Before the Portuguese Nation
The country was initially occupied by tribes close to the Phoenicians, Carthaginians and Greeks. The Romans managed to wear them down after long, heavy-going campaigns. The west of the peninsula was conquered in the 2nd century BC. The province of Lusitania was created by Augustus. It was invaded in the 5th century by the Alans and the Suevi, who eventually made way for the Visigoths. The Muslims' domination, which began in 711, was shattered by the campaigns led by Alfonso III, King of the Asturias (866-910), who conquered the Porto region, followed by Ferdinand I, King of Castile, who liberated the country between Douro and Mondego (1064).
Formation of the Kingdom of Portugal: the Burgundy Dynasty
Alfonso VI, King of Leon, who fought as far as the Tagus, gave the County of Portugal (Porto region) to Henry of Burgundy, the husband of his illegitimate daughter Teresa; this area was artificially, though permanently separated from Galicia (where the same dialect is spoken) and from the rest of the peninsula (1097); Henry freed Portugal from Castile on a religious level by having Braga established as an archdiocese (1104), but could not prevent the Muslims from recapturing Lisbon and Santarém. After the period of unrest following his death (1114), his son Alfonso Henriques (1128-1185) established Portugal's independence. With the backing of the nobility, he severed all ties with Castile; the ensuing glory of his victory over the Moors in Ourique (1139) led him to claim the title of king, which Castile acknowledged in 1143.
Portugal continued to expand southwards, with Islam on the receiving end. Alfonso I Henriques made Coimbra the capital and established the Knights Templar and the Hospitallers between Mondego and the Tagus. Alfonso then took Santarém, Lisbon in 1147, Sintra, and occupied part of Alentejo. His successors continued his conquering crusade, enlisting the help of the Spanish orders of Santiago and Calatrava, which quickly became nationalised and lost no time in turning away from the Crusades (intended to the protect the Holy Land) to score a more resounding victory over the Muslims in the south. In actual fact, it was not until after the Almohads were defeated at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212), with assistance from the Portuguese troops of Alfonso II (1211-1223), that the conquest gathered pace, ending in the Algarve (1249) during the reign of Alfonso III (1248-1279). The conquered countries, in which the Muslims and Jews managed to linger until 1497, were immediately exploited, not only by the settlers arriving from the north, who spread the Porto dialect, but also by foreigners, whether secular or ecclesiastical, such as the Cistercians of Alcobaça and the Canons Regular of St Augustine. The droves of immigrants that flocked to the country, especially during the reign of Sancho I (1185-1211), grouped together in centres independent of the pre-existing seigniories and were granted charters of privileges from the sovereign.
Portugal's territorial completion partly coincided with its institutional completion; the monarchy, which had been hereditary since the 11th century, had all the power; but the practice of popular acclamation, which stemmed from the elective origins of the royalty during the Visigothic era, led to the setting up of the Cortes, the first known ones of which were in Coimbra, where only the clergy and the nobility were represented (1211), but which established the first elements of Portuguese legislation. Until this date, the royal authority only had some limitation in the privileges enjoyed by a very rich clergy and a nobility that had taken it upon itself to exercise justice or levy taxes on its dependents and which had consequently fallen within the framework of an active feudal system. But concerned about the ground gained by the feudal system and the clergy, Alfonso II, with the help of his father's chancellor, Juliao, initially curbed their activities by having all title deeds checked (inquiriçoes) and by banning the regular and secular clergy from acquiring any property by amortizaçao. The conflict continued during the reign of Sancho II (1223-1248), who was even deposed by the pope and replaced by his younger brother Alfonso (1245) who, in return, had to promise to respect the Church's rights (treaty of Paris, 1245). Despite support from Castile, Sancho, who had sought refuge in the north of the country, finally had to go into exile in Toledo (1248). Alfonso III was then recognized as King of Portugal; as the emerging winner, he refused to enforce the terms of the treaty of Paris and, not satisfied with further restricting the clergy's rights, he admitted town representatives into the Cortes of Leiria (1254) for the very first time, thereby relying on the bourgeoisie to cancel out the progress made by the feudal system at the beginning of the 13th century. He enabled this new social class to enter the "curia regis", whose functions began to specialise and the more educated members of which (the jurists) helped the sovereign to draft and enforce the ordenaçoes directed at the privileged classes. During Denis's reign (1279-1325), who founded the University of Lisbon in 1290 (moved to Coimbra in 1308, only to return to Lisbon from 1338 to 1354 and from 1377 to 1537) and made Porto the national language, the policy aimed at reinforcing the royal authority continued with support from the urban bourgeoisie, whose economic activities were given special favour in return. In the 12th century, fishing had helped to develop maritime life; Portuguese merchants soon began plying their wares in Bruges and London, where they sold the fish, salt, wine, oil, leather and scarlet seed from their country.
Denis's successors, Alfonso IV (1325-1357) and Pedro I (1357-1367), carried on his work and turned the country towards overseas expansion. But Portugal, whose population had been halved during the black plague epidemic in 1348, underwent a serious economic crisis in the 14th century. To avert the crisis, Ferdinand I (1367-1383) lent his support to the national ship-owners, who were in for strong competition from foreigners, and created a sort of insurance company; furthermore, he forced landowners to farm their land under threat of expropriation to the monarchy (1375). But his efforts proved inadequate and the enterprising policy of Castile's sovereign only aggravated the situation.
The Templar's Treasure in Tomar?
This representation adorning one of the keystones in a room of the Convent of Christ, which is part of Tomar Castle, is interpreted by Maurice Guinguand (The Templars' Gold: Gisors or Tomar) as the representation of Hermes Trismegistus, who is considered to be alchemy's founding father; it could indicate the fact that this "art" was practised at the convent - this theory could be supported by the alchemical egg that can still be seen on the west side of the castle. Remember that during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period, alchemy was a true philosophy of matter, whose followers sought to unravel the mysteries of nature; the mysterious aspect generally attributed to it comes from the coded language used, as it was reserved for initiates only.
This three-faced effigy can be found near the refectory in the Convent of Christ, though it is well concealed (nowadays hidden from visitors), but it is positioned in such a way that if it were removed, not only would the ceiling collapse but also the whole of the upper floor. Exactly the same sculpted head can be found at the base of one of the pillars in Sées cathedral in France. According to Guinguand, both sculptures indicate the hiding place of the same treasure (belonging to the Knights Templar), but in two different eras.
According to Guinguand, the precious goods of the Order of the Temple were gathered and concealed in Sées, in an extremely secret location to which the well inside the cathedral is no stranger. When Philip the Fair decided to arrest the Knights Templar in 1307, Grand Master Jacques de Molay gave one of his knights the mission to save the treasure. It was therefore carried to the north of France, where part of the Templar fleet from La Rochelle was waiting for it. The precious cargo set off for Portugal and was unloaded in Serra d'El-Rei, near Obidos, from where it was an easy task to transport the treasure to Tomar.
International experts recently wanted to know what was lying in Tomar's subsoil. It is known that there are sealed entrances and in other places the Knights Templar built up to 30 m underground. Experts called on the Institute of Geophysics to use its geoelectricity and georadar tools, which are capable of detecting any underground cavities down to a depth of 40 m, without opening, touching or damaging anything. But the Portuguese Ministry for the Arts prohibited them from performing any searches.
As a result, the legends are still going strong: is there hidden treasure beneath Tomar Castle, or even the fifth Gospel, written by Christ Himself?...
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