Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
pire fell (
A.D.
476), Portugal was saved from barbarian attacks by Christian Germanic
Visigoths ruling distantly from their capital in Toledo.
North African Muslims invaded the Iberian Peninsula, settling in southern Portugal.
Christians retreated to the cold, mountainous north, with central Portugal as a buffer zone.
For the next five centuries, the Moors made Iberia a beacon of enlightenment in Dark Age
Europe, while Christians slowly drove them out, one territory at a time. (Faro was the
last Portuguese town to fall, in 1249.) Afonso Henriques, a popular Christian noble who
conquered much Muslim land, was proclaimed king of Portugal (1139), creating one of
Europe's first modern nation-states. John I solidified Portugal's nationhood by repelling a
Spanish invasion (1385) and establishing his family (the House of Avis) as kings.
Eight Dates That Shaped Portugal
1128
“Portucale” separates from Castile.
1498
Vasco da Gama sails Portugal into a century of wealth.
1640
The Spanish are ousted; Portuguese gain their independence.
1755
A massive earthquake rocks Lisbon into poverty.
1822
Portugal loses Brazil as a colony.
1910
The monarchy is deposed, and repressive military regimes rule.
1974
A left-wing revolution brings democracy.
1986
Portugal joins the European Community (the forerunner of the European Union),
boosting the economy.
With royal backing, Portugal built a navy and began exploring the seas—using techno-
logy the Arabs had left behind—motivated by spice-trade profit and a desire to Christian-
ize Muslim lands in North Africa. When Vasco da Gama finally inched around the south-
ern tip of Africa and found a sea route to India (1498), suddenly the wealth of all Asia
opened up. Through trade and conquest, tiny Portugal became one of Europe's wealth-
iest and most powerful nations, with colonies stretching from Brazil to Africa to India
to China. Unfortunately, the easy money destroyed the traditional economy. When King
Sebastian died, heirless, in a disastrous and draining defeat in Morocco, Portugal was
quickly invaded by Spain (1580).
