Kingdom of Portugal

Last updated
Kingdom of Portugal [lower-alpha 1]
Regnum Portugalliae (Latin)
Reino de Portugal (Portuguese)
1139–1910
Motto: "In hoc signo vinces" (Latin)
"In this sign thou shalt conquer"
Anthem: " Hymno Patriótico " (1809–1834)
"Patriotic Anthem"

Hino da Carta (1834–1910)
"Anthem of the Charter"
Portuguese empire 1800.svg
The Kingdom of Portugal in 1800
Capital Coimbra
(1139–1255)
Lisbon [a]
(1255–1808)
Angra do Heroísmo [b]
(1580–1582)
Rio de Janeiro
(1808–1821)
Lisbon
(1821–1910)
Angra do Heroísmo [c]
(1830–1834)

38°42′N9°11′W / 38.700°N 9.183°W / 38.700; -9.183
Common languagesOfficial languages:Unofficial languages:
Religion
Majority:
Roman Catholicism (official) [1]
Minority:
Sephardic Judaism [lower-alpha 7]
Islam [lower-alpha 8]
Demonym(s) Portuguese
Government Feudal constitutional monarchy
(1139–1698)
Absolute monarchy
(1698–1820; 1823–1826; 1828–1834)
Unitary parliamentary semi-constitutional monarchy
(1822–1823; 1826–1828; 1834–1910)
Monarch  
 1139–1185 (first)
Afonso I
 1908–1910 (last)
Manuel II
Prime Minister  
 1834–1835 (first)
Marquis of Palmela
 1910 (last)
Teixeira de Sousa
Legislature Cortes
(1139–1706; 1816–1820)
None (rule by decree)
(1698–1820; 1823–1826; 1828–1834)
The General and Extraordinary Cortes of the Portuguese Nation
(1820–1822)
Cortes Gerais
(1820–1823; 1826–1828; 1834–1910)
 Upper house
Chamber of Peers
(1822–1838; 1842–1910)
Chamber of Senators
(1838–1842)
 Lower house
Chamber of Deputies
(1822–1910)
History 
25 July 1139
5 October 1143
1 December 1640
1 February 1908
5 October 1910
Area
1300 [2] 90,000 km2 (35,000 sq mi)
Population
 1300 [2]
800,000
 1800
9,270,000
 1900
12,434,000
Currency Portuguese dinheiro,
(1139–1433)
Portuguese real
(1433–1910)
ISO 3166 code PT
Preceded by
Succeeded by
PortugueseFlag1095.svg County of Portugal
Flag of the Couto Misto.svg Couto Misto
First Portuguese Republic Flag of Portugal.svg
Empire of Brazil Flag of Empire of Brazil (1822-1870).svg
a. ^ The capital was de facto located at Rio de Janeiro from 1808 to 1821.

b. ^ The seat of government of the Portuguese pretender António was de facto located at Angra do Heroísmo from 1580 to 1582.

Contents

c. ^ The capital of the constitutional government in exile was de jure located at Angra do Heroísmo during the Portuguese Civil War, from 1830 to 1834.

The Kingdom of Portugal [3] was a monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and 1910, it was also known as the Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves after 1415, and as the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves between 1815 and 1822. The name is also often applied to the Portuguese Empire, the realm's overseas colonies.

The nucleus of the Portuguese state was the County of Portugal, established in the 9th century as part of the Reconquista , by Vímara Peres, a vassal of the King of Asturias. The county became part of the Kingdom of León in 1097, and the Counts of Portugal established themselves as rulers of an independent kingdom in the 12th century, following the battle of São Mamede. The kingdom was ruled by the Afonsine Dynasty until the 1383–85 Crisis, after which the monarchy passed to the House of Aviz.

During the 15th and 16th century, Portuguese exploration established a vast colonial empire. From 1580 to 1640, the Kingdom of Portugal was in personal union with Habsburg Spain.

After the Portuguese Restoration War of 1640–1668, the kingdom passed to the House of Braganza and thereafter to the House of Braganza-Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. From this time, the influence of Portugal declined, but it remained a major power due to its most valuable colony, Brazil. After the independence of Brazil, Portugal sought to establish itself in Africa, but was ultimately forced to halt its expansion due to the 1890 British Ultimatum, eventually leading to the collapse of the monarchy in the 5 October 1910 revolution and the establishment of the First Portuguese Republic.

Portugal was an absolute monarchy before 1822. It alternated between absolute and semi-constitutional monarchy from 1822 until 1834, when it would remain a semi-constitutional monarchy until its fall.

History

Origins

The Kingdom of Portugal finds its origins in the County of Portugal (1096–1139). The Portuguese County was a semi-autonomous county of the Kingdom of León. Independence from León took place in three stages:

  1. The first on 26 July 1139 when Afonso Henriques was acclaimed King of the Portuguese [4] internally.
  2. The second was on 5 October 1143, when Alfonso VII of León and Castile recognized Afonso Henriques as king through the Treaty of Zamora.
  3. The third, in 1179, was the Papal Bull Manifestis Probatum , in which Portugal's independence was recognized by Pope Alexander III.

Once Portugal was independent, D. Afonso I's descendants, members of the Portuguese House of Burgundy, would rule Portugal until 1383. Even after the change in royal houses, all the monarchs of Portugal were descended from Afonso I, one way or another, through both legitimate and illegitimate links.

Medieval history (1139–1415)

Renaissance and early modern history (1415–1777)

Modern history (1777–1910)

Fall of the Monarchy

With the start of the 20th century, Republicanism grew in numbers and support in Lisbon among progressive politicians and the influential press. However a minority with regard to the rest of the country, this height of republicanism would benefit politically from the Lisbon Regicide on 1 February 1908. While returning from the Ducal Palace at Vila Viçosa, King Charles and the Prince Royal Luís Filipe were assassinated in the Terreiro do Paço, in Lisbon. With the death of the King and his heir, Charles I's second son would become monarch as King Manuel II. Manuel's reign, however, would be short-lived, ending by force with the 5 October 1910 revolution, sending Manuel into exile in the United Kingdom and giving way to the Portuguese First Republic.

On 19 January 1919, the Monarchy of the North was proclaimed in Oporto. The monarchy would be deposed a month later and no other monarchist counterrevolution in Portugal has happened since.

After the republican revolution in October 1910, the remaining colonies of the empire became overseas provinces of the Portuguese Republic until the late 20th century, when the last overseas territories of Portugal were handed over. Most notably in Portuguese Africa which included the overseas provinces of Angola and Mozambique of which the handover took place in 1975, and finally in Asia the handover of Macau in 1999.

Rulers

Flags

Coat of arms

Shields

See also

Footnotes

  1. also known as the Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves (Latin: Regnum Portugalliae et Algarbiae, Portuguese: Reino de Portugal e dos Algarves) after 1415, and as the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves (Portuguese: Reino Unido de Portugal, Brasil e Algarves) between 1815 and 1822.
  2. Galician-Portuguese (until 16th century)
    Modern Portuguese (16th century onward)
  3. Widely used for administrative and liturgical purposes. Medieval Latin replaced by Renaissance Latin by the 15th century.
  4. Until 13th century.
  5. Until 1497, mainly in the Algarve.
  6. Until 1497.
  7. Until 1497.
  8. Until 1497.

Citations

  1. J. Havighurs, Robert (1969). Society and Education in Brazil. University of Pittsburgh Press. p. 142. ISBN   978-0822974079. Catholicism was the state religion of the Kingdom of Portugal
  2. 1 2 Reilly, Bernard F. (1993). The Medieval Spains. Cambridge University Press. p. 139. ISBN   978-0521397414 . Retrieved 11 October 2019. The new kingdom of Castile had roughly tripled in size to some 335,000 square kilometers by 1300 [...] Portugal swollen to 90,000 square kilometers and perhaps 800,000 inhabitants [...]
  3. (Latin : Regnum Portugalliae; Portuguese : Reino de Portugal)
  4. Wilner, Hero, Weiner, p. 190

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afonso III of Portugal</span> King of Portugal

Afonso III, or Affonso, Alfonso or Alphonso (Portuguese-Galician) or Alphonsus (Latin), the Boulonnais, King of Portugal was the first to use the title King of Portugal and the Algarve, from 1249. He was the second son of King Afonso II of Portugal and his wife, Urraca of Castile; he succeeded his brother, King Sancho II of Portugal, who died on 4 January 1248.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manuel I of Portugal</span> King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521

Manuel I, known as the Fortunate, was King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521. A member of the House of Aviz, Manuel was Duke of Beja and Viseu prior to succeeding his cousin, John II of Portugal, as monarch. Manuel ruled over a period of intensive expansion of the Portuguese Empire owing to the numerous Portuguese discoveries made during his reign. His sponsorship of Vasco da Gama led to the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India in 1498, resulting in the creation of the Portuguese India Armadas, which guaranteed Portugal's monopoly on the spice trade. Manuel began the Portuguese colonization of the Americas and Portuguese India, and oversaw the establishment of a vast trade empire across Africa and Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duke of Braganza</span> Hereditary title in the Peerage of Portugal

The title Duke of Braganza in the House of Braganza is one of the most important titles in the peerage of Portugal. Starting in 1640, when the House of Braganza acceded to the throne of Portugal, the male heir of the Portuguese Crown were known as Duke of Braganza, along with their style Prince of Beira or Prince of Brazil. The tradition of the heir to the throne being titled Duke of Braganza was revived by various pretenders after the establishment of the Portuguese Republic on 5 October 1910 to signify their claims to the throne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Portugal</span> National flag

The flag of Portugal is the national flag of the Portuguese Republic. It is a rectangular bicolour with a field divided into green on the hoist, and red on the fly. The lesser version of the national coat of arms of Portugal is centered over the colour boundary at equal distance from the upper and lower edges. Its presentation was done on 1 December 1910, after the downfall of the constitutional monarchy on 5 October 1910. However, it was only on 30 June 1911, that the official decree approving this flag as the official flag was published. This new national flag for the First Portuguese Republic, was selected by a special commission whose members included Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro, João Chagas and Abel Botelho. The conjugation of the new field color, especially the use of green, was not traditional in the Portuguese national flag's composition and represented a radical republican-inspired change that broke the bond with the former monarchical flag. Since a failed republican insurrection on 31 January 1891, red and green had been established as the colours of the Portuguese Republican Party and its associated movements, whose political prominence kept growing until it reached a culmination period following the Republican revolution of 5 October 1910. In the ensuing decades, these colours were popularly propagandised as representing the hope of the nation (green) and the blood of those who died defending it (red), to endow them with a more patriotic and dignified, therefore less political, sentiment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Braganza</span> Portuguese dynasty

The Most Serene House of Braganza, also known as the Brigantine dynasty, is a dynasty of emperors, kings, princes, and dukes of Portuguese origin which reigned in Europe and the Americas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingdom of the Algarve</span> 1249–1910 nominal kingdom in southern Portugal

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iberian Union</span> Spanish-Portuguese union between 1580 and 1640

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippine dynasty</span> 1581–1640 line of Portuguese kings

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rui de Pina</span> Portuguese chronicler (1440–1522)

Ruide Pina (1440–1522) was a Portuguese chronicler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coat of arms of Portugal</span> National coat of arms of Portugal

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves</span> Pluricontinental monarchy

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portuguese heraldry</span>

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In the Medieval Kingdom of Portugal, the Cortes was an assembly of representatives of the estates of the realm – the nobility, clergy and bourgeoisie. It was called and dismissed by the King of Portugal at will, at a place of his choosing. Cortes which brought all three estates together are sometimes distinguished as Cortes-Gerais, in contrast to smaller assemblies which brought only one or two estates, to negotiate a specific point relevant only to them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mantle of João VI</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monarchy of the North</span> Monarchist state in northern Portugal (January-February 1919)

The Monarchy of the North, officially the Kingdom of Portugal, was a short-lived revolution against the First Portuguese Republic and a monarchist government that occurred in Northern Portugal in early 1919. It was based in Porto and lasted from 19 January to 13 February 1919. The movement is also known by the derogatory term Kingdom of Traulitânia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portugal in the Middle Ages</span> Medieval Portuguese history

The Kingdom of Portugal was established from the county of Portugal in the 1130s, ruled by the Portuguese House of Burgundy. During most of the 12th and 13th centuries, its history is chiefly that of the gradual reconquest of territory from the various Muslim principalities (taifas) of the period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castle of Almada</span> Medieval castle in Cova da Piedade, Setúbal, Portugal

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References