BATALHA (i.e., battle), a town of Portugal, 8m. south of Leiria. Pop. (193o), 5,226. Ba talha is chiefly interesting for its great Dominican monastery of Santa Maria da Victoria ("St. Mary of the Victory"), also known as Batalha. In the battle fought on the plain between Can oeira and Aljubarrota, 9m. south west, John I. of Portugal defeated John I. of Castile in 1385 and secured the independence of his kingdom. The monastery, prob ably founded 1388, is built of golden-brown limestone, resembling marble, and richly sculptured. It is roughly a parallelogram, about 5oof t. from north to south, and 445 from east to west; with the circular annexe of the royal mausoleum on the east, and the Founder's chapel at the south-western corner ; its southern division is the Gothic church. The Founder's chapel contains the tomb of John I. (d. 1433) and Philippa of Lancaster (d. 1415), his queen, with the tomb of Prince Henry the Navigator (d. 1460). Like the royal mausoleum, where several later monarchs are buried, it has intricate and exquisitely finished carved stonework. Plans and masons were procured from England by Queen Philippa, and the work was entrusted to Affonso Domingues, a native architect, and Huet or Houguet, an Irishman. Only the royal cloister, church and Founder's chapel were included in the original design; and all three show signs of British influence. The Capellas Imperfeitas ("Unfinished Chapels") are one of the most marvellous examples of Manueline architecture. The earthquake of damaged the monastery and the French sacked it in 181o. It was secularized in 1834, declared a national monument in 1840, and thencefor ward gradually restored.