Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Burgundian Era
During the Reconquista, people faced more than just war and turmoil: in the wake of Chris-
tian victories came new rulers and settlers.
The Church and its wealthy clergy were the greediest landowners, followed by aristo-
cratic fat cats. Though theoretically free, most common people remained subjects of the
landowning class, with few rights. The first hint of democratic rule came with the establish-
ment of the
cortes
(parliament). This assembly of nobles and clergy first met in 1211 at
Coimbra, the then capital. Six years later the capital moved to Lisbon.
CR Boxer's classic text,
The Portuguese Seaborne Empire
(1969), is still one of the best studies of the explora-
tions by Portuguese mariners and the complex empire that unfolded as a result.
Afonso III (r 1248-79) deserves credit for standing up to the Church, but it was his son,
the 'Poet King' Dinis (r 1279-1325), who really shook Portugal into shape. A far-sighted,
cultured man, he took control of the judicial system, started progressive afforestation pro-
grams and encouraged internal trade. He suppressed the dangerously powerful military or-
der of the Knights Templar, refounding them as the Order of Christ. He cultivated music,
the arts and education, and founded a university in Lisbon in 1290, which was later trans-
ferred to Coimbra.
Dom Dinis' foresight was spot-on when it came to defence: he built or rebuilt some 50
fortresses along the eastern frontier with Castile, and signed a pact of friendship with Eng-
land in 1308, the basis for a future long-lasting alliance.
It was none too soon. Within 60 years of Dinis' death, Portugal was at war with Castile.
Fernando I helped provoke the clash by playing a game of alliances with both Castile and
the English. He dangled promises of marriage to his daughter Beatriz in front of both na-
tions, eventually marrying her off to Juan I of Castile, and thus throwing Portugal's future
into Castilian hands.
King João II financed voyages by Vasco da Gama and others, but he is also known for rejecting Christoph-
er Columbus. The Italian navigator approached Portugal first (in 1485) before turning to Spain.
On Fernando's death in 1383, his wife, Leonor Teles, ruled as regent. But she too was
entangled with the Spanish, having long had a Galician lover. The merchant classes pre-
