1128 battle establishing Portugal's independence
The
Battle of Sao Mamede
(
Portuguese
:
Batalha de Sao Mamede
,
pronounced
[?s??w
m??m?ð?]
) took place on 24 June 1128 near
Guimaraes
and is considered the seminal event for the foundation of the
Kingdom of Portugal
and the battle that ensured
Portugal
's
independence
.
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
Portuguese forces led by
Afonso Henriques
defeated forces led by his mother
Teresa of Portugal
and her lover
Fernao Peres de Trava
.
[5]
[6]
Following Sao Mamede, the future king styled himself "Prince of Portugal". He would be called "King of Portugal" starting in 1139 and was recognised as such by neighbouring kingdoms in 1143.
Background
[
edit
]
In late 11th century,
Henry of Portugal
, a
knight
and brother of the
Duke of Burgundy
, went to support the
Christians
of
Hispania
. He fought the
Moors
along with
Alfonso VI of Leon
. In honour of his fights in
Hispania
, the King gave him the
County of Portugal
. This gift came with a reinstated title; because of attempts by the previous holder some years earlier to assert independence, it had been suppressed. Henry became count of Portugal and Theresa, one of Alfonso's daughters, his wife.
In 1095, the county was a dependency of the
Kingdom of Galicia
, itself a dependency of the
Kingdom of Leon
. In 1097 Portugal became a direct dependency of Leon. However, from the early years of his rule, Henry became influenced by the desire of the lords of the county for independence which made him desire the independence of the county.
Henry died in 1112, and his wife Queen Theresa (
Regina Tarasia
, as she addressed herself) became the countess of Portugal. Her sister
Queen Urraca
became Queen of Leon after her father's, Alfonso VI of Leon, death. Like her husband, Theresa was also ambitious wished for independence from Leon and particularly her sister. In an attempt to maintain the autonomy of her county, at different times she allied herself to her sister's enemies or with her sister, whichever was most propitious at the time.
In 1116, the Portuguese took two Galician cities,
Tui
and
Ourense
. In reply, Queen Urraca attacked Theresa's dominions. Bishop
Diego Gelmirez
, a friend of a Galician noble that was in the service of Theresa, led a revolt in the camp of Queen Urraca, and Urraca was obliged to make peace with her sister Theresa.
Urraca died in 1126. Urraca's son,
Alfonso VII
, became king of Leon and Castile and demanded that Theresa become his vassal, which she refused to do. In response, Alfonso attacked Portugal in the spring of 1127. This increased the power of Theresa's son,
Afonso Henriques
, because she had lost the trust of the Leonese king, and Afonso became the count of Portugal. Subsequently, Theresa became a puppet of the Galician Ferdinand Perez de Trava. Theresa and Prince Afonso therefore became enemies as both wanted to take control of the county, but only the supporters of Prince Afonso were really interested in full independence.
The battle
[
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]
Afonso Henriques was not alone in the battle. In fact, he was pressured by the lords of the main Portuguese cities, by the local church, and by its people to achieve the country's independence.
Nobles participating in the battle with Afonso Henriques:
The counts that dominated the
counties of Portugal
and
Coimbra
kept the idea of independence, and their merger strengthened their positions.
Alfonso VI of Leon
, knowing the wishes of the Portuguese, united all
Galicia
under a single rule of one lord, which he chose from one of his close relatives. Teresa, mother of Afonso Henriques, came to Guimaraes to govern the
Portuguese county
. The Portuguese did not accept this, and the battle started. Afonso won the battle and Portugal started its journey towards independence.
Post battle
[
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]
In 1129, Henriques declared himself
Prince of Portugal
and in 1139 as
King of Portugal
. Leon finally recognized Portugal's independence in 1143 in the
Treaty of Zamora
.
[7]
[8]
In 1179, the
Holy See
declared him King,
de jure
.
[9]
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Anderson, James Maxwell (2000).
The History of Portugal
online
Archived
2016-11-04 at the
Wayback Machine
- Birmingham, David.
A Concise History of Portugal
(Cambridge, 1993)
- Grissom, James. (2012)
Portugal ? A Brief History
excerpt and text search
- Oliveira Marques, A. H. de.
History of Portugal: Vol. 1: from Lusitania to empire; Vol. 2: from empire to corporate state
(1972).
- Nowell, Charles E.
A History of Portugal
(1952)
online
Archived
2016-11-04 at the
Wayback Machine
- Payne, Stanley G.
A History of Spain and Portugal
(2 vol 1973)
full text online vol 2 after 1700
; standard scholarly history; chapter 23
Historiography
[
edit
]
- Campos Matos, Sergio. "History of Historiography and National Memory in Portugal,"
History Compass
(Oct 2012) 10#10 pp 765?777.
- de Carvalho Homem, Armando Luis. "A. H. de Oliveira Marques (1933?2007): Historiography and Citizenship,"
E-Journal of Portuguese History
(Winter 2007) 5#2 pp 1?9.
References
[
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]
External links
[
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]
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