailed from Norway with 15 large ships before setting sail towards Palestine. On the way there they would enter Galicia which was currently under the chieftain Gudefrøy who was foreign. When Ragnvald and his men encountered the local people, they asked him to take back the castle and liberate the locals as Gudefrøy was a oppressive chieftain who had much hate towards the locals. Ragnvald accepted the request and some time after it the Norwegians were going to scout the castle. It was said that every single Norwegian, even the ship crew, was called to part take in the scouting and the attack. It was around Christmas and William the Old did not want to attack on such a holy day. The chieftain was described as wise, When Gudefrøy saw the Norwegians, he called on his men and said "The advice the Norwegians have taken here seems to me foolish and harmful to us. It will be worse when they realize that the stone wall around the castle has become unsafe. And the Norwegians are strong and brave. We can expect a quick answer from them if they can come. Now I will consult with you, what advice I should take in the water that has flowed to us here" All his men then asked him for advice. He responded, "My first advice is that you tie a rope around me and hoist me down from the castle wall. I will be in a loose garment, and then I will go to the Norwegian messengers and see what I can do to show them." It was done as he had said before. When Gudefroy went to Ragnvald, he said that he was a scoundrel, and spoke Welsh for that was what the Norwegians understood best. He disregarded all orders and asked for food. He understood that there was much envy and discord among the Norwegians. Eindride was for one group, and the earl for another. Gudefroy went to Eindride, and made peace with him; he pretended that the chief who was in charge of the castle had sent him there and said "He will go into company with you, and expects that you will give him a reward if the castle is taken. He will grant you his slayers better, if you will do this to him again, than those who would take his life." Thus they spoke, but the earl did not hear anything; everything passed quietly in the first hour. After Gudefrøy had spoken with the earl's men, he returned to his own. But they did not move from the castle what they had, because they were uncertain whether anything would come of the attack. And so they could not trust the country people either. On the tenth day of Christmas, earl Rognvald stood up early. It was good weather. He asked his men to arm themselves, and easily walked the army up to the castle. So they pulled the wood to the walls and lit a fire around the walls. The Earl himself advanced from the south with his men, Erling and Aslak advanced from the west, Jon and Guttorm from the east, and Eindride the Young from the north. When they were invited to attack, they lit the fire. The garrison stood silently on the city wall, for they feared being shot. They poured out burning beech and flint, but the earl's men were little harmed by it. It happened as Erling had said: the city walls were damaged by the fire, because the lime could not stand the heat; and it was a big lead. Sigmund Ongul was a man, the son of Svein Asleivarson. He fought all the more boldly against the city, and went well before the Earl. He was a grown man then. Then they went and held on to one side, all of them withdrew to the city, retreating from the city wall, everyone in the city pulled away from the city wall. The wind stood on from the south, and the smoke lay against Eindrid and his people. When the fire began to eat around itself as hard as possible, the earl had water carried and cooled the stone that had burned down. Then there was a hindrance in the attack. When Sigmund Ongul attacked the castle, the garrison fled down in to the castle. The wind stood on from the south, and the smoke lay against Eindrid and his people. When the fire spread, the earl had water carried and cooled the stone that had burned down. Then there was a hindrance in the attack. After this, the earl and Sigmund Ongul attacked the castle. There was little resistance, and they entered the castle. Many were killed there. But those who were allowed to live surrendered to the earl. They took much booty there, but they did not find the chief. There was much talk about how Gudefrøy could have escaped; and they immediately suspected Eindride young, and that Gudefrøy had then gone his way with the smoke to the forest. After this Rognvald and they only stayed briefly in Galicia, then they headed west to Spain. They ravaged far into the Spain that, and got much booty there. They attacked a village but those who lived in the village ran together and prepared for battle. There was a hard fight, but the country people finally fled, and many of the locals were killed. They continued ravaging until they sailed past Gibraltar. They then sailed off the coast of Sardinia and there encountered two muslim ships, one of them being a Dromund. Ragnvald and his men bored the ship and fought a hard battle killing every man on the ship. It was here Erling Skakke was cut in the neck with a sword during the boarding of the ship. This caused him from then on to tilt his head to one side ("skakke" means slanted). Which led him to be nicknamed "Erling Skakke". On their way they would also travel to southern France where they would stop at Narbonne and encounter Ermengarde, Viscountess of Narbonne known for her patronage of troubadours. When they arrived to the Holy Land in the spring of 1154 the Second Crusade had already ended.
After the crusade many of the Norwegians arriving in Constantinople, including Erling Skakke and Eindride the Young served years in Byzantine service in the Varangian Guard before later returning to Norway. When returning to Norway, Erling ended up marrying the daughter of Sigurd the Crusader, Kristin.