Geraldo Geraldes or Gerald the Fearless (died prob. 1173), known in Portuguese as Geraldo Sem Pavor ("without fear"),[1] was a Portuguese warrior and folk hero of the Reconquista whose theatre of operations was in the barren Alentejo and Extremadura regions of the lower Guadiana river. The city of Évora was the most lasting of his conquests and was never retaken. His success and independence have suggested parallels with the Castilian hero El Cid and Gerald has been called "the Cid of Portugal".[2]
Reconquista in Alentejo and Extremadura[edit] Around 1162 Gerald assembled a private army (a mesnada) and rapidly developed tactics that proved remarkably successful in seizing Muslim strongholds, though it was not adapted for siege warfare.[3] He "perfected techniques of nocturnal surprise in wintry or stormy weather, stealthy escalading of walls by picked commando-like troops, cutting down of sentries and opening of town gates to the larger force stationed without."[4] Among the primary sources for Gerald's methods the most important is the contemporary Arabic chronicler Ibn Ṣāḥib al-Ṣalā, whose Al-Mann bil-Imāma was incorporated into the history of al-Maqqarī in the seventeenth century.[5] His opinion of Gerald and his tactics is very low:
The dog [Gerald] marched on rainy and very dark nights, with strong wind and snow, towards the cities and, having prepared his wooden instruments of scaling [walls] very large, so that they would surpass the wall of the city, he would apply those ladders to the side of the tower and catch the sentinel [by surprise] and say to him: "Shout, as is your custom," in order that the people would not hear him. When the scaling of the group had been completed on the highest wall in the city, they shouted in their language with an abominable screech, and they entered the city and fought whom they found and robbed them and captured all who were there in [the city, taking] captive and prisoner all who were there.[6]
Of the places Gerald conquered the primary sources are in general agreement, also as to the order of their seizure, but as to the dating of events there is ambiguity. Ibn Ṣāḥib's version goes:
In the second Jumada al-awwal [15 April–13 May] of the anno Hegirae 560 [1165] the city of Trujillo was surprised, and in Dhu al-Qi'dah the notable village of Évora. Also was the population of Cáceres in Safar 561 [1166], and the castle of Montánchez in Jumada al-thani and the strongholds of Serpa and Juromenha.[7]
The years 560 and 561 correspond roughly to the annos Domini 1165 and 1166, but here Ibn Ṣāḥib is almost certainly off in his dating by a year. The events rather took place in 1164 and 1165. A later Portuguese chronicle, the Crónica dos Godos ("Chronicle of the Goths"), dates the conquest of Évora to the year 1204 of the Spanish era, that is, 1166.[8] Trujillo was taken on 14 May 1164,[9] or in June;[10] Évora in September 1164;[10] and Cáceres in December 1164[10] or, on a later dating, in September 1166.[9] These were the major conquests. The lesser conquests of Montánchez, Serpa, and Juromenha took place in 1165, based on Ibn Ṣāḥib's scheme,[10] but Montánchez and Serpa may have gone in March 1167, as one historian has it.[9] All the primary sources agree that Santa Cruz de la Sierra was the last of Gerald's successes, which may place it as late as 1169,[10] though perhaps earlier (1167/8), along with Ureña.[9] The conquest of these last two places left Gerald in a position to harass Beja.[9] The date of the capture of Monfragüe,[11] which was certainly one of his conquests, cannot be established.[5]
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Reconquista in Alentejo and Extremadura[edit]
Around 1162 Gerald assembled a private army (a mesnada) and rapidly developed tactics that proved remarkably successful in seizing Muslim strongholds, though it was not adapted for siege warfare.[3] He "perfected techniques of nocturnal surprise in wintry or stormy weather, stealthy escalading of walls by picked commando-like troops, cutting down of sentries and opening of town gates to the larger force stationed without."[4] Among the primary sources for Gerald's methods the most important is the contemporary Arabic chronicler Ibn Ṣāḥib al-Ṣalā, whose Al-Mann bil-Imāma was incorporated into the history of al-Maqqarī in the seventeenth century.[5] His opinion of Gerald and his tactics is very low:
The dog [Gerald] marched on rainy and very dark nights, with strong wind and snow, towards the cities and, having prepared his wooden instruments of scaling [walls] very large, so that they would surpass the wall of the city, he would apply those ladders to the side of the tower and catch the sentinel [by surprise] and say to him: "Shout, as is your custom," in order that the people would not hear him. When the scaling of the group had been completed on the highest wall in the city, they shouted in their language with an abominable screech, and they entered the city and fought whom they found and robbed them and captured all who were there in [the city, taking] captive and prisoner all who were there.[6]
Of the places Gerald conquered the primary sources are in general agreement, also as to the order of their seizure, but as to the dating of events there is ambiguity. Ibn Ṣāḥib's version goes:
In the second Jumada al-awwal [15 April–13 May] of the anno Hegirae 560 [1165] the city of Trujillo was surprised, and in Dhu al-Qi'dah the notable village of Évora. Also was the population of Cáceres in Safar 561 [1166], and the castle of Montánchez in Jumada al-thani and the strongholds of Serpa and Juromenha.[7]
The years 560 and 561 correspond roughly to the annos Domini 1165 and 1166, but here Ibn Ṣāḥib is almost certainly off in his dating by a year. The events rather took place in 1164 and 1165. A later Portuguese chronicle, the Crónica dos Godos ("Chronicle of the Goths"), dates the conquest of Évora to the year 1204 of the Spanish era, that is, 1166.[8] Trujillo was taken on 14 May 1164,[9] or in June;[10] Évora in September 1164;[10] and Cáceres in December 1164[10] or, on a later dating, in September 1166.[9] These were the major conquests. The lesser conquests of Montánchez, Serpa, and Juromenha took place in 1165, based on Ibn Ṣāḥib's scheme,[10] but Montánchez and Serpa may have gone in March 1167, as one historian has it.[9] All the primary sources agree that Santa Cruz de la Sierra was the last of Gerald's successes, which may place it as late as 1169,[10] though perhaps earlier (1167/8), along with Ureña.[9] The conquest of these last two places left Gerald in a position to harass Beja.[9] The date of the capture of Monfragüe,[11] which was certainly one of his conquests, cannot be established.[5]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_the_Fearless
Statue of Geraldo the Fearless in Évora, decapitating a Moor.