ilS 



PORTUGAL. 



PORTUGAL. 



2H 



hare been variously defined by different authors. Strabo (iii. p. 152) 

 intimates that it extended from the Tagus to the Ocean on the north 

 and on the west, and was bounded on the east by the Carpetani, 

 Vettones, Vacaei, and Callaici. But when Augustus had divided the 

 Peninsula into three provinces, Bxtica, Tarraeonensis, and Lusitania, 

 the last comprised the greater part of the modern kingdom of 

 Portugal, besides a considerable portion of Leon and Spanish Estre- 

 madura. When Spain was inundated by the Visigoths, Portugal 

 shared in the general devastation; and when, at the beginning of the 

 8th century, the torrent of Arabian conquest spread over the Peninsula, 

 the territories and towns of Portugal were as easily subdued as the 

 rest of the country. In the 9th century however the greater part of 

 northern Portugal had been wrested from the Mohammedans, and had 

 become subject to local governors dependent on the Counts of Galicia. 

 The south still remained in the hands of the Mohammedans until 

 toward < the close of the 12th ceutury, when Santarem, Lisbon, 

 and Cintra were reduced by Alfonso Henrique?, the first king of 

 Portugal About the year 1095 Alfonso VI., king of Castilla and 

 Leon, conferred upon his son-in-law Henry of Besancon, who was 

 descended in a direct line from the Duke of Burgundy, the govern- 

 ment of the subdued territories from the Minho to the Tagus, with 

 the title of Count. At the same time Henry, who took up his 

 residence at Guimaraens, was permitted to hold in his own right what- 

 ever conquests he might make from the Moors beyond the Tagus. In 

 this manner he reduced most of the Mohammedan governors of 

 fortresses south and east of the Tagus to the condition of tributaries. 

 On his death in 1112, hu son Alfonso succeeded to the dignity of 

 count, which the Castilian king had previously rendered hereditary in 

 hU family. The new count proved a more formidable enemy to the 

 Mohammedans than ev, n his father. In 1139, having resolved to 

 reduce the Moorish fortresses west of the Guadiana, he assembled a 

 powerful army at C'oimbra, and advanced towards Badajoz, the 

 governor of which place, having received considerable reinforcement* 

 from Africa, hastened to meet him. The armies met in the great 

 plain of Ourique, in Alemtejo, where the Moon were defeated with great 

 lot* in 1139. After the victory Alfonso was proclaimed king by his 

 soldiers, and his title was confirmed by the cortes and by the Pope. 



Portugal continued to be governed by the kings of the House of 

 Burgundy from 1139 till 1557. In 1147 Alfonso took Lisbon from 

 the Moon, with the assistance of a fleet of crusaders under the 

 command of William Longsword. The remainder of his reign wag 

 spent either in war with the Moors, or in defending his dominions 

 against the kings of Castilla and Leon, who disputed his right to the 

 title of king. He died at the close of the year 1185, and was 

 succeeded by Sancho I., hit eldest surviving ton, whose reign was by 

 no means so glorious. Though he took the town of Silves in Algarve, 

 be lost Coimbra and other important fortresses, some of which he 

 did not recover for a long time. Sancho died in 1211. His successor, 

 Alfonso II., prosecuted the war against the Mohammedans with con- 

 siderable success. His son Sancho II., who succeeded him in 1223, 

 was animated by the same military ardour, and he took several places 

 in Alemtejo and Algarve; but in consequence of disputes with his 

 clergy, he was dethroned by a papal decree, after which he retired to 

 Toledo, where he died early in 1248. Alfonso III., his brother, who 

 succeeded him, completed the conquest of Algarve, which his pre- 

 decessor had begun, and was thence called the Restorer. Alfonso 

 died in 1279, and was succeeded by hi* son Dinis, who, like his father 

 and mott of his predecessor*, wai long at war with the church. Dinis 

 was the first who turned to account the favourable position of the 

 country for commerce, and who, by awaking the enterprise of his 

 subjects, laid the foundation of the greatness of Portugal iu the 

 succeeding century. He was a generous patron of science, and in 1284 

 laid the foundation of a university in Lisbon, which he afterwards 

 (1308) transferred to Coimbra. 



Diui< was succeeded in 1325 by his ion Alfonso IV., surnamed the 

 Brave, whose reign was almost entirely spent in war with Alfonso of 

 Castilla. Peace being at last concluded between them by the inter- 

 ference of the Pope, he joined his arms to those of his rival, and 

 smsUd him in humbling the power of the Mohammedans. His son 

 Pedro I., who succeeded him in 1357, is chiefly known by his secret 

 marriage with tl>e celebrated Ines de Castro, and the tissue of crimes 

 caused by that union. He was succeeded in 1367 by his son Fer- 

 nando I., who, on the death of Pedro the Cruel of Castilla without 

 male heirs, assume 1 the regal title and arms of that kingdom, as the 

 grandson of the Princess Beatrix, daughter of Sancho the Brave of 

 Cutilla. His entire reign was spent in war with the bastard Enrique, 

 who had usurped the throne of Castilla ; but though he wasted his 

 resources, he gained no advantages. With the death of this monarch, 

 !, the male line of the Burgundian princes became extinct in 

 Portugal. HU daughter Beatrix, who had married Juan I. of Castilla, 

 was the true heir to the throne, but the Portuguese were so averse to 

 i with Castilla, that on the marriage of the princess with 

 Lilian king, it had been expressly stipulated that in case of 

 Fernando' s death the government should be vested in a regency until 

 Beatrix bad a son capable of amuming the sovereignty. Accordingly 

 Dom Joam, grand-master of the order of Avis, an illegitimate son of 

 King Pedro I., was appointed regent, and two years afterwards was 

 proclaimed king by the states assembled at Coimbra in 1335, to the 



prejudice of Enrique, son of Beatrix, the lawful heir to the Portuguese 

 throne. Joam I. maintained the possession of his usurped throne 

 with great ability and courage. With this king begins the native line 

 of Portuguese kings, as well as the foreign conquests and voyages of 

 discovery which established the greatness of Portugal. Henry, sur- 

 named the Navigator, one of the king's sons, first set on foot those 

 enterprises of discovery and commerce which raised Portugal so much 

 above contemporary states. The reign of Joam I. is justly considered 

 one of the most glorious which Portugal ever had. He improved the 

 administration of the kingdom, and introduced many salutaiy reforms 

 into the courts of justice. He transferred the royal residence from 

 Coimbra to Lisbon. At his death in 1433, Joam I. was succeeded by 

 Duarte, who died of the plague at Tomar, and was succeeded by his 

 eldest son Alfonso V. ; but as he was only six years of age on his 

 father's death, the regency devolved, according to his will, upon the 

 queen-mother, a very able princess. Under the reign of this king the 

 career of African conquest was ardently prosecuted. Alfonso died of 

 the plague ia 1481. He was a great patron of literature, and the first 

 Portuguese king who collected a library. His reyn was likewise sig- 

 nalised by the progress of maritime discovery; and the Azores, with 

 the Madeiras, the Canaries, Cape Verd, and other islands west of the 

 African continent, were either discovered or colonised through the 

 persevering efforts of the Infante Doin Enrique. Joam II., who suc- 

 ceeded Alfonso V., was justly considered one of the ablest monarchs 

 that ever sat on the throne of Portugal. In this reign the spirit of 

 maritime discovery was carried to the highest pitch. In 1487 Bar- 

 tholomeo Diaz discovered and doubled tie southern cape of Africa, 

 which, from the good expectations which it encouraged, was called 

 Cabo de Boa Esperanza (Cape of Good Hope). Joam II. died uni- 

 versally regretted in 1495. He was succeeded by his cousin Mauoel, 

 who steadily pursued the career of maritime discovery. About the 

 close of 1197 the passage to India by sea was effected by a squadron 

 of five vessels, under the orders of Vasco de Gaum, who returned to 

 Lisbon in September 1499, after an absence of little more than two 

 years. In this reign Brazil was discovered, and establishments were 

 formed in that country and also on the west coast of Hindustan. 

 During the reign of this king Lisbon became the most important com- 

 mercial city of Europe ; and Portugal, the most insignificant of the 

 European states in extent of territory and population, grew into a 

 powerful monarchy. 



In the reign of Joam III., who succeeded his father Manoel in 1521, 

 Indian discoveries and commerce were still further extended. But 

 the introduction of the Inquisition, in 1536, which, as in Spain, was 

 at first intended only against the Jews, greatly contributed to increase 

 the misery caused by bad administration and a vicious course of 

 policy pursued with regard to the colonies. The Jews were extermi- 

 nated, or fled from Portugal : but although the object for which that 

 tribunal was instituted no longer existed, it still continued a powerful 

 political weapon in the hands of the absolute kings of Portugal. As 

 injurious in its consequences as the Inquisition was the admission 

 of the Jesuits into Portugal, under Joam, the first European monarch 

 who permitted them to enter his dominions. The education of his 

 grandson Sebastian, the heir-apparent to the throne, was likewise 

 entrusted to the Jesuits, who inspired the young prince with that spirit 

 of bigotry and that fanatical ambition which led to his death. Scarcely 

 however bad the young prince reached his fourteenth year the period 

 of his majority when he began to turn all his thoughts towards the 

 prosecution of the African war; and he sailed in 1574, iu opposition 

 to the remonstrances of his wiser counsellors. Four years afterwards, 

 in August, 1578, the memorable battle was fought by which Portugal 

 lost her king, and began rapidly to sink from her former prosperous 

 condition. 



After the short reign of Cardinal Enrique, Sebastian's uncle, who 

 was proclaimed in 1573 and died in 1580, Philip II. of Spain, the 

 most powerful candidate for the throne, obtained possession of it, and 

 Portugal continued subject to the kings of Spain till the reign of the 

 minister of Philip IV., when the Portuguese entered into a conspiracy, 

 and on the 1st of December, 1640, Joam de Braganca, a descendant of 

 the old royal family, was placed on the throne. The war with Spain, 

 which was the result of this measure, and lasted during the reign of 

 Joam, as well a* that of hu son Alfonso VI., was terminated in 1663, 

 by a treaty of peace, and a cession on the part of Spain of all her 

 claims on Portugal. 



Joam IV., the first Portuguese king of the house of Braganca, died 

 in 1656. He was succeeded by his son Alfonso VI. A treaty of peaco 

 was also concluded with Holland, by which Brazil, which had been 

 seized by the Dutch, was restored to Portugal. Pedro II., who 

 succeeded his brother Alfonso VI. in 1683, took part with the allies 

 against Philip V. of Spain. From this time date the relations and 

 alliance of England with Portugal. A commercial treaty with that 

 kingdom had already been made, under tho first sovereign of the 

 house of Braganca. A new one was concluded in 1703 by the English 

 ambassador Mr. Methuen, which secured to England the advantages 

 of the newly discovered mines in Brazil. During the long reign of 

 Joam V., which lasted from 1707 to 1750, some vigour was displayed 

 in regard to the foreign relations, and several attempts were made for 

 tho promotion of the national welfare at home. Under his son and 

 successor JoatS I., who ascended the throne of Portugal iu 1750, the 



