This week we continue on our theme of the Reconquista with the discussion of an unlikely Portuguese romance associated with a very famous pilgrimage site. Although the medieval Iberian peninsula saw much conflict between Christian and Muslim kingdoms, there was also much interaction between Christians, Muslims, and Jews who lived cheek and jowl in Iberia’s many cities. This interaction extended to business, diplomacy, scholarship, and even intermarriage. In the 12th century, as the Kingdom of Portugal pushed south against the Almohad Caliphate, one Portuguese knight found love in an unexpected place.
The Kingdom of Portugal
In 1158, Portugal was less than two decades old. The result of a union between Teresa of Castilla, the bastard daughter of King Alfonso VI and Henry of Burgundy, it enthusiastically joined the other Iberian kingdoms in their push to conquer the Muslim-ruled south. Under King Affonso I de Bourgogne, the first king, Portuguese forces captured Lisbon from the Taifa of Badajoz in 1147. With the coast secure, King Affonso looked to secure the inland territories to the east, which belonged to the powerful Almohad Caliphate of North Africa.
Raids and Counter-raids
The Muslim kingdoms of southern Iberia were known for their skilled cavalrymen. These troops were devastatingly effective as raiders. To stall enemy expansion and settlement of conquered lands, they often launched raids (razzias) into Christian territory to capture slaves, especially women, burn fledgling towns, and loot churches and monasteries for their gold and silver valuables. The Christian kingdoms, when not fighting each other, conducted similar operations, perpetuating a vicious cycle of raids and counter-raids in the borderlands of central and southern Iberia. Following the fall of Lisbon, the powerful Almohad Caliphate took over Badajoz’s remaining lands and intensified raids against Portuguese territory to slow the young kingdom’s southward expansion.
The St. John’s Day Raid
According to a later Portuguese friar named Bernardino de Brito, the chronicler of the Monastery of Alcobaça, the Portuguese struck back against the Almohads with a razzia of their own. Writing in the early 17th century but basing his account on earlier traditions and sources from his monastery, Friar de Brito records that on the evening of St. John’s day in 1158, a Portuguese knight named Dom Gonçalo Hermigues led a company of men inland into Almohad territory. Dom Gonçalo held a deep seated hatred of the enemy Moors, who had killed his father in battle. A raid against Almohad territory would be revenge for his father’s death and for the many Christians captured and sold in North Africa’s slave markets. He and his men crossed the Tagus by night via the castle at Almada and went south, towards Alcácer do Sal.
Dom Gonçalo and his men launched their night attack against the city, surprising the inhabitants. After killing many enemies, his men captured a group of Moorish noblewomen, one of whom caught Gonçalo’s attention. Her name was Fátima, after the famous daughter of the prophet Muhammad. After spearing a member of the garrison who tried to rescue her, Gonçalo carried her off and retreated back to Portuguese territory. Back in Lisbon, Gonçalo chose her for himself, taking her to his castle in Serra do Aire. He quickly fell in love with her, and she appears to have returned his sentiments, converting to Catholicism and adopting the name Oriana to marry him. We cannot be sure of her true motives nor of this version’s veracity, but in her time, she became beloved for her grace, intellect, an beauty among her Christian subjects.
The Death of Oriana
Unfortunately for Gonçalo, the marital bliss was short lived. After a short time, perhaps only a year, Oriana died, leaving her grieving husband a widower. In her memory, their castle was renamed Ourém. Dom Gonçalo retired to the Monastery of Alcobaça, and in 1170, with the help of King Affonso and the Abbot of Alcobaça, founded another monastery outside Ourém. This monastery and the village around it, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, were called Fátima, in honor of Gonçalo’s deceased bride’s Muslim name. This obscure Muslim noblewoman is now remembered locally from these two cities that bear her Christian and Muslim identities. However, Fátima’s story does not end here. Incredibly, her name lives on internationally thanks to its association with the most famous Marian apparition in history.
Connection to 1917
The village of Fátima remained an obscure shepherding village until the early 20th century. In 1917, the Virgin Mary appeared to three children that were pastoring their flocks near a cave, attracting thousands to witness the miracles reported there. Today, the name Fátima in the Christian world is most associated with this apparition and is now the pilgrimage site. How unlikely that a small village in Portugal dedicated to the Virgin Mary named in honor of a Muslim noblewoman bearing the name of Muhammad and Khadijah’s daughter somehow became one of the biggest Catholic pilgrimage sites in the world! What else can we ask of history but to provide us with such fascinating stories such as this one.
Sources and Further Reading
For those interested in Friar de Brito’s chronicle, it can be found here or here in the original Portuguese. I recommend the second link as it is searchable. Catholic readers may find the theological explanation for the connection between Fátima and the Virgin Mary, and Catholicism and Islam interesting as well.