Key Facts
- Duration
- 1113–1115 (approx. 2 years)
- Founding treaty
- Treaty of 1113 between Pisa and Barcelona
- Papal support
- Pope Paschal II endorsed the expedition
- Primary source
- Pisan Liber maiolichinus (completed by 1125)
- Territorial control
- Crusaders held Balearics only until 1116
Strategic Narrative Overview
The coalition launched its amphibious campaign in 1114, committing forces from multiple Christian polities across the western Mediterranean. The combined Pisan and Catalan-led crusading force conducted military operations across the island chain, overcoming Muslim Taifa resistance. The campaign progressed sufficiently for the Crusaders to achieve conquest of the Balearic Islands by 1115, representing the principal military objective of the expedition as documented in the Pisan chronicle Liber maiolichinus.
01 / The Origins
The Balearic Islands, then a Muslim taifa, were a base for raids threatening Christian Mediterranean trade, particularly that of Pisa. In 1113, the Republic of Pisa and Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, concluded a treaty to jointly address this threat. Pope Paschal II endorsed the venture as a Crusade, drawing participation from lords of Catalonia, Occitania, and contingents from northern and central Italy, Sardinia, and Corsica. The Norwegian king Sigurd I's attack on Formentera around 1108–1109 may have inspired the effort.
03 / The Outcome
By 1115 the Crusaders had conquered the Balearics, but they did not establish a lasting occupation. Within a year, in 1116, Muslim forces — likely Almoravid — retook the archipelago, ending Christian control. The expedition thus produced no permanent territorial gain for Pisa or Barcelona, though it demonstrated the capacity of western Mediterranean Christian powers to mount coordinated crusading operations far from their home territories.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
3 belligerents
Ramon Berenguer III.
Side B
1 belligerent
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.