Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Moors & Christians
The gap left by the Romans was filled by barbarian invaders from beyond the Pyrenees:
Vandals, Alans, Visigoths and Suevi, with Arian Christian Visigoths gaining the upper hand
in 469.
Portugal: A Traveller's History (2004), by Harold Livermore, explores some of the richer episodes from the past -
taking in cave paintings, vineyards and music, among other topics.
Internal Visigothic disputes paved the way for Portugal's next great wave of invaders,
the Moors - North African Muslims invited in 711 to help a Visigoth faction. They quickly
occupied large chunks of Portugal's southern coast.
Southerners enjoyed peace and productivity under the Moors, who established a capital
at Shelb (Silves). The new rulers were tolerant of Jews and Christians. Christian small-
holding farmers, called Mozarabs, could keep their land and were encouraged to try new
methods and crops, especially citrus and rice. Arabic words filtered into the Portuguese
language, such as alface (lettuce), arroz (rice) and dozens of place names (including
Fatima, Silves and Algarve), and locals became addicted to Moorish sweets.
Meanwhile in the north, Christian forces were gaining strength and reached as far as
Porto in 868. But it was in the 11th century that the Reconquista (the Christian reconquest)
heated up. In 1064 Coimbra was taken and, in 1085, Alfonso VI thrashed the Moors in
their Spanish heartland of Toledo; he is said to have secured Seville by winning a game of
chess with its emir. But in the following year, Alfonso's men were driven out by ruthless
Moroccan Almoravids who answered the emir's distress call.
Alfonso cried for help and European crusaders came running - rallying against the 'infi-
dels'. With the help of Henri of Burgundy, among others , Alfonso made decisive moves
towards victory. The struggle continued in successive generations, and by 1139 Afonso
Henriques (grandson of Alfonso VI) won such a dramatic victory against the Moors at
Ourique (Alentejo) that he named himself Dom - King of Portugal - a t itle confirmed in
1179 by the pope (after extra tribute was paid, naturally). He also retook Santarém and Lis-
bon from the Moors.
By the time he died in 1185, the Portuguese frontier was secure to the Rio Tejo, though it
would take another century before the south was torn from the Moors.
 
Search WWH ::




Custom Search