In 1147, as part of Portuguese efforts during the Reconquista, Afonso I of Portugal besieged and reconquered Lisbon with the aid of crusader knights. The city, with around 154,000 residents at the time, was returned to Christian rule. The reconquest of Portugal and re-establishment of Christianity is one of the most significant events in Lisbon's history, described in the chronicle Expugnatione Lyxbonensi, which describes, among other incidents, how the local bishop was killed by the crusaders and the city's residents prayed to the Virgin Mary as it happened. Some of the Muslim residents converted to Roman Catholicism and most of those who did not convert fled to other parts of the Islamic world, primarily Muslim Spain and North Africa. All mosques were either destroyed or altered and converted into churches. As a result of the end of Muslim rule in the mid-12th century, spoken Arabic quickly lost its place in Lisbon, and disappeared altogether.
In 1147 as part of Portuguese efforts during the Reconquista, Afonso I of Portugal besieged and reconquered Lisbon with the aid of crusader knights. The city, with around 154,000 residents at the time, was returned to Christian rule. The reconquest of Portugal and re-establishment of Christianity is one of the most significant events in Lisbon's history, described in the chronicle Expugnatione Lyxbonensi, which describes, among other incidents, how the local bishop was killed by the crusaders and the city's residents prayed to the Virgin Mary as it happened. Some of the Muslim residents converted to Roman Catholicism and most of those who did not convert fled to other parts of the Islamic world, primarily Muslim Spain and North Africa. All mosques were either destroyed or altered and converted into churches. As a result of the end o,f Muslim rule in the mid-12th century, spoken Arabic quickly lost its place in Lisbon, and disappeared altogether.