The Reconquest Kings of Portugal : Political and Cultural Reorientation on the Medieval Frontier

Eleventh-century Portuguese society was the product of a unique combination of geography and history. Rugged mountain ranges rising to heights of almost 2,000 meters hedge the region to the east, making direct travel into central Spain difficult and hazardous. This isolation encouraged selfsufficiency and a mistrust of outside interference, characteristics that were embedded more deeply by the passage of time. Prehistoric tribes, Celts, Phoenicians, Romans and Visigoths all left their mark upon the landscape and on the consciousness of its inhabitants. An accumulation of legends, ancient place names and overgrown ruins linked the eleventh-century Portuguese with the distant past. Yet the realities of day-to-day existence during this period were shaped above all by the cataclysmic events of the Arab invasions in 711. 1 The first dire tidings of the Visigothic defeat at the Guadalete River reached the peoples in the westernmost reaches of the peninsula quickly, and perhaps in the most dramatic of forms. There is a persistent local legend that the body of the slain King Roderick, last of the Visigothic monarchs, was borne in secret to the Portuguese city of Viseu for burial in the church of S. Miguel do Fetal. 2 The armies of the first Muslim invasion force, led by Tā riq b. Ziyā d under the authority of Mū sā b. Nusayr, the governor of Africa, initially concentrated their efforts in the Visigothic heartland and did not press their advantage into the west of the peninsula. This respite lasted only three years. In 714, a second Muslim army, commanded by Mū sā b. Nusayr's son 'Abd al-'Azı̄ z, marched westwards in search of further conquests. The unfortunate citizens of Beja, Mértola and Ossónoba (Faro) resisted and their walls were taken by storm, although this may well have been a convenient fiction on the part of the invaders, since under Muslim law a failed defiance allowed the victors to claim the goods and lands of the vanquished. Perhaps these events cowed the peoples of the north into submission, or perhaps the invaders had simply secured sufficient land for their needs in "Between the late Tenth and the mid Thirteenth centuries Portugal emerged as an independent kingdom with borders that have remained largely unchanged until the present day. This political development took place against the backdrop of a struggle between Christendom and the Islamic world for control over the Iberian Peninsula, but also decisive in the formation of Portugal was a growing European influence being felt throughout the peninsula during these centuries. This cultural influence took the form of direct immigration, growing commercial and social networks, and the transfer of ideas and social mores. Portuguese rulers sought to mediate this European influence to their own advantage. In the twelfth century Afonso Henriques (1128-1185) was able to establish the Portuguese monarchy, but his heirs Sancho I (1185-1211), Afonso II (1211-1223) and Sancho II (1223-1245), found the balance between Iberian reality and European expectation increasingly difficult to maintain."--BOOK JACKET Front Matter....Pages i-viii Introduction....Pages 1-5 Portuguese Society in the Eleventh Century: Conquest, Reconquest or Convivencia?....Pages 6-36 Ambition in a World of Turmoil: Count Henry (1096–1112) and Infanta Teresa (1112–1128)....Pages 37-70 The Nascent Kingdom: Consolidation and Expansion under Afonso Henriques (1128–1148)....Pages 71-102 Papal Recognition of Portuguese Royalty (1147–1179)....Pages 103-142 Consolidation and Opportunity (1179–1211)....Pages 143-170 Shifting Priorities: Portuguese Relations with the Latin Church in the Thirteenth Century....Pages 171-204 The Science of Kingship: Institutional Innovation during the Reign of Afonso II (1211–1223)....Pages 205-230 The Final Campaign: Sancho II, Afonso III and the Completion of the Reconquest in Portugal (1223–1250)....Pages 231-260 Conclusion: The Reconquest Kings of Portugal....Pages 261-264 Back Matter....Pages 265-332 Examines the political development of Portugal between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. Taking place amid the struggle between Christendom and the Islamic world for control over the Iberian Peninsula, the formation of Portugal also depended on the growing European influence felt throughout the peninsula during these centuries.

This book examines the development of Portugal between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. During this period Portugal grew from an embattled county under the control of Leon-Castile into an independent kingdom with borders that have remained largely unchanged until the present day.