ABSTRACT This article addresses the long-standing problem of the authenticity of Saint Bernard’s “Letter 308”, purportedly sent by the Abbot of Clairvaux to King Afonso Henriques of Portugal in response to his request for Bernard’s aid in recruiting northern European crusaders for an attack on Muslim-held Lisbon – an enterprise that took place in 1147, resulted in the conquest of the city by the Portuguese, and essentially guaranteed the autonomous survival of the kingdom. Since the letter concerns one of the most discussed topics in Portuguese medieval history, namely the extent of Bernard’s involvement in the determinative years of the independent kingdom, this article scrutinises the arguments surrounding it in an attempt to untangle the disparate and often disjointed responses it has produced since its first appearance in 1602, and examines facets hitherto unheeded by those who have denounced it as a forgery, to discover if Letter 308 should now be accepted as genuine.

中文翻译：

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肮脏的动物和克莱尔沃的圣伯纳德：重新评估 308 号信件和 1147 年征服里斯本的案例

摘要 本文讨论了圣伯纳的“308 号信”的真实性问题，该信据称由克莱尔沃修道院院长寄给葡萄牙国王阿方索·恩里克斯，以回应他请求伯纳帮助招募北欧十字军进攻穆斯林控制的里斯本——一项发生于 1147 年的事业，导致葡萄牙人征服了这座城市，并基本上保证了王国的自治生存。由于这封信涉及葡萄牙中世纪历史上讨论最多的话题之一，即伯纳德在独立王国的决定性年代中的参与程度，本文仔细审查了围绕它的论点，试图解开它所做出的不同且经常脱节的反应。自 1602 年首次出现以来，