PORTUGAL. • ' «$» 



provinces, In the contest between the Carthaginians and Romans, 

 and in the decline and fall of the Roman empire, and was succes- 

 sively in subjection to the Suevi, Alans, Visigoths, and Moors. In 

 the eleventh century, Alfonso VI, king of Castile and Leon, reward- 

 ed Henry, grandson of Robert, king of France, for his bravery and as- 

 sistance against the Moors, with his daughter, and that part of Portu- 

 gal then in the hands of the Christians. Henry was succeeded by 

 his son Alfonso Henry, in the year 1095, who gained a decisive vic- 

 tory over five Moorish kings in July 1139* This victory proved the 

 origin of the monarchy of Portugal, for Alfonso was then proclaimed 

 king by his soldiers. He reigned forty-six years, and was esteemed 

 for his courage and love of learning. His descendants maintained 

 themselves on the throne for some centuries ; indeed Sancho II, was 

 expelled from his dominions for cowardice, in the year 1240. 



Dennis I, or Dionysius, was called the Father of his country : he 

 built and rebuilt forty-four cities and towns in Portugal, founded the 

 military order of Christ, and was a very fortunate prince. He reign- 

 ed forty-six years. Under his successor, Alfonso IV, happened se- 

 veral earthquakes at Lisbon, which threw down part of the city, and 

 destroyed many lives. John I, was illustrious for his courage, pru- 

 dence, and conquests in Africa ; under him Madeira was first disco- 

 vered, in 1420, and the Canaries; he took Ceuta, and, after a reign 

 of forty-nine years, died in the year 1433. In the reign of Alfonso V, 

 about 1460, the Portuguese discovered the coast of Guinea; and in 

 the reign of his successor, John II, they discovered the Cape of Good 

 Hope, settled colonies, and built forts in Africa, Guinea, and the 

 East Indies. Emanuel, surnamed the Great, succeeded him in 1495, 

 and adopted the plan of his predecessors, fitting out fleets for new 

 discoveries. Vasco de Gama, under him cruised along the coast of 

 Africa and Ethiopia, and landed in Hindoostan; and in the year 1500, 

 Alvarez discovered Brasil. 



John III, succeeded in 1521, and, while he lost some of his African 

 settlements, made new acquisitions in the Indies. He sent the fa- 

 mous Xavier as a missionary to Japan, and, in the height of his zeal, 

 estnDiished that infernal tribunal, the inquisition, in Portugal, anno 

 l52u, against the entreaties and remonstrances of his people. Sebas- 

 tian, his grandson, succeeded him in 1557, and undertook a crusade 

 against the Moors in Africa. In 1578, in a battle with the king of 

 Fez and Morocco, on the banks of the river Lucco, he was defeated, 

 and either slain or drowned. Henry, a cardinal, and uncle to the un- 

 fortunate Sebastian, being the son of Emanuel, succeeded, but died 

 without issue in the year 1580: on which, Antony, prior of Crato, 

 was chosen king, by the states of the kingdom; but Philip II, of 

 Spain, as has been observed in our history of that country, pretended 

 that the crown belonged to him; because his mother was the eldest 

 daughter of Emanuel, and sent the duke of Alva with a powerful force, 

 who subdued the country, and proclaimed his master king of Portu- 

 gal the 12th of September, 1580. 



The viceroys under Philip and his two successors, Philip III, and 

 Philip IV, behaved towards the Portuguese with great rapacity and 

 violence. The Spanish ministers treated them as vassals of Spain, 

 and, by their repeated acts of oppression and tyranny, so excited the 

 hatred and courage of the Portuguese, as to produce a revolt at Lis- 

 bon, the first of December, 1640 The people obliged John, duke of 

 Braganza, the legitimate heir to the crown, to accept it, and he sue- 



