0:00 Why does Portugal exist? How did a small country awkwardly shoved into the corner of the Iberian Peninsula go from non-existent to one of the world's most important powers in a matter of centuries? It's a remarkable story of rebellion, crusades, and conquests that turned this unlikely corner of Europe into a nation that would alter the course of global history before Portugal. The land that would become Portugal did not have a history of unity. When the Romans arrived in the 2n century BC, they found it inhabited by warrior tribes known as the Lucatanians. Southern Portugal and western Spain were
0:47 later organized into the Roman province of Lucatania and stretching into the province of Galakia in the northwest. As in many places in Europe, Rome laid the foundations for many of the cities that would become critical to Portugal, including Lisbon and Porto, Rome also introduced Christianity to the region, which would play a crucial role in forming Portuguese society and culture. However, there was still no concept of unified Portugal even when the Romans left after 410. After the collapse of the Roman Empire in the fifth century, northern Portugal ended up under the control of the Swaybe, while the south soon fell under the Visigoths, who
1:32 proceeded to conquer the Swaybe too by 535. Aside from the continued Christianization of Portugal, the Visigoths left a mark through their Germanic language and pre- Roman influences to form Old Portuguese. But old Portuguese mainly evolved from vulgar Latin. Portugal remained under Visigoth control until the year 7-eleven when Muslim forces led by Tariq ibn Zad landed on the Iberian Peninsula and conquered most of the Visiggoth kingdom. Within 5 years, Portugal would remain under Muslim control for most of the next 200 years as the greater part of Gab al Andelus or western Andalusia. However, Galacia in the north remained
2:18 under Christian control and the Christian rulers there dreamed of retaking Iberia from the Muslim invaders. The dream of Reconista. It was in this reconista that Portugal would be born. The county of Portugal. The kingdom of Atorius in modern Galysia, just north of Portugal, launched raids into Portugal through the 8th and 9th centuries that encouraged Christians to flee north and Muslims to flee south. After 866, King Alfonso III of Atorias managed to conquer the northern part of Portugal from the Mino River down to the Duro River. In 868, his vassel Vimara
3:06 Perez seized the port town of Portoal, today's Porto, and took Quimbra as well. In 879, this freshly conquered region was granted to the Mara Perez as the county of Portugal. The Perez family would rule it for centuries to come and laid the foundations for what would later become Portugal, such as with the founding of the city of Gimme, which would come to be considered the cradle of the Portuguese nation. The kingdom of Atorias evolved into the kingdom of Leyon after 924 with the county of Portugal remaining an important part. In 987, the lightning
3:52 campaigns of the Muslim Al-Manssour of Cordoba suddenly retook Kuimbra and pushed the borders of the county of Portal back to the Duro River. For a moment, it seemed as if he might push north and take Portoal as well. But Almansour's unexpected death in 1002 stopped the Muslim reconquest in its tracks. The rise of the Castile in the 1030s reinvigorated Christian reconquest efforts. With the Muslims of Alandelus torn apart by infighting, Christian forces were able to retake Queenra in 1064 and pushed their control down to the Teis River.
4:38 Contemporary people would still not have called it Portugal. The area was split between the counts of Portoal and Quimbra, who were more rivals than friends. Rich, wellarmed, and quite far away from the seat of power in Castile. It wasn't surprising that the counts of Porttoal and Quimbra came to be seen as something of a threat to the crown. In 1071, taking advantage of infighting between Leon, Castile, and Galysia, Count Nuno Mendes of Portoal rebelled to try asserting his own independence. He was swiftly defeated, ending the rule of the heirs of Vimara Perez, who had held the county of Portal for 200 years and leading to the abolition of the county
5:24 of Quimbra 2 and both were rolled back into Galysia. But Portugal would not be gone for long. The creation of the kingdom of Portugal with Portal and Quimbra rolled into Galysia. King Alfonso V 6 thought the Portuguese issue was solved. In 1093, he appointed his son-in-law Raymond of Burgundy to rule all of Galacia. But Alfonso soon had second thoughts. Two years later, he split Galacia again along the Minho River, taking Portal and Quimbra and giving them to another son-in-law, Henry of Burgundy. Henry became the count of the Condando
6:11 Portalens, basically all the territory between the Mino River down to the Queen, about onethird of the modern country of Portugal. Henry ruled as a loyal vassel until his unexpected death in 1112, leaving the crown to his widow Theresa and their young son, Aphonso. It didn't take long for Galacia to begin moving to regain the territory to the south by trying to marry Theresa. Theresa warmed to the offers and began allowing Galacia more influence over the Earlddom. However, many were not happy to see Galissian influence returning, least of all Aphonso Henriquees. By 1127, Aphonso, who was now an adult,
6:57 rose in rebellion against his mother and the Galatians. Alphonso enjoyed the support of the nobility and the clergy. After a stunning victory over his mother's supporters at Salamemed near Gimme in June 1128, Afanso exiled his mother and declared himself prince of Portugal. At first, Afanso reasserted his loyalty to the kingdom of Leon Castile. Like a good Christian warrior noble, he shifted his focus south, moving his court to Quimra and dedicating himself to the reconquista from the Muslims, Alphonso proved an excellent military leader and was immensely popular with his troops. Qualities that naturally befitted a king. On July 25th, 1139,
7:45 Alphonso led his troops to victory at the Battle of Ori. It was a historic victory that convinced Alphonso that he was no mere prince. Instead, he renounced loyalty to Leon Castile. Alphonso I immediately had to contend with his former lord Alonso IIIth of Leon Castile who considered the Portuguese king a rebel. Portugal fought a brief war against Leon Castile culminating in the skirmish at Vald Dez in 1141 where Portuguese forces prevailed. The Portuguese victory compelled Leon Castile to come to terms. In 1143 they signed the treaty of Zamora
8:32 recognizing Alphonso's status as king of Portugal and tacitly recognizing the northern borders between Lyon and Portugal. Full papal recognition came later with the full manifest probatam in 1179. These borders are still broadly the same today between Spain and Portugal in the north and northeast down to the Montego River. Portugal was now a recognized independent kingdom. But it was only a fraction of its modern size and still had a long way to go to become what it is today. With Portugal's independence assured, Alphonso turned his attention back toward Muslim Alandelus, Alphonso considered the reconquest of Iberia for Christianity to
9:20 be his highest royal duty. It was good timing, too. In December 1144, the crusader kingdoms of Adessa fell to the Muslim Zengid dynasty, leading the Pope to issue the call for the second crusade. The following year, a wave of Christian volunteers took up arms, eager to fight the Muslims anywhere they could. Alphonso received crusader reinforcements for his continued campaigns in the south. In March 1147, Alphonso marched on the critical fortress town of Santorum. His knights scaled the walls under the cover of darkness and opened the gates from within to allow Alphonso's army to capture the city, pushing Portugal's borders further south. However,
10:06 Alphonso's true target remains to be taken, Lisbon. In April 1147, the Pope expanded the Crusades to include fighting Muslims in Iberia. In June, a fleet carrying around 13,000 English, French, and German crusaders docked in Porto on route to the Holy Land. While there, they learned about Aphonso's campaigns and agreed to join Aphonso to capture Lisbon from the Muslims. They besieged the city in July and after 4 months compelled the Muslim defenders to surrender. On October 25th, 1147, the Portuguese took control of Lisbon, adding a major port to the kingdom and
10:52 expanding Portugal's territory considerably. Many of the crusaders who helped capture the city chose to settle in the area, providing a new loyal wave of Christians to populate the previously Muslim region. Prominent among Afanso's supporters were the Knights Templar. Alphonso was a strong supporter of the military order and received the loyal cooperation of the Templars in exchange. Templar knights helped with the capture of Santorum and Lisbon for which Aphonso granted them rewards including tax privileges and land to build strongholds such as Tamar Castle. Alphonso continued to push south, capturing further cities like Bea and Evora. But Alphonso's
11:38 conquests came to a sudden stop in 1169 when he attempted to capture the city of Bados from the Muslims. First, the now 60-year-old king suffered a serious injury that left him unable to fight or ride a horse for the rest of his life. Second, King Fernando of Leyon had grown weary of Aphonso's rising power, so sent his troops to assist the Muslims and halt Afanso in his tracks. The siege of Bados failed and Alphonso was captured by Fernando's soldiers. Although he was eventually released, he was forced to give up his hopes of capturing Batos, marking the eastern limit of Portugal's borders and lost control of several
12:23 cities and towns in the south that he had conquered in previous years. Alphonso retired from fighting personally, although his armies continued to wage war in his name. By the time he died in 1185, the Kingdom of Portugal had doubled in size from where it began, completing the conquests. Alphonso's successors continued the reconista, steadily pushing Portugal's borders south and expelling the Muslim rulers. Like his father, Sancho used the Crusades to his advantage. In 1189, members of the Third Crusade joined Portuguese efforts to capture the Sylvves in the far south, and they successfully captured the city. The
13:10 Moroccan Almahad dynasty responded with an effective campaign that retook Sylvves and put Portugal in the defensive, retaking everything south of the Teis except the Enclave city of Avora before Portugal and the Almahads signed a truce. The Teis River became Portugal's border for the next 30 years, guarded by a network of castles manned by the Knights Templar and other religious military orders. The border was a formidable barrier that withtood Muslim efforts to reclaim the territory. The Muslim powers would never cross the river again. Portugal used this time to consolidate its conquests, continuing to settle its conquered regions with Christians and
13:57 developing administration. In 1211, King Alphonso II called the first Portuguese Cortez or Parliament at Quimbra to issue the first general laws which provided legal recognition of royal power protections for the rights of Portuguese subjects and outlined certain privileges and limits on the church. It marked an important step in the development of Portugal as a true nation rather than just a territory. In 1212, the Almahads suffered a crippling defeat at the hands of the Castile at the battle of Navas Delosa, which marked the beginning of the end of Muslim rule in Iberia. In 1217, Portugal resumed its southward conquests with the
14:43 capture of Alcasel Dosal, the last major Muslim port on the west coast of Iberia using the help of members of the fifth crusade. King Sancho II continued the campaign across the Teis to capture most of the Alentejo region in the 1220s and 1230s, leaving just the Algarve in the southwest of Iberia in Muslim hands. Sancho II proceeded to steadily capture the towns and castles in the region until his death in 1247 with the Almahads unable to put up serious resistance. In 1249, Alphonso III marched out to finish the job. He crossed into the
15:29 Algarve and laid siege to the last serious Muslim stronghold at Farro. Isolated and demoralized, Farro surrendered with little fight, and the remaining towns and fortifications soon followed. By the end of 1249, the territory of modern Portugal was united under the crown, settling the borders. With Muslim power reduced to the Emirate of Granada, Portugal's biggest concerns became the other Christian powers of Iberia, specifically Castile. Castile saw itself as the supreme power in Iberia and treated Portugal as a lesser partner. Alfonso I 10th
16:17 considered the Algarve to be his by right and pressed that claim with his army in 1250. In a brief war, Castile's armies routed the Portuguese and captured the Algarve. Castile knew it could not hold the Algar forever, so instead forced Aphonso III to recognize Castile's ultimate claim over the land. Castile then granted Alphonso III the right to hold the land in their name and seals the deal with a marriage to Princess Beatatrice of Castile. The Algarve would be ruled in practice by the Portuguese crown, but was not technically a part of it, leading to the split title of King of Portugal and the Algarve being adopted. Although the
17:03 Portuguese took the terms as something of an insult, the marriage between Alphonso and Beatatrice paved the way for a solution through the birth of their son, Dennis. With his grandson due to be king of Portugal in the coming years, Alfonso I 10th decided to make the Algarve a gift to the future king. In 1267, Portugal and Castile signed the Treaty of Batos, relinquishing Castile's claims to the Algarve and recognizing them as full territories of Portugal. The Guadana River was recognized as the boundary between the Portuguese Antellesio and Algarve to the west and Castile's Extremadura and Andalusia to the east.
17:48 In 1297, after another brief war, Portugal and Castile signed the Treaty of Alcanes to resolve a few lingering disputes over exact borders near Batos and along the Duro River. But by the dawn of the 14th century, the borders of Portugal had been safely secured. Even the temporary union of Portugal and Spain in 1580 under the Habsburgs had only a minor effect. When Portugal successfully broke away from the Union after years of war in 1668, its only mainland loss was the town of Hermes on the northern border. Portugal was a nation built by generations of conquest and diplomacy.
18:35 Its borders do not conform to any one geographic feature because it was not made in one go. Each individual conquest, sometimes of whole regions, other times of just a town or a castle, was defined by its own local political and geographic circumstances. This peacemeal process doesn't sound like a great recipe to build a nation, but the proof lies in the history books. Portugal rose to be one of the greatest powers in the world with its influence transforming the lives of people from India to Angola to Brazil. And it has protected its independence from foreign conquerors and its more powerful neighbor for centuries. Since we started
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