istoryworld
Events relating to portugal
Victory over the Muslims at Ourique is seen as the moment of Portugal's independence from the kingdom of Leon
Alfonso I takes Lisbon from the Muslims, with the unexpected help of some passing English crusaders
Gilbert of Hastings, an English priest, becomes bishop of the recovered see of Lisbon - the first of many such links between England and Portugal
The victory at Aljubarrota, securing the Portuguese throne for John I, is commemorated in the Dominican abbey called Batalha
John I, newly victorious in Portugal, proposes an alliance with England which has never been revoked
A Portuguese prince, Henry the Navigator, becomes fascinated by exploration down the coast of Africa and commissions successive voyages
The Portuguese, discovering the lush and uninhabited island of Madeira, send colonists to settle it
A Portuguese captain, sailing for Henry the Navigator, chances upon the Azores
Portuguese settlers are sent to the unoccupied islands of the Azores
Portugal claims ownership of the region of Guinea, subsequently the centre of their slave trade on the west African coast
The caravel, a sailing ship developed in the Mediterranean and used down the west coast of Africa, is adapted by the Portuguese for Atlantic use
A Portuguese navigator discovers some of the Cape Verde islands, tropical and at that time uninhabited
Portuguese settlers arrive to found Cidade Velha, on the Cape Verde island of Santiago
Bartolomeu Dias, sailing for the king of Portugal, becomes the first European navigator to round the Cape of Good Hope
Pope Alexander VI draws a line through the Atlantic, dividing new discoveries between Spain (west) and Portugal (east)
In negotiations about the New World at Tordesillas, the king of Portugal insists on a new demarcation line which later brings him Brazil
Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci sets sail from Lisbon to explore to the south of the New World
Francis Xavier, companion of Ignatius Loyola and the first missionary of the Counter-Reformation, sets sail from Lisbon
Brazil becomes a Portuguese royal province, under the control of a governor general
Luis de Camoëns publishes The Lusiads, the poem which becomes Portugal's national epic
A Spanish army marches into Portugal to claim the crown for the king of Spain, Philip II
Spain finally accepts the independence of the kingdom of Portugal, after nearly a century of Spanish rule
The Portuguese expel the Jesuits from Brazil, beginning a widespread reaction against the order in Catholic Europe
A Portuguese prince regent, the future John VI, rules on behalf of his deranged mother, Queen Maria
Napoleon launches an invasion of Portugal, increasing the likelihood of a Peninsular War
