Editing History of Portugal (section)

== Reconquista ==
{{Main|Reconquista}}
[[File:Estatua de Don Pelayo en Covadonga, Asturias.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Monument of Pelagius at Covadonga where he won the [[Battle of Covadonga]] and initiated the Christian [[Reconquista]] of [[Iberia]] from the Islamic [[Moors]].]]

In 718 AD, a Visigothic noble named [[Pelagius of Asturias|Pelagius]] was elected leader by the ousted [[Visigoth]] nobles. Pelagius called for the remnant of the Christian Visigothic armies to rebel against the Moors and re-group in the unconquered northern [[Asturias|Asturian]] highlands, better known today as the [[Cantabrian Mountains]], a mountain region in modern northwestern [[Spain]] adjacent to the [[Bay of Biscay]].<ref name="V. Livermore, 1969 pp. 32-33">{{harvp|Livermore|1969|pp=32–33}}</ref> He planned to use the Cantabrian Mountain range as a place of refuge and protection from the invaders and as a springboard to reconquer lands from the Moors. After defeating the Moors in the [[Battle of Covadonga]] in 722 AD, Pelagius was proclaimed king to found the Christian [[Kingdom of Asturias]] and start the war of reconquest known in [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] (and [[Spanish language|Spanish]]) as the ''[[Reconquista]]''.<ref name="V. Livermore, 1969 pp. 32-33"/>

Currently, historians and archaeologists generally agree that northern Portugal between the Minho and the Douro rivers kept a significant share of its population, a social and political Christian area that until the late 9th century had no acting state powers. However, in the late 9th century, the region became part of a complex of powers, the [[Kingdom of Galicia|Galician]]-[[Kingdom of Asturias|Asturian]], [[Kingdom of Leon|Leonese]] and [[County of Portugal|Portuguese]] power structures.<ref name="earlyportugal">{{cite web | title= O Norte de Portugal ente os séculos VIII e X: balanço e perspectivas de investigação | url= http://pt.scribd.com/doc/47457052/O-Norte-de-Portugal-ente-os-seculos-VIII-e-X-balanco-e-perspectivas-de-investigacao-Luis-Fontes-Unidade-de-Arqueologia-da-Universidade-do-Minho | access-date=April 19, 2013 | publisher = Archaeology Unit of the Minho University | author= Fontes, Luís|language=pt}}</ref>

The coastal regions in the North were also attacked by [[Normans|Norman]] and [[Viking]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Oliveira |first1=Leandro Vilar |title=A presença viking na Península Ibérica: Os Vikings em Portugal e Galiza (Hélio Pires) |trans-title=The Viking presence in the Iberian Peninsula: The Vikings in Portugal and Galicia (Hélio Pires) |language=pt |journal=Scandia |date=2018 |volume=1 |pages=249–255 |url=https://periodicos.ufpb.br/index.php/scandia/article/view/43168 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Marques |first1=André Evangelista |last2=Barroca |first2=Mário |last3=Amaral |first3=Luís Carlos |chapter=As incursões vikings no Norte de Portugal |hdl=10216/120557 |title=Mil Anos da Incursão Normanda ao Castelo de Vermoim |year=2018 |isbn=978-989-8351-97-5 |pages=143–184 }}</ref> raiders mainly from 844. The last great invasion, through the [[Minho (river)]], ended with the defeat of [[Olaf II Haraldsson]] in 1014 against the Galician nobility who also stopped further advances into the County of Portugal.

=== Creation of the County of Portugal ===
{{main||Portugal in the Reconquista}}
At the end of the 9th century, a small minor county based in the area of [[Portus Cale]] was established by [[Vímara Peres]] on the orders of King [[Alfonso III of Asturias|Alfonso III]] of León, Galicia and Asturias. After annexing the County of Portugal into one of the several counties that made up its realms, King Alfonso III named Vímara Peres as its first count. Since the rule of Count [[Diogo Fernandes (count)|Diogo Fernandes]], the county increased in size and importance and, from the 10th century onward, with Count [[Gonçalo Mendes]] as ''Magnus Dux Portucalensium'' (Grand Duke of the Portuguese), the Portuguese counts started using the title of duke, indicating even larger importance and territory. The region became known simultaneously as ''Portucale'', ''Portugale'', and ''Portugalia''{{snd}}the [[County of Portugal]].<ref>{{harvp|Ribeiro|Hermano|2004}}</ref> The Kingdom of Asturias was later divided as a result of dynastic disputes; the northern region of Portugal became part of the [[Kingdom of Galicia]] and later part of the [[Kingdom of León]].

Suebi-Visigothic arts and architecture, in particular sculpture, had shown a natural continuity with the Roman period. With the Reconquista, new artistic trends took hold, with Galician-Asturian influences more visible than the Leonese. The Portuguese group was characterized by a general return to classicism. The county courts of [[Viseu]] and [[Coimbra]] played a very important role in this process. Mozarabic architecture was found in the south, in Lisbon and beyond, while in the Christian realms Galician-Portuguese and Asturian architecture prevailed.<ref name="earlyportugal" />

As a vassal of the Kingdom of León, Portugal grew in power and territory and occasionally gained ''de facto'' independence during weak Leonese reigns; Count [[Menendo González|Mendo Gonçalves]] even became regent of the Kingdom of Leon between 999 and 1008. In 1070, the Portuguese Count [[Nuno Mendes (count)|Nuno Mendes]] desired the Portuguese title and fought the [[Battle of Pedroso]] on 18 February 1071 with [[Garcia II of Galicia]], who gained the Galician title, which included Portugal, after the 1065 partition of the Leonese realms. The battle resulted in Nuno Mendes' death and the declaration of Garcia as [[King of Portugal]], the first person to claim this title.<ref>{{harvp|Ribeiro|Hermano|2004|p=44}}</ref> Garcia styled himself as "King of Portugal and Galicia" (''Garcia Rex Portugallie et Galleciae''). Garcia's brothers, [[Sancho II of Castile]] and [[Alfonso VI of Leon]], united and annexed Garcia's kingdom in 1071 as well. They agreed to split it among themselves; however, Sancho was killed by a noble the next year. Alfonso took Castile for himself and Garcia recovered his kingdom of Portugal and Galicia. In 1073, Alfonso VI gathered all power, and beginning in 1077, styled himself ''Imperator totius Hispaniæ'' (Emperor of All Hispania). When the emperor died, the Crown was left to his daughter [[Urraca of León|Urraca]], while his illegitimate daughter [[Teresa of León, Countess of Portugal|Teresa]] inherited the [[County of Portugal]]; in 1095, Portugal broke away from the [[Kingdom of Galicia]]. Its territories, consisting largely of mountains, moorland and forests, were bounded on the north by the Minho River, and on the south by the [[Mondego River]].

=== Foundation of the Kingdom of Portugal ===
{{main|History of Portugal (1139–1279)}}
At the end of the 11th century, the [[Duchy of Burgundy|Burgundian]] knight [[Henry, count of Portugal|Henry]] became count of Portugal and defended its independence by merging the [[County of Portugal]] and the [[County of Coimbra]]. His efforts were assisted by a civil war that raged between [[Kingdom of León|León]] and [[Kingdom of Castile|Castile]] and distracted his enemies. Henry's son [[Afonso I of Portugal|Afonso Henriques]] took control of the county upon his death. The city of Braga, the unofficial Catholic centre of the Iberian Peninsula, faced new competition from other regions. Lords of the cities of [[Coimbra]] and [[Porto]] fought with [[Braga]]'s clergy and demanded the independence of the reconstituted county.

Portugal traces its national origin to 24 June 1128, the date of the [[Battle of São Mamede]]. Afonso proclaimed himself ''Prince of Portugal'' after this battle and in 1139, he assumed the title ''King of Portugal''. In 1143, the Kingdom of León recognised him as King of Portugal by the [[Treaty of Zamora]]. In 1179, the papal bull [[Manifestis Probatum]] of [[Pope Alexander III]] officially recognised Afonso I as king. After the [[Battle of São Mamede]], the first capital of Portugal was [[Guimarães]], from which the first king ruled. Later, when Portugal was already officially independent, he ruled from Coimbra.

=== Affirmation of Portugal ===
{{Main|Portugal in the Middle Ages}}
The [[Algarve]], the southernmost region of Portugal, was finally conquered from the [[Moors]] in 1249, and in 1255 the capital shifted to [[Lisbon]].<ref>{{harvp|Livermore|1969|p=76}}</ref> Spain finally completed its ''Reconquista'' [[Granada War|until 1492]], almost 250 years later.<ref>{{harvp|Hallett|1970|pp=47–48}}</ref> Portugal's land boundaries have been notably stable for the rest of the country's history. The border with Spain has remained almost unchanged since the 13th century. The [[Treaty of Windsor (1386)]] created an alliance between Portugal and [[Kingdom of England|England]] that remains in effect to this day. Since early times, fishing and overseas commerce have been the main economic activities.

In 1383, [[John I of Castile]], husband of [[Beatrice of Portugal]] and son-in-law of [[Ferdinand I of Portugal]], claimed the throne of Portugal. A faction of petty noblemen and commoners, led by John of Aviz (later King [[John I of Portugal]]) and commanded by General [[Nuno Álvares Pereira]] defeated the Castilians in the [[Battle of Aljubarrota]]. With this battle, the [[House of Aviz]] became the ruling house of Portugal.

The new ruling dynasty would proceed to push Portugal to the limelight of European politics and culture, creating and sponsoring works of literature, like the ''Crónicas d'el Rei D. João I'' by [[Fernão Lopes]], the first riding and hunting manual ''[[Bem cavalgar|Livro da ensinança de bem cavalgar toda sela]]'' and ''[[Leal Conselheiro|O Leal Conselheiro]]'' both by [[Edward, King of Portugal|King Edward of Portugal]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Duarte |first=King of Portugal |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/961824873 |title=The book of horsemanship |date=2016 |others=Jeffrey L. Forgeng |isbn=978-1-78204-628-8 |location=Woodbridge |oclc=961824873}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Carvalho |first=Mário Santiago de |date=12 September 2014 |title=Uma modernidade perdida: da melancolia à alegria racional na antropologia do homem superior, segundo D. Duarte |url=https://digitalis.uc.pt/en/artigo/uma_modernidade_perdida_da_melancolia_%C3%A0_alegria_racional_na_antropologia_do_homem_superior |journal=Revista Filosófica de Coimbra |volume=22 |issue=43 |page=190 |doi=10.14195/0872-0851_43_7 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |issn=0872-0851 }}{{Dead link|date=May 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Duarte |first=King of Portugal |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/43397222 |title=Leal conselheiro |date=1999 |publisher=Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda |others=Maria Helena Lopes de Castro |isbn=972-27-0940-2 |location=[Lisboa] |oclc=43397222}}</ref> and the Portuguese translations of [[Cicero|Cicero's]] ''[[De Officiis|De Oficiis]]'' and [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca's]] ''[[De Beneficiis]]'' by the well traveled [[Peter, Duke of Coimbra|Prince Peter of Coimbra]], as well as his magnum opus ''Tratado da Vertuosa Benfeytoria''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Calafate |first=Pedro |title=História do pensamento filosófico português |publisher=Editorial Caminho |year=1999 |isbn=9789722113878 |editor-last=Calafate |editor-first=Pedro |volume=II |pages=412–444 |chapter=A Geração de Avis: O infante D. Pedro}}</ref> In an effort of solidification and centralization of royal power the monarchs of this dynasty also ordered the compilation, organization and publication of the first three compilations of laws in Portugal: the ''Ordenações d'el Rei D. Duarte'',<ref>{{Cite book |title=Ordenações del Rei Dom Duarte |publisher=Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian |year=1988 |isbn=972-31-0279-X |editor-last=de Albuquerque |editor-first=Martim |location=Lisboa |editor-last2=Borges Nunes |editor-first2=Eduardo}}</ref> which was never enforced; the ''[[Ordenações Afonsinas]],'' whose application and enforcement was not uniform across the realm; and the [[Manueline Ordinances|''Ordenações Manuelinas'']], which took advantage of the [[printing press]] to reach every corner of the kingdom. The Avis Dynasty also sponsored works of architecture like the ''Mosteiro da Batalha'' (literally, the [[Batalha Monastery|Monastery of the Battle]]) and led to the creation of the [[Manueline|manueline style of architecture]] in the 16th century.