Short History of Portugal
The Beginning
History of Portugal goes back to ancient times. The people have been living there since the time immemorial. And why not- the climate is soft, the soil is rich and the sea provides the people with food as well. For these reasons, Portugal also attracted the attention of their stronger neighbours. First, the Carthaginians had .settlements in Portuguese area. Then, the Romans came, saw and conquered. Though to be fair, time between seeing and conquering was quite long- from 200BC to about the beginning of our time. Only by then, the Iberian peninsula was finally conquered and became part of the Roman provinces of Tarraconesis (northern part) and Lusitania (south of river Douro). Incidentally, the name of Portugal also came from that time - from a city called Portus Cale in the mouth of River Douro.
Roman provinces and Roman conquest of Iberia
Visigoths
All the good things must come to an end. Though the Portugal enjoyed prosperity and growth in the Roman Empire, when the Empire fell, so did Portugal. Instead of Romans, they now had new overlords, of the barbaric sort. From 407-409, Germanic Vandals, Suebi and Alans crossed the frozen Rhine river and somehow ended up settling in Portugal, creating their own small Kingdoms there. Then came the Visigoths and attacked the rest of barbars and soon, Visigothic Kingdom ruled the entire Peninsula. After Franks kicked Visigoths out of Southern France in the beginning of the 6th Century, Visigoths remained only in Iberia, with their capital in Toledo. It was not a good time for Portugal, or for the rest of Europe. There, the Visigoths ruled for about 300 years.
Visigothic Kingdom at their absolute height
Arabic Conquest
It was a surprise how easy did Visigoths fall when Muslims invaded. It was a surprise to Tariq ibn Ziyad, the leader of the invasion as well. The battle of Guadalete, fought in 711 (or 712), basically ended the Visigoth rule. Historians had talked about battles consisting of over 100 000 soldiers on both sides, but in reality, it was more likely 1500 Muslims versus 2500 Visigoths. There had even been a speculation that it was an ordinary Muslim raid and the fellows did not plan to conquer at all. To everyone’s surprise, they managed to kill the last Visigoth King Roderic, crumble the realm and in the following decade, take all of Iberian peninsula, except for small kingdoms in the mountainous north. From there, the Muslims swarmed to Southern France and the young Christianity was at serious risk.
Arabic conquest at about year 1000AD
Start of Reconquista and of Portugal
From the Kingdoms of the North, Christians started to push back. It took centuries though to even begin and it took them even longer to finish it. Galicia/Leon/Asturias, at the most northwestern part of the Peninsula, was free of Muslims by as early as 750-ies. About the same time, Franks pushed the Muslims out of Southern France and in 801, Franks took the city of Barcelona and established Spanish Mark down there. Next was the city of Porto and the surrounding areas- conquered in 868, they were formed into County of Portucale and they became part of Kingdom of Leon. This is also considered to be the birthdate of current Portugal.
Meanwhile, reconquista raged on. Slowly, Christians were getting upper hand. Most famous of these dates is 1085, when Christians retake Toledo. With that, more then half of the Iberian lands in back at the Christian hands.
Foundation of Portugal
Henri (or Henrique) of Burgundy was the youngest son of Henri of Burgundy, who was the oldest son of Robert, Duke of Burgundy. Since Henri the Older died before Robert, brothers of Henry the Younger took the throne of the Duchy. Henri went crusading instead- helping King Alfonso VI of Castile and Leon to fight the Muslims. Incidentally, Alfonso was married to Henri’s aunt, Constance de Burgundy. In 1093, Alfonso married Henri to his illegitimate daughter Theresa and Henry received the county of Portugal as dowry. It was all fun and games, but in 1109, Alfonso died. In resulting struggle, Henri declared Portugal independent. But Henri also died, in 1112. Henri’s son, Alfonso, born in 1109, was the next count, but the regent was her mother, Theresa.
Henri de Burgundy, Count of Portugal and founder of Burgundy Dynasty
Theresa herself fought against her sister, queen of Leon and was basically a royal pain in the butt for the region. She even expelled Alfonso in 1120, but in 1128, Alfonso finally defeated her mother in battle of São Mamede, put her mother in convent and claimed himself to be Duke of Portugal and defeated Alfonso VII of Castile and Leon (who was son of Urrica, sister of Theresa and thus, Alfonsos were cousins). With that, the independence of Portugal was guaranteed.
After battle of Ourique in 1139, when Alfonso (according to legends that are not the most reliable sources) defeated not one or two, but five Moorish kings and as a result, his soldiers came up with the bright idea- the men who defeats five kings must be King himself, so long live King Alfonso! How that really was, no-one can tell for sure, but one thing is certain- in 1143, with treaty of Zamora, Alfonso VII of Leon agreed Alfonso of Portugal to be an independent King. Finally, in 1179, Pope Alexander III declared Alfonso proper King and all that. Thus, the nation of Portugal was finally officially born.
Alfonso, son of Henri and the first king of Portugal
Portuguese Reconquista
Despite the “grand victory” at Ourique, Muslims continued to be a threat and the battles turned both ways. The most important event of Alfonso’s rule was in 1147, when a band of Crusaders from the Second Crusade landed in Porto and offered their help in taking the City of Lisboa. Before that, Alfonso had taken the fortress of Santarem.
Portuguese and Crusaders taking Lisboa
From there on, the Kings changed and the fortunes of war changed. Sometimes, Portuguese were victorious and gained more land. Sometimes, Moors took the lands back. But slowly and steadily, Portugal pushed their borders further south until in 1249, during the reign of Alfonso III, the final province of Algarve and the city of Faro in the south was taken by Portugal. In Iberia, Portugal had reached the borders they still have in 1444.
Alfonso III. During his reign, the Portguguese got their realm in to their current borders
King Dinis
Dinis, son of Alfonso III, is one of the most fondly remembered Kings of Portugal. He ruled from 1279-1325, he was called either Farmer or Poet and aside from one little war with Castile, his entire rule of 46 years was peaceful- a rare trait for ruler of Medieval Europe. He repopulated the war-torn lands, he built new towns, villages and castles, he advanced agriculture (and thus the Farmer callsign). He created the Royal Fleet that is now the foundation of Portuguese power. Also, he founded the University of Lisboa, now situated in Coimbra. And he wrote his own poetry that was quite good. This, for example is one of his works:
Code:
Flower of the green pine, oh flower,
do you have news of my lover?
Oh God, and where is he?
Oh flower, flower of the green branch,
do you have news of my friend?
Oh God, and where is he?
Do you have news of my lover,
who has proved himself a liar?
Oh God, and where is he?
Do you have news of my friend,
who did not come when he said?
Oh God, and where is he?
You ask me about your lover?
I tell you he’s well, he’s coming.
Oh God, and where is he?
You ask me about your friend?
I tell you he’s coming, he’s well.
Oh God, and where is he?
I tell you he’s well, he’s coming,
he’ll keep his word - take comfort.
Oh God, and where is he?
I tell you he’s coming, he’s well,
he’ll be here - patience! - in a while.
Oh God, and where is he?
Dinis, one of the best Kings of Portugal
End of House Burgundy, rise of House Avis
All good things must come to an end and so must the story of House Burgundy, founded when Henry de Burgundy became the Count of Portugal. Last Burgundian King was Fernando I, who ruled from 1367-1383. He without a male heir and her daughter, Beatrice, was married to Juan I of Castile, thus supposedly uniting the two nations.
It seems though that the Portuguese nobles were not really fond of idea of Castilian king and thus, a civil war broke loose. João de Aviz, illegitimate son of Pedro I (father of Fernando) and thus, bastard brother of Fernando and grandmaster of the order of Aviz, Portuguese own military order formed on same basis as the Templars. Now, instead of being normal bastard under the rule of Juan, João decided to become a royal bastard. He was already popular amongst Portuguese nobles and thus, he raised his flags in rebellion.
Juan of Castile was of course not really happy about the turn of events. He gathered a large army and sieged Lisboa in 1384. Finally, hunger and plague forced them to retreat without taking the city. Next year, he gathered an army of 31 000 men and marched to Portugal, confident of victory, for João had only about 6500 men. Then, Battle of Aljubarrota happened. Small Portuguese army, with even smaller detachment of English archers, defended a hill and slaughtered Castilians and their French allies in August 1385. Though less known then Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt (the later still about to happen), the Portuguese did the same- defeated an enemy several times more sizeable. About 5000 Castilians were killed in battle and another 5000 in aftermath, while Portuguese lost about 1000 men. To make matters worse for Castilians, Portuguese marched to Castile and in October 1385, Battle of Valverde happened. Castilians had superior numbers- 20 000 against 3000- and they were defending the river crossing. Portuguese crossed the river, forced Castilians to flee and won the day.
The Battle of Abjubarrota
With that, Castile was defeated and João was crowned as the King of Portugal. True, Castile only admitted to that in 1411. Thus, Aviz, the branch family of Burgundy, who was a branch family of Capet, came to rule in Portugal.
Portugal from 1385-1444
João ruled to 1433. He married Philipa Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt. During his time, the realm prospered, though he granted too much privileges to his loyal nobles, thus weakening the realm a bit.
João marrying Philippa
In 1415, João gathered an army of 45 000 soldiers and sailed to Ceuta, in Morocco. The attack came as a surprise to defenders of Ceuta and thus, the Portuguese managed to take the city before anyone understood what was going on. With João travelled his sons- his heir Duarte, Price Henrique the Navigator and Pedro and Alfonso, also sons of João. The event is usually marked as the beginning of Portuguese Empire.
Meanwhile, Portuguese continued their expansion by sea. Mostly thanks to Price Henrique the Navigator, who also became Grand Master of the Order of Christ. He continued to send out explorations, hoping to find more lands, riches and the legendary Priest King John, who was supposed to be a legendary rich king ruling somewhere, drowned in the lands of Muslims.
Prince Henrique, the driving force behind Portuguese exploration
In 1419, João Gonçalves Zarco discovered the isle of Madeira. In the next year, the beautiful island was colonized. In 1431, Gonçalo Velho Cabral discovered the Islands of Azores. He was given ship, a caravel, by Prince Henrique and told to discover land in the west. That he did- he stumbled upon Azores. The settlement took time, but even during the first voyage, Gonçalo released some sheep to the wilds so future colonists would have something to eat. By 1444, a small Portuguese colony is alive in Azores and growing.
Portuguese caravel, the power behind exploration
Meanwhile, King João died in 1433 and was succeeded by his son, Duarte. In 1437, he tried to take Tangiers, but this time, failed miserably. His own brother Fernando was captured and kept in captivity where he died in 1443. Duarte himself died of plague in 1348. His firstborn son, Alfonso (born in 1432) now ruled as a 6-year boy and King Alfonso V. In 1444, he was still underage, though he was well on his way to becoming an adult.
