The House of Burgundy

In 1143, Alfonso VII of Castile-León recognized Portugal’s independence under the Burgundian dynasty, which submitted to the suzerainty of the Pope. Alfonso I achieved the liberation of the southwest from Moorish rule (capture of Lisbon with the help of German, English, Flemish and French crusaders, 1147). But it was not until a century later, with the regaining of the Algarve and the Castilian surrender of this province (1267, the final and still valid border with Castile-León in the Treaty of Badajoz), that the territorial unity of Portugal, of which Lisbon became the capital, could be completed.

The most important task was the repopulation of the country. While small peasant property predominated in the north (going back to the division of the land among the Swebes), large land holdings became dominant in the depopulated south through the transfer of large tracts of land to the nobility, to secular and ecclesiastical orders and monasteries. The Kingdom of Portugal did not have a strict feudal order. The king ruled immediately. His power was limited by the estates (Cortes), in which bourgeois representatives of the cities also increasingly received seats and votes. There was free peasantry, but there was also serfdom.

In addition to the conquest of the last Moorish territories, the 13th century was characterized by attempts by kings to secure the supremacy of the crown and to restrict the privileges of the nobility and the church. This succeeded amid violent conflicts among the nobility, but not with the church, which led to the deposition of Sanchos II by Pope Innocent IV in 1245 and his final expulsion by his brother Alfons III in 1246 . (1246-79).

According to agooddir, one of the most glamorous epochs in the history of Portugal was the reign of King Dinis (1279-1325). Through a concordat with Pope Nicholas IV, he defused the dispute with the church in 1289. He had a merchant and navy built and promoted internal and external trade with Italy, France, Flanders and England; the close relations with England were emphasized in 1308 by a treaty of friendship. The first Portuguese university was founded in Lisbon in 1290. Alfonso IV (1325–57), in alliance with Castile in 1340, repulsed the last Moorish attempt at invasion on the Salado de Morón. His son Peter I. (1357–67) enforced royal jurisdiction against private and regional jurisdiction, ensured tiered jurisdiction with appellate courts, and separated criminal and civil law. With Ferdinand I (1367–83) the House of Burgundy died out in the male line. Through his intervention in the chaos of the Castilian throne, Portugal was devastated in three wars; on the other hand, the alliance with England was confirmed by a treaty in 1373, which had a decisive influence on the history of Portugal for centuries. When Ferdinand died (1383), the husband of his only daughter Beatrix (* 1372, † after 1409), Johann I. of Castile, asserted his claims on Portugal and crossed the borders. He was supported by the Portuguese nobility, who wanted to regain and expand their privileges at the expense of the crown. City citizens and rural population, on the other hand, supported the illegitimate son of Peter I, Johann, the Grand Master of the Order of Avis, who was proclaimed King on April 6, 1385 by the Cortes as John I. He founded the Avis dynasty.

The personal union with Spain

Portuguese independence continued to exist during the personal union with Spain. Portuguese remained the official language, Portugal and the colonies retained their own administration under viceroys, and government agencies were reserved for Portuguese. Existing laws were respected, a new set of laws, the “Ordenações Filipineas”, was published, which was later drawn into the Spanish wars. The result was the loss of the Moluccas (1607), Malaccas (1641) and Ceylons (1656). Only northeastern Brazil was reclaimed after the Dutch occupation in 1654. The high tax pressure to finance the burdens of war, the assimilation policy of the Spanish minister Count von Olivares, the agitation work of French agents on behalf of Cardinal Richelieu the Portuguese were supposed to support the Spanish Habsburgs, led to a successful revolt in December 1640. Its leader, John II, Duke of Bragança, was crowned King on December 15, 1640 as John IV.

The first republic

In April 1911 the new republic separated church and state. On August 31, the republican constitution came into force. The breakup of the Republicans into three rival parties and social unrest did not allow for any stabilization, and the economic situation remained precarious due to a financial crisis. Portugal’s participation in the First World War on the side of the Entente powers (since 1916) placed an additional burden on the country. Between 1911 and 1926, Portugal had 44 governments under eight presidents. The last parliamentary government was driven out of office on May 28, 1926 by the military coup of General Manuel de Oliveira Gomes da Costa (* 1863, † 1929), the constitution was repealed and parliament was dissolved. In July 1926 General O. A. de Fragoso Carmona followed (President 1928–51); He put down an uprising that wanted to restore the parliamentary system in 1927.

The second republic

Carmona appointed A. de Oliveira Salazar as finance minister in 1928 and prime minister in 1932. With the constitution of 1933, this created a state-authoritarian state (Estado Novo). With the Statute of National Labor (1933) v. a. Employers and employees integrated into a state-controlled, hierarchical coercive system on a corporate basis. The National Union founded by Salazar in 1930 provided all members of the National Assembly from 1934 onwards. After 1945, Salazar loosened the one-party system a little. In 1968 M. J. das Neves Alves Caetano became the successor of the sick Salazar; he tried to achieve a certain degree of liberalization, among other things. by easing press censorship.

Based on the alliance with Great Britain and the friendship and non-aggression pact with Spain (March 1939), Portugal remained neutral during World War II. In 1949 it joined NATO and in 1951 granted the USA bases in the Azores. In 1955 Portugal became a member of the UN, in 1960 the OECD and EFTA. Although the colonies were declared overseas provinces in 1951, energetic efforts for independence began there (Portuguese colonies); the colonial war, with which the areas were to be held, weighed heavily on domestic political developments.