Portugal was founded in 1143, the year of the celebration of the Treaty of Zamora. The Treaty, signed between D. Afonso Henriques, Portugal's first king, and Alfonso VII of León and Castile, recognizes Portugal's legal status as an independent kingdom. In 1179 this status was confirmed by Pope Alexander III.

During the 12th and 13th centuries, the Portuguese kings widened the borders, until the conquest of the Algarve, consolidating a territory practically unchanged until today.

​

With its borders defined, Portugal began to look inward. At the end of the 13th century, King D. Dinis created the prestigious University of Coimbra, one of the oldest in Europe. In the most important centers castles, palaces and cathedrals were built, and the territorial administration was established.

​

In 1385, following a popular movement, D. João I was acclaimed king, beginning the 2nd dynasty. The sons of D. João I and D. Filipa de Lencastre would be dubbed in Luiz Vaz de Camões's "Os Lusíadas", "Illustrious generation, high Infants", for the instruction, humanism and governing qualities they demonstrated.

​

Among them, one became known to history as visionary and chief worker of the Discoveries, one of the great adventures of Humanity. Thanks to the impetus of Prince Henrique, also known as “Henrique o Navegador” (Henry the Navigator) the Portuguese caravels crossed the seas, making use of the best scientific and practical knowledge of the time. During the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries sailed to Africa, the Far East, and the depths of the South American continent. They conquered land, gathered wealth, and brought to Europe things never seen before.

​

In 1498 Vasco da Gama discovered the sea route to India, and in 1500 Pedro Álvares Cabral arrived in Brazil. The Portuguese would also reach Oman (1508), Malaysia (1511), Timor (1512), China (1513), and Japan (1543). It was also a Portuguese, Fernão de Magalhães, who planned and commanded, between 1519 and 1522, the first circumnavigation voyage of the globe.

​

Perhaps it was the beginning of globalization. To celebrate this era, and in particular the arrival in India, King Manuel had the Jerónimos Monastery erected - a unique work in which nautical motifs stand out, and integrated the armillary sphere into the Portuguese flag.

​

The small kingdom was then the largest Empire in the world. Portugal brought together wise men and mercenaries, scientists and painters, businessmen and poets, slaves and princes. Such power and wealth awoke the jealousy of other peoples and after the tragic death of the young King D. Sebastião, in a battle at Alcácer Quibir, in the North of Africa, the resultant vacant throne was occupied by Spanish Kings, who united the two states under the same government for 60 years.

In 1640 Portugal had once again a Portuguese King, D. João IV, who restored the country’s independence. In the 18th Century art-lover, absolutist King D. João V ordered the construction, in Mafra, of a giant Convent and palace and, in Lisbon, the Aqueduct of Águas Livres.

However, the luxurious and exotic capital of the kingdom almost completely vanished in 1755 due to a devastating earthquake. It was Marquês de Pombal, Prime Minister of King D. José, who recreated a new Lisbon, monumental and ready to take on the furies of nature.

In the early 19th Century, Napoleon's troops invaded Portugal and the court moved to Brazil, in order to ensure the Portuguese dynastical continuity and independence. Returning 14 years later, in 1821, King João VI found a different country: besides the scars of years of war, the liberal movement had transformed the political landscape. The king’s power was no longer absolute and the first Constitution was close to being approved.

After D. João VI’s death, civil war broke out (1828) between his two sons: D. Miguel, supported by the courts, who opposed the Constitution, and D. Pedro, who defended it, along with a liberal vision of the State, but was legally prevented from taking the Portuguese crown as he had declared Brazil’s independence 6 years earlier.

The quarrel would be settled in 1834 with the signing of the “Convenção de Évora Monte” that put an end to military operations and determined a return to a liberal and constitutional version of the monarchy.

Republican ideas started gaining ground and momentum from the end of the 19th century onwards. After the King’s assassination in 1908 and the revolution of October 5th, 1910, a Republic has established. D. Manuel II was the last King of Portugal and Teófilo Braga the first republican Head of State. Manuel de Arriaga was the first elected President of the Portuguese Republic.

After a troubled period and the Portuguese participation in the First World War, a military coup caused the “Estado Novo” to emerge. This was an authoritarian, one-party regime dominated by António Oliveira Salazar, who governed the country for almost half a century.

However, on 25 April 1974 the «Carnation Revolution» returned freedom and democracy to the Portuguese, swiftly recognizing the independence of the former African colonies.

Once again inside its original borders, Portugal turned round and faced Europe. In 1986 the country joined the CEE and, since then, the Portuguese have been enthusiastic participants in the construction of a new Europe, without however forgetting their History, their character, and their traditions.

​

​