128 



P OR T U G A L. 



Portugal, century, having landed in Spain, extended their con- 

 """Y""-"' quests to Portugal, which continued in their posses- 

 sion till the eleventh century. The Spaniards, having 

 long struggled to expel these infidels from their terri- 

 tories, and having succeeded in driving them from the 

 greater part of the country, and in establishing the 

 kingdom of Castile and Leon, penetrated into Portugal, 

 and conquered a part of it from its barbarous invaders 

 in the reign of Alphonso VI. of Castile. This monarch 

 having acquired great glory by his expulsion of the 

 Count Moors, Henry, grandson of the first Duke of Norman- 

 Henrjr. dy t anxious to share in this glory, passed over into 

 Spain, and entered the service of the Castilian monarch. 

 After signalizing his valour in various engagements, 

 the king raised him to the highest military honours ; 

 and the better to attach so brave an officer to his ser- 

 vice, bestowed on him his natural daughter Theresa in 

 marriage, and, as her portion, such portions of Portu- 

 gal as were not in the hands of the Moors. This he 

 governed under the title of Earl or Count, till his death, 

 which happened in 1112, in the seventy-seventh year 

 of his age. The name of Count Henry forms the first 

 great authentic era in the annals of Portugal. And he 

 seems to have been worthy of the success and honours 

 he experienced. On his death-bed he is said to have 

 recommended to his son and successor to protect and 

 propagate the Christian faith ; to treat his subjects as 

 his children; to grant them equitable laws, and to 

 cause them to be impartially administered. 



Alphonso I. Alphonso, who succeeded him, being under age, the 

 kingdom during his minority was governed by the 

 queen-mother, assisted by two able ministers. During 

 this minority, those jealousies and hostile operations 

 which have ever since obtained between the Spanish 

 and Portuguese monarchies, first appeared. Alphonso, 

 however, when he came of age, made peace with the 

 king of Castile and Leon ; and although the latter af- 

 terwards entered the Portuguese territories, and was 

 preparing to commit great devastations, a reconcilia- 

 tion wr-s again effected on the intercession of the pope's 

 legate, all places and prisoners on either side having 

 been delivered up. The queen-mother, however, was 

 of a disposition incapable of remaining long in peace. 

 After she had made a treaty with her foreign enemies, 

 a quarrel took place between her and her own son, 

 which having terminated in a civil war, not only were 

 her troops completely defeated, but herself was made 

 prisoner; in which situation she continued during the 

 remainder of her life. 



Alphonso had not long gained uncontrolled pos- 

 session of his dominions, when they were attempted to 

 bs overrun by the Moors. He was not, however, slow 

 in opposing them. And a general engagement (1 139) 

 having taken place on the plains of Ourique, on the 

 banks of the Tagus, the infidel army was overthrown 

 with tremendous slaughter : an event which not only 

 redounded to the honour of Alphonso, but which laid 

 the foundation of the Portuguese monarchy. Alphonso 

 was proclaimed king by his soldiers 0:1 the field of 

 battle; a title which he enjoyed till his death, and 

 which was for generations retained by his descendants. 

 At a subsequent period he caused himself, with great 

 ceremony, to be chosen and crowned king before an 

 assembly of the states, on which occasion he solemnly 

 renounced all dependence on the crown of Spain, de- 

 claring, that if any of his successors should consent to 

 do homage or pay tribute to that power, he was un- 

 worthy of possessing the kingdom of Portugal. But 

 ;though Alphonso had attained to this dignity, he 



did not allow himself to enjoy it in inglorious tran- Portugal, 

 quilhty. While he made several unsuccessful irrup- T"^ 

 tions into the territories of the king of Castile, (who 

 had now assumed the title of emperor of Spain,) he at 

 the same time continued with unabated ardour to ex- 

 tirpate the Moors, who still were in possession of a 

 great portion of his dominions. Lisbon being in their 

 hands, he reduced it by means of a fleet of adventurers, 

 French, English, Germans, Flemings, who, in their 

 way to the Holy Land, anchored at the mouth of the 

 Tagus, whose assistance he requested and obtained in 

 a cause not entirely foreign to that in which they were 

 embarked. He made many successful expeditions 

 against the Moors, and became master of four of the 

 six provinces of which Portugal now consists. He 

 died in 1185, celebrated for courage, patriotism, and 

 for his love and patronage of learned men. 



His son Sancho, who succeeded him, was worthy of Sancho. 

 his distinguished predecessor. Though, before his ac. 

 cession, he had been remarkable for a restless and war- 

 like disposition, he had no sooner obtained possession 

 of the throne than he became a lover of peace, and be- 

 gan, with great assiduity, to repair or rebuild the cities 

 that had suffered by the late wars, and to make what 

 compensation he could for the injuries and losses his 

 subjects had sustained. But though thus pacifically in- 

 clined, the state of the nation did not permit him to 

 remain long in peace. The Moors still infested the 

 southern parts of his dominions, over whom he obtain- 

 ed several signal victories. He added considerably to 

 the extent of his territories; and, at an advanced age, 

 he died with the reputation of the best sovereign that 

 had ever filled the throne of Portugal. 



For some time after his death, no event of import- 

 ance occurs in the Portuguese annals. In the thirteenth 

 century, the Moors were expelled by Alphonso III. 

 from Algarve and the south of the kingdom ; and, in 

 the subsequent century, the Portuguese made occa- 

 sional descents on the coast of Africa with various suc- 

 cess. But the wars against the Moors were unhappily 

 succeeded by hostilities with the kings of Castile, which 

 have engendered such implacable hatred between the 

 two nations. The reign of Deniz, (an enlightened and 

 patriotic prince, who is justly denominated the father 

 of his country,) notwithstanding some occasional trea- 

 ties of peace, may be regarded as almost one continued 

 series of warfare with the Castilians. But at length, in 

 the reign of John I. hostilities between these two na- 

 tions were carried on, if possible, with greater vigour 

 and animosity. The king of Castile, having laid"pre- 

 tensions to the crown of Portugal, invaded that king- 

 dom at the head of the whole forces of his dominions. 

 Having entered the province of Alentejo, and besieged 

 the town of Elvas without effect, he found it necessary 

 to retire into his own territories, determined, however, 

 to invade Portugal a second time, and lay waste the 

 whole country. But the second expedition was not 

 more successful than the first. He was completely de- 

 feated ; and John was thus firmly established on the 

 throne of Portugal. The Castilians consented to a truce 

 of three years, which. was afterwards improved into a 

 lasting peace. 



But the fame of John is not confined to his victories History-ef 

 over the Castilians, or to successful expeditions made discovery, 

 by himself in person into the Moorish territories. These, 

 though they show him to have been a man of talents 

 and courage, are not the events by which he is best 

 known to posterity. With his name the history of na- 

 vigation and the progress of discovery are inseparably 



