History.— Portugal forms the greater part of ancient Lusitania. It was subjugated by the Romans, in the time of Augustus, and was con stituted into a province. In the 5th century, on the overthrow of the Roman supremacy, Portu gal was invaded by the Alans and Visigoths, and suffered with Spain, of which it was then a part, all the troubles and vicissitudes endured by the inhabitants of the peninsula till the 8th century, at which time the Arabs, called indif ferently Saracens or Moors, possessed them selves of the whole of Portugal, and kept abso lute dominion for nearly 400 years. When the gallant Spaniards of the Christian kingdoms of Castile and Leon finally wrested the country between the Minho and the Douro from Moor ish hands, they placed counts or governors over this region. Henry the Younger of Burgundy, whose grandfather Robert I, Duke of Bur gundy, was grandson of the French king Hugh Capet, came into Spain about 1090, to seek his fortune in the wars against the Moors. Al fonso VI, king of Castile and Leon, gave him the hand of his daughter, and appointed him (1095) count and governor of the conquered districts, which comprised the provinces Entre Minho e Douro, Tras os Montes, and a part of Beira, and the hatibors of Oporto (Portus Calle), from which Portugal is said to have derived its name. The count resided at Guimaraens, owed feudal service to the Castil ian kings, but was permitted to hold in 'his own right whatever conquests he should make from the Moors beyond the Tagus (1112). Under his widow, Theresa (1114-28) the country ac quired a sense of national unity and a certain measure of independence. Their son, Alfonso I, made Portugal an independent kingdom (1143) through the victory of a picked body of Portuguese knights over a picked body of Castilian knights in a tournament — and gained signal advantages over the Arabs, whom he fought for 25 years, his greatest exploits be ing the victory in the plain of Ourique, in Alem tejo, in 1139, when he was saluted king of Por tugal on the battle-field, the capture (with the help of English crusaders) of Lisbon in 1147, and of Alcacer do Sal in 1158. The Burgundian House, which continued in possession of the throne for 440 years, gave to Portugal some of its best kings. The immediate successors of Alfonso I were engaged in incessant wars against the Moslems and in severe struggles with the clergy and nobles, who were always ready to combine against the sovereign; but, although often baffled in their attempts to uphold the in dependence of the crown, the dignity of the kingdom was, on the whole, well maintained by the representatives of this family, who were, moreover, distinguished as the promoters and champions of the maritime glory of Portugal. Prominent among these was Diniz or Denis (1279-1325), son of Alfonso III. He encour aged agriculture, manufactures, navigation and commerce. He admitted the representatives of towns to the Cortes. He liberally patronized learning, and founded a university at Lisbon, which in 1308 he transferred to Coimbra. By these and other acts of a wise and beneficent administration he earned the title of (Father of his Country?' Among his other cognomens the most frequently applied is the He was succeeded by Alfonso IV. In conjunction with Alfonso II of Castile he defeated the Moors at Salado in 1340. He murdered Inez de Castro, the wife of his son Pedro, in 1355. (See CAsmo, 'Ma nE). He was succeeded by his son Pedro I, who exhumed the body of Inez, and caused her to be crowned along with him (1361). He died in 1367, and was suc ceeded by Ferdinand, on whose death in 1383 the male line of the Burgundian princes became extinct. In 1385 the king of Castile laid claim to the crown, but was opposed by Don John, the illegitimate brother of Ferdinand, who ascended the vacant throne and ruled his subjects with justice and prudence. Under this wise and en lightened sovereign the Portuguese first directed their attention to those maritime adventures which subsequently placed Portugal at the head of all European nations. Under John I the Portuguese first projected those Atlantic dis coveries on the African Coast, fraught with such territorial and commercial advantages to the nation; and, under John II and Emanuel, between 1481 and 1521, Vasco da Gama explored the Indian Ocean; the riches of the East be gan to pour into Europe; Goa became a pros perous possession, and Brazil was added to the possessions of the crown of Portugal. The latter monarch, Emanuel, has been regarded as the greatest and best man who e.er sat on a throne. Under his wise, just and benevolent reign distress was banished from the kingdom, and his subjects rendered rich and happy. Se bastian III, fired with a holy zeal to extermi nate the infields from his country, commenced a sanguinary crusade against the Moors, which he carried on through such repeated defeats that he eventually lost both his crown and life in the struggle. With Henry the Cardinal, his uncle, an old man of 70 who died after a reign of two years, the male line terminated, after enduring for 460 years. Spain once more laid
claim to the vacant throne, and Portugal again became a dependency of the Spanish crown, the nation suffering all the injustice, exactions and tyranny usually inflicted on a conquered coun try by its haughty masters. After enduring 60 years of intolerable hardships and exactions, a Portuguese nobleman named Jahn, Duke of Braganza, pitying his unfortunate countrymen, excited a revolution, which again broke the Spanish fetters, while the people hailed their deliverer as their king, who, being crowned as John IV, commenced the dynasty of the House of Braganza, a family whose descendants still sway the destinies of Portugal. During the 18th century, as an ally of Great Britain, Por tugal became rather a commercial dependent, especially after the Methuen Treaty (q.v.) of 1703.
When Napoleon, in 1807, entered the country, and declared the family of Braganza had ceased to reign, the royal family of Portugal, con sisting of Pedro, the old king and his imbecile wife, Maria Frances Isabella, queen-regent, the prince-regent and all the court set sail from the Tagus to Brazil, transferring the capital to Rio de Janeiro. On the death of the queen-regent, John VI ascended the throne of Portugal and Brazil. After the downfall of Napoleon, the history of Portugal is composed of a long suc cession of political disturbances. The Inquisi tion introduced in 1536 was abolished in the Portuguese dominions in 1815, and the Jesuits, established in 1540 and banished in 1759, were refused admission. The Jews, at the request of the pope in 1817, were allowed the same privileges which they enjoyed in the Roman states. The absence of the court was viewed with dislike by the nation; the military were dissatisfied with the British influence of Mar shal Beresford and the general feeling required some fundamental changes in the administra tion and constitution of government. A revo lution in favor of constitutional government was effected without bloodshed (1820), and the king invited to return home. Before land ing in Portugal he swore to observe the consti tution which had been adopted. A counter revolution of the nobles and clergy was vig orously repressed by the Cortes (February 1823) ; but the queen, a Spanish infanta, who exercised great influence over her son, Dom Miguel, gained the colonels of several regi ments; a new reactionary movement was organ ized; and the Cortes, being overpowered, dis solved itself after a solemn protest on 2 June 1823. In 1822 Brazil threw off the yoke of Portugal and proclaimed Dom Pedro, son of John VI, emperor. Her independence was recognized in 1825. John VI died 10 March 1826, having named the Infanta Isabella Maria regent. She governed in the name of the Em peror of Brazil, Dom Pedro IV of Portugal, who granted a constitution with two chambers, modeled on the 23 April 1826. In May he abdicated in favor of his daughter Maria da Gloria. He imposed on her the condition of marrying her uncle Dom Miguel, who was entrusted with the government as regent ; but the Abso lutist party in Portugal set up the claim of Dom Miguel to an unlimited sovereignty and a revo lution in his favor, notwithstanding the inter vention of England placed him on the throne in 1828. In 1831 Dom Pedro resigned the Bra zilian crown and returning to Europe, with the aid of English partisans succeeded in over throwing Dom Miguel and restoring the crown to Maria in 1833. In 1836 a successful revolu tion took place in favor of the restoration of the constitution of 1820 and in 1842 another in favor of that of 1842. Maria died in 1853. Her husband, Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg, brother of Prince Albert of Britain, became regent for her son Pedro V. He placed the government on a purely constitutional basis, which was maintained by his son Pedro, who died in 1861 and by Louis I, who succeeded him and who died in 1889. The abolition of monopolies, the improvement of finances, the formation of railways and the cadastral survey of the country, are among the measures which distinguished his reign. Slavery was abolished in 1868 in the Portuguese dependencies. Carlos I ascended the throne in 1889. His reign was marked by serious colonial, financial, social and political troubles. Carlos and his oldest son were assassinated and his second son driven from the throne. A national assembly was formed and on 19 Aug. 1911 it completed and signed the constitution of the Republic of Portugal and elected a President as stated under Government. Portugal came into the World War on the side of the Entente Allies in 1916.
Bibliography.— OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS :
Estatistico de Portugal) (Lisbon, yearly) ;
de la population de Portugal and 1 er Decembre 1911> (2 vols., Lis bon 1914) ; Boletim commercial e maritimo (monthly) ; Boletim da Direccdo Geral de Ag ricultura