Portugal

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PORTUGAL

PORTUGAL. In 1385 a new dynasty came to power in Portugal under John I (João of Avis; 1357–1433; ruled 1385–1433). With the capture of the last Muslim stronghold in 1249, Portugal, located on the southwest corner of Europe and bordered by Castile to the east, had achieved roughly its modern boundaries. Though hit hard by the Black Death in 1348–1349, its population a century later had recovered to about one million inhabitants.

But the year 1450 marked a critical time in Portuguese history. Eighteen-year-old Afonso V (ruled 1438–1481), grandson of the founder of the Avis dynasty, was on the throne. The previous year (1449) his uncle, father-in-law, and former regent, Prince Pedro (1392–1449), had been killed at the battle of Alfarrobeira, the victims of civil war. Afonso V's reign might be described as the last hurrah for Portuguese royal chivalry. It clearly was the high-water mark for Portugal's upper nobility and higher clergy, who were lavishly rewarded by the monarch. Afonso V was greatly interested in campaigning in North Africa, personally leading Portuguese forces there in 1458, 1463–1464, and 1471. With the death of Henry (Enrique) IV of Castile in 1474, Afonso V took his kingdom down a dangerous path as he tried to take advantage of Castile's many civil wars. He attempted to marry his niece and Henry IV's young daughter and heiress Joan (Juana) and eventually join the thrones of Castile and Portugal. The plan had both immediate and long-term disastrous results, leading to a destructive Portuguese-Castilian war in the first place and in the second a series of Castilian-Portuguese marriages that eventually resulted in Philip II of Spain becoming king of Portugal.

In the aftermath of his father's lax reign, John (João) II (ruled 1481–1495) asserted strong royal authority. In this he was backed by the Cortes (meeting of the Three Estates) in Evora in 1481–1482. He cowed the titled nobility by having Dom Fernando, third duke of Bragança and head of Portugal's most powerful noble family (1430–1484), executed for treason in 1483 and by personally stabbing to death his own first cousin and brother-in-law, Dom Diogo, duke of Viseu and master of the Order of Christ (1462/63–1484), the following year. John II strongly promoted Portuguese expansion and discovery down the west coast of Africa. During the last years of his reign, tens of thousands of Jews expelled from Spain in 1492 sought refuge in Portugal, doubling the number already there. In the meantime, beginning in the 1440s, increasing numbers of black slaves were brought to Portugal from sub-Saharan Africa. Though a large number of the slaves were sold to Castile and other European kingdoms, many remained in the southern part of Portugal. It is estimated that by 1550 African slaves made up 10 percent of Lisbon's population.

John II was succeeded by Manuel I (ruled 1495–1521), the duke of Viseu's younger brother. Manuel brought the Bragança family back into favor. To appease his future wife Isabella and his Spanish in-laws Ferdinand of Aragón and Isabella of Castile, Manuel in late 1496 and 1497 forced Jews in Portugal to convert to Christianity. When Isabella died after childbirth in 1498, Manuel married her younger sister Maria that year. Two of their sons, John (João) (1502–1557) and Henry (Henrique) (1512–1580), later succeeded to the throne. Toward the end of his life, Manuel in 1518 married Leonor, sister of Emperor Charles V (ruled 1519–1558). Manuel usually receives high marks for administration, and he seems to have healed some of the wounds opened by his predecessor. He undertook major legal reforms, issuing new town charters (forais) and updating the earlier crown legislation of the Ordenações Afonsinas with the Ordenações Manuelinas (Manueline Ordinances). Manuel presided over a Portugal making important and often prosperous overseas contacts in East Africa, India, Southeast Asia, and Brazil.

John III's lengthy reign of thirty-six years (1521–1557) has long been the subject of controversy. Son of Manuel, he has been strongly criticized for establishing the Inquisition in Portugal beginning in 1536 and for inviting the newly founded Jesuits to Portugal in 1540. On the other hand, humanism reached its apogee in Portugal during his reign. The University of Coimbra was reformed, and the College of Arts was founded. However, John III was faced with a number of serious problems left behind by his father. Portugal, with a population of between 1 and 1.5 million inhabitants, was overextended and in serious financial difficulties, many caused by its rapid and widespread overseas expansion. The effects of the Council of Trent, 1545–1563, were also beginning to be felt.

John III was succeeded by his three-year-old grandson Sebastian (ruled 1557–1578), who required a double regency, that of his grandmother Catherine from 1557 to 1562 followed by that of his great-uncle Cardinal Henry (Henrique) from 1562 to 1568. Sebastian invaded Morocco twice, in 1574 and 1578. In August of the latter year he and more than seven thousand Portuguese nobility and soldiers died in battle. The childless Sebastian was succeeded by the aging Cardinal Henry, who died in January 1580. Though Dom António (1531–1595), prior of Crato, illegitimate son of Henry's brother Dom Luís (1506–1555), was acclaimed king of Portugal, the troops of Philip II of Spain (ruled 1556–1598) invaded Portugal, and the kingdom was acquired by conquest, inheritance, and bribery. Between 1580 and 1640 Portugal was under Spanish Habsburg rule, part of a dual monarchy. In 1581 at Tomar, Philip II swore to respect Portuguese sovereignty. Philip II spent less than two years in Portugal, and his son Philip III (ruled 1598–1621) visited briefly in 1619. Though most Portuguese seemed to accept Habsburg rule during its first few decades, economic crises and efforts at centralization by Gaspar de Guzmán y Pimental, count-duke of Olivares and chief minister of Philip IV (ruled 1621–1665), set the stage for Portuguese rebellion.

On 1 December 1640 John (João) (1604–1656), eighth duke of Bragança, was proclaimed King John IV (ruled 1640–1656). He married Luisa de Gusmão, daughter of Spain's eighth duke of Medina Sidonia. Generally well received as monarch, John IV encountered difficult times for Portugal and its overseas empire, but he managed to thwart Spanish efforts to restore Portugal to Habsburg rule. There was a period of twenty-eight years of warfare before peace was signed in 1668. When John IV died in 1656, he left behind a sickly and disturbed heir, Afonso VI (ruled 1656–1683). Queen Luisa held the regency until 1662, when a palace coup headed by Luis de Vasconcelos e Sousa (1636–1720), third count of Castelo Melhor, brought the eighteen-year-old Afonso to the throne. Vasconcelos e Sousa became Afonso's key adviser and the dominant figure in Portugal. Afonso VI married the French Marie-Françoise of Nemours in 1666.

A second palace coup ousted Afonso VI in November of 1667 and replaced him with his younger brother Peter (Pedro) (1648–1706), who, in turn, married his sister-in-law (after she had received an annulment) the following year. Peter held the title of regent until his imprisoned brother's death in 1683, after which he became known as Peter (Pedro) II until his own death in 1706. The unorthodox removal of his brother from power placed Peter in a difficult position for his almost thirty-nine years of rule, forcing him into playing the "politics of the possible" and sharing power with the titled nobility. After the death of Maria-Francisca in 1683, Pedro in 1687 married Maria Sophia of Neuburg, daughter of the elector palatine. In this marriage was born John (João) V (ruled 1706–1750), who married Maria Anna of Austria, daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I (ruled 1658–1705).

Though Portugal managed to stay out of the international conflicts of the late seventeenth century, the kingdom did become involved in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714). Initially allied with Bourbon France and Spain, Portugal soon sided with England and the Grand Alliance and backed the cause of Archduke Charles of Austria (future Holy Roman emperor Charles VI, ruled 1711–1740). Though Portuguese troops briefly captured Madrid, parts of Portugal were devastated by the war. The war's end ushered in more than half a century of relative peace for Portugal, though the Portuguese, in league with the papacy and Venice, were credited with the victorious sea battle against the Turks off Cape Matapan along the Greek coast in 1717. John V's reign saw a flood of wealth from the Brazilian gold rush, and with this newfound wealth he attempted to imitate Louis XIV (ruled 1643–1715) and the French court. There was an important building and artistic boom, and Portugal's prestige rose at the courts of Europe, especially Rome, Paris, and Vienna. John V created a patriarchate in Lisbon and was granted the title of "Most Faithful" Majesty by Pope Benedict XIV (reigned 1740–1758). Voltaire remarked that when John wanted a building, he built a monastery, and when he wanted a mistress, he took a nun. John's son, Joseph (José) I (ruled 1750–1777), married Mariana Victoria, daughter of Philip V (ruled 1700–1724, 1724–1746) of Spain. Joseph's reign saw significant reforms, especially through the efforts of his chief minister, Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo (1699–1782), better known as the marquês of Pombal. In the aftermath of the catastrophic earthquake that hit Lisbon on 1 November 1755 and killed between five thousand and ten thousand people, Pombal consolidated his power. The controversial statesman is best understood as an economic nationalist who was also determined to subordinate the titled nobility and the higher clergy to crown control. He greatly reduced the power of the Inquisition, making it little more than a state tribunal. In 1759 he expelled the Jesuits from Portugal and the entire Portuguese world.

Joseph I was succeeded by his daughter Maria I (ruled 1777–1816). Her royal consort was her husband and uncle Pedro, known as Peter (Pedro) III (ruled 1777–1786), who died in 1786. Shortly after the French Revolution, Maria showed evidence of mental instability. In 1792 her son Prince John (João) (1767–1826) was named regent. After her death in 1816, he became John (João) VI of Portugal.

See also Lisbon ; Olivares, Gaspar de Guzmán y Pimentel, Count of ; Philip II (Spain) ; Portuguese Colonies ; Portuguese Literature and Language .