www.viagensnotempo.com

Background

At the end of the 11th century, Iberian politics were highly influenced by the Reconquista: driving out the Moorish successor state to the Caliphate of Cordoba. As the military aristocracy was mainly focused on the Crusades, Alfonso VI of Castile called for help from the French nobility to deal with the Moors. In return, Alfonso VI was to give his daughters' hands to the expedition leaders and great privileges to the others.

Consequently, the heiress Urraca of Castile married Raymond of Burgundy, the Duke of Burgundy's second son. Urraca's half-sister, Princess Teresa of León, Alfonso VI's illegitimate daughter, married Henry of Burgundy, Raymond's uncle.
Through this alliance, Henry became Count of Portugal, a difficult fief in the north of Castile, where Moorish attacks and incursions were not uncommon. Teresa bore him a son, Alfonso Henriques (Henriques means "son of Henry").

His Life

Alfonso's father, Henry of Burgundy, died when he was three, in the process inheriting the County of Portugal through his mother, a daughter of Castile, but not the dukedom of Burgundy which his father, second in line, had not acquired.

In 1146, Alfonso Henriques married Mafalda of Savoy. Inheritance of the county was challenged by his mother, Teresa of León, who wanted to keep the County of Portugal in the family of León and under the allegiance of the family of Castile, which had granted her a deed for the vassal county, despite her illegitimate descent.

However, according to Salic law, neither the mother, an illegitimate daughter, nor Alfonso Henriques (a descendant of Burgundy and whose county had only been obtained through marriage) could revert to either family (this was disputed by the family of Castile long after Portugal had become independent).

Alfonso Henriques of Burgundy, Count of Portugal, was the first King of Portugal, whose independence was declared to the detriment of the Kingdoms of León and Castile. Alfonso I of Portugal was proclaimed king on 26 July 1139 and was known as the Conqueror during his reign for having extended and defended his kingdom against the Moors and for having won Portugal's independence from Castile. Mafalda of Savoy bore him seven children, including Sancho I of Portugal, his successor. He died on 6 December 1185 in Coimbra.

His Achievements

Born in Coimbra, Alfonso Henriques might have been raised in Guimarães, where he lived until 1128. In 1128 and under the guidance of the Archbishop of Braga, he took a political stance against his mother, who had sided with the Trava family, one of whose members was her lover. Forced into exile, the archbishop took Alfonso with him. Alfonso was dubbed a knight in 1122. After peace, he returned to the County of Portugal.

Meanwhile, new incidents incited King Alfonso VII of Castile to invade the county, surrounding Guimarães in 1127, where Alfonso Henriques had settled in order to assert his rights over the County of Portugal, the vassal of the Kingdom of Castile. Alfonso VII could count on the support of his illegitimate half-sister, to whom he contested the right to transfer the county deeds, which were to remain in the royal families of León and Castile.

Since Alfonso Henriques had promised him his loyalty, Alfonso VII gave up conquering the city. But a few months later in 1128, the royal troops led by Teresa of León clashed with the army commanded by her son Alfonso Henriques of Burgundy, the Count of Portugal, who emerged victorious and asserted his authority over the Portuguese land by taking the county's government.

The count then began focusing his efforts on gaining total independence for the Church of Portugal from the Holy See and Portugal's independence recognised by the King of Castile. In 1139, after a resounding victory over the Moors during the Battle of Ourique, Alfonso Henriques was acclaimed King of Portugal by his troops.

The following year, he reasserted his claim to the southern part of Galicia, which stirred Alfonso VII of Castile into action. Both armies met at Arcos de Valdevez. The fate of the conflict was decided by a joust, which was won by the Portuguese knights.

According to the tradition, independence was confirmed later in the Cortès of Lamego, when the king personally received from the Archbishop of Braganza the gold crown and jewels of Portugal, as the successor of the Visigothic kings (although recent research has cast doubts on whether the Cortes meeting actually took place). The family of Castile recognised independence in 1143. All this resulted from Alfonso VII's ambition to become emperor of the entire Iberian peninsula, and that is why he needed kings as vassals of León and Portugal.

From that moment on, Alfonso I of Portugal sought to consolidate his country's independence. He made considerable donations to the Church and founded various convents. He tried to conquer land to the south from the Moors and took Santarém in 1146 and Lisbon in 1147. In the depopulated areas won back from the Arabs, he set up colonists and invited military religious orders, such as the Knights Templar and the Hospitallers, to establish quarters along the borders as defenders against the Moors. In 1179, Pope Alexander III issued his papal bull, the Manifestus probatum, which recognised Portugal as an independent country and vassal of the Church, provided that he pay tribute to the pope.

• Alfonso I Henriques
   
• Gualdim Pais
   
• Denis I of Portugal