This is a timeline of Portuguese history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Portugal and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Portugal.
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 218 to 201 BC | The Second Punic War would bring the Roman Republic's influence to Iberia. The Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula begins. |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 197 BC | The Iberian Peninsula is divided into Hispania Ulterior (which will include all of Portugal) and Hispania Citerior. | |
| 155 BC | Resistance to the Roman conquest by the Lusitanians starts in the Lusitanian War. Punicus leads the Lusitanians resistance, while Manilius and Calpurnius Piso are the local praetors.[1] | |
| After their first victory, the Lusitanians ally themselves with the Vettones and lay siege to a Phoenician settlement, the Blastophoenicians, who are subjects of Rome. Punicus is killed during this siege and is succeeded by Caesarus.[1] | ||
| Mummius is sent to Rome and fights Caesarus.[1] | ||
| 153 BC | The Lusitanians on the other side of the Tagus were led by Caucenus and join the resistance, invading the Cunei, who were subject to Rome, and capturing Conistorgis.[1] | |
| The Lusitanians proceed to raid North Africa, laying siege to a city named Ocile. Mummius follows them into Africa, where he wins against the Lusitanians. With this victory, Mummius returns to Rome and is awarded a triumph.[1] | ||
| 152 BC | Mummius is succeeded by Marcus Atilius, who fights the Lusitanians and takes their largest city, Oxthracae. The neighbouring tribes (including the Vettones) are terrified by Marcus' successes and surrender.[1] | |
| During winter, the Lusitanians rebel again, besieging some Roman subjects. Servius Galba, the successor of Atilius, rushes to rescue them but is defeated while trying to pursue the fleeing Lusitanian forces. Galba takes refuge in a settlement called Carmone. He then reassembles his forces and winters in Conistorgis.[1] | ||
| 151 BC | Lucullus was wintering in Turditania. When he discovers that Lusitanians were nearby, he starts by attacking the nearby Lusitanians, then those crossing the straits near Gades and then sets off to invade Lusitania. Galba joins in the invasion of Lusitania.[1] | |
| 150 BC | The Lusitanians send ambassadors to Galba to renew the treaty they made with Atilius in 152 BC. Galba pretends to accepts a truce and promises them fertile land, but proceeds to slaughter the Lusitanians who come to receive land. A few Lusitanians escape, including Viriathus.[1] | |
| 148 BC | The Lusitanians attack Turdetania. Gaius Vetilius is sent to deal with the raid. Vetilius wins against the Lusitanians, who ask for peace terms. Viriathus convinces the Lusitanans to flee instead of surrendering and becomes the Lusitanian leader. Velitius follows Viriathus, but is killed and the remaining Roman army flees to Carpessus.[1] | |
| 146 BC | Viriathus raids Carpetania until Gaius Plautius Hypsaeus fights him. Gaius is defeated and Viriathus raids the country without check.[1] | |
| 145 BC | Quintus Fabius Maximus Aemilianus is sent by Rome to fight the Lusitanians.[1] | |
| 144 BC | Maximus attacks Viriathus and manages to put him into flight and capture two of his cities. Maximus pursues Viriathus into a place called Baecor, killing many of his men and failing to capture Viriathus. Maximus winters in Córdoba and then leaves to Rome, to be succeeded by Quintus Pompeius Aulus.[1] | |
| 143 BC | Viriathus managed to persuade several Celtic tribes (Arevaci, Titii, and Belli) to resist the Romans, leading to the Numantine War. Quintus winters at Córdoba in the middle of Autumn and sends Caius Marcius, a Hispanic from Italica, to fight Viriathus.[1] | |
| 142 BC | Fabius Maximus Servilianus succeeds Quintus. While fighting Viriathus, Maximus is attacked by Curius and Apuleius. Curius is killed in battle and Maximus succeeds in capturing the Lusitanian cities of Escadia, Gemella, and Obolcola. While following Viriathus, Maximus' army rested in Erisana. Viriathus manages to infiltrate the town and, in defeating Maximus' armies, asks for the end of the war.[1] | |
| 140 BC | Fabius Maximus Caepius succeeds Maximus, who wants to break the peace terms. The Senate first only allows Caepius to fight Viriathus secretly, but then decides to declare war against Viriathus. Caepius took the town of Arsa and wins a battle over Viriathus (who flees) in Carpetania. As Viriathus flees, Caepius turns against the Vettones and Callaici.[1] | |
| Viriathus sends his most trusted friends Audax, Ditalcus and Minurus to negotiate peace terms with Caepio. They are bribed by Caepius to kill Viriathus and do.[1] | ||
| After the death of Viriathus, Tautalus is elected to lead the Lusitanians. They attempt to raid Saguntum, but fail. On crossing the river Baetis on their return, they are defeated by Caepio and accept to become Rome's subjects. This marks the end of the Lusitanian War.[1] |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 80 to 72 BC | The Sertorian War takes place, with Quintus Sertorius, a Roman general, rebelling against Rome with the support of the Lusitanians. | |
| 27 BC | Augustus replaces the old Hispania Ulterior and Citerior division with a new one: Lusitania (Centre and South of modern Portugal and some territory of Modern Spain, namely the capital of Lusitania, Mérida), Baetica (only territories in Modern Spain, mostly around Seville), and everything else, including the North of Portugal. |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 293 | Diocletian reorganises the provinces of Hispania, creating some new ones. Of interest, Gallaecia is split from the Tarraconensis province. Gallaecia includes the North of Portugal (starting with Portus Cale/Oporto) and extending to the North of Spain (Galicia). Bracara Augusta (Braga) is the administrative centre of Conventus Bracarensis, one of the three conventus of Gallaecia. |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 409 | In the context of the Migration Period, the Kingdom of the Suebi is established with King Hermeric as its leader and Braga as its capital. The Kingdom includes Gallaecia and varying other parts of Portugal. During the same time, the Visigothic Kingdom expands from its original settlement in Southern France, coming to occupy most of the Iberian Peninsula that was not occupied by the Suebi. |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 552 | Emperor Justinian I, of the Byzantine Empire, establishes the province of Spania. In its greatest extent, Spania would include parts of modern-day Algarve. | |
| 585 | King Liuvigild of the Visigothic Kingdom (capital in Toletum), an Arian, conquers the Suevi Kingdom, thus controlling most of the Iberian Peninsula (and all of Portugal). |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 711 | The Umayyad conquest of Hispania begins with Tariq ibn Ziyad crossing the Gibraltar strait and entering the Visigothic Kingdom. King Roderic of the Visigoths dies in the Battle of Guadalete. By 716, most of the Iberian Peninsula is under Islamic rule. | |
| 718 or 722 | Following the Battle of Covadonga, the Visigothic nobleman Pelagius of Asturias founds the Kingdom of Asturias. He begins the Astur-Leonese dynasty. | |
| 740 | Alfonso I of Asturias conquers Galicia. | |
| 756 | Abd al-Rahman I proclaims the Emirate of Córdoba. |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 868 | Vímara Peres was created count of Portugal by Alfonso III of Asturias, king of Asturias, after conquering from the Emirate of Córdoba the Atlantic coast between the Minho and Douro rivers. | |
| 873 | Vímara died. He was succeeded as count of Portugal by his son Lucídio Vimaranes. |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 909 | Alfonso III of Asturias is deposed by his sons yet also proclaimed Emperor. | |
| 910 | Alfonso III of Asturias dies and his kingdom is divided among his sons into the dependent kingdoms of Astúrias, León and Galicia. | |
| Ordoño II becomes King of Galicia with the support of the Count of Portugal. | ||
| 911 | Count Hermenegildo Guterres of Coimbra, dies and his son Arias Mendes becomes Count of Coimbra. | |
| 912 | Abd al-Rahman III becomes the Umayyad Emir of Córdoba. | |
| 913 | An expedition commanded by Ordoño II, then vassal king of Galicia, into Muslim territory takes Évora from the Muslims. | |
| 914 | Ordoño II of Galicia, becomes King of León, after the death of his brother García I of León. | |
| The capital city of the Kingdom of Asturias is moved from Oviedo to León, from now on Kingdom of León. | ||
| 916 | Ordoño II of León is defeated by the Emir Abd al-Rahman III in Valdejunquera. | |
| 918 | Battle of Talavera where Muslims under Abd al-Rahman III defeat the Christians. | |
| Pope John X recognises the orthodoxy and legitimacy of the Visigothic Liturgy maintained in the Mozarabic rite. | ||
| 924 | Fruela II becomes King of León. | |
| 925 | Sancho Ordonhes, son of Ordoño II of León, becomes vassal king of Galicia until 929. | |
| Alfonso IV becomes King of León. | ||
| Ramiro II, son of Ordoño II of León, was the first to bear the title King of Portuguese Land. | ||
| 926 | Ramiro II takes residency in the city of Viseu. | |
| Mendo I Gonçalves, son of Count Gonzalo Betotez of Galicia) marries Mumadona Dias (daughter of count Diogo Fernandes and Onega) and becomes Count of Portugal. | ||
| The Umayyad Emir Abd al-Rahman III, faced with the threat of invasion by the Fatimids, proclaims himself Caliph of Córdoba. Under the reign of Abd al-Rahman III Muslim Al-Andalus reaches its greatest height before its slow decline over the next four centuries. | ||
| 928 | Gonçalo Moniz, grandson of Count Arias Mendes of Coimbra, becomes Count of Coimbra. | |
| 929 | Abd al-Rahman III proclaims himself Caliph in Córdoba and transforms the Emirate of Córdoba into an independent caliphate no longer under even theoretical control from Baghdad. | |
| 930 | Ramiro II leaves his residency in Viseu. | |
| 931 | Ramiro II becomes King of León. | |
| 938 | First document where the word Portugal is written in its present form. | |
| 946 | The county of Castile becomes independent. | |
| 950 | Countess Mumadona Dias of Portugal divides amongst her sons her the vast domains, upon the death of her husband Count Mendo I Gonçalves. | |
| Gonçalo I Mendes, son of Mumadona Dias and Mendo I Gonçalves, becomes Count of Portugal. | ||
| Ordoño III becomes King of León. | ||
| 953 | Big Moorish incursion in Galicia. | |
| 955 | Ordoño III of León attacks Lisbon. | |
| 956 | Sancho I becomes King of León. | |
| 958 | Sancho I of León is deposed. | |
| Ordoño IV becomes King of León. | ||
| 959 | Countess Mumadona Dias donates vast estates to the Monastery of St. Mamede in Guimarães. | |
| 960 | Sancho I of León is reinstated as King of León. | |
| 961 | Al-Hakam II becomes Umayyad Caliph of Córdoba. | |
| 962 | Count Gonçalo I Mendes of Portugal rebels against Sancho I of León. | |
| 966 | Count Gonçalo Moniz of Coimbra rebels against Sancho I of León. | |
| Vikings raid Galicia and kill the bishop of Santiago de Compostela in battle, but his successor St. Rudesind rallies the local forces and kills the Viking King Gundered. | ||
| 967 | Ramiro III becomes King of León. | |
| 968 | Countess Mumadona Dias dies. | |
| 971 | Another minor Viking raid in Galicia. | |
| 976 | Caliph Al-Hakam II dies, and Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir takes over in the name of his protégé Hisham II, becoming a military dictator usurping caliphal powers and launching a big number of offensive campaigns against the Christians. | |
| 981 | Count Gonçalo Moniz of Coimbra dies. | |
| 982 | Bermudo II becomes King of León, having been acclaimed by the Counts of Galicia and anointed in Santiago de Compostela. | |
| 987 | Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir lays waste to the now Christian Coimbra. | |
| Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir seizes the castles north of the Douro River, and arrives at the city of Santiago de Compostela. The city had been evacuated and Al-Mansur burns it to the ground and destroys the Church of Santiago. | ||
| Count Gonçalo I Mendes takes the personal title Magnus Dux Portucalensium (Grand-Duke of Portucale) and rebels against King Bermudo II of León, being defeated. | ||
| 999 | Alfonso V becomes King of León. | |
| Mendo II Gonçalves, son (or grandson?) of Gonçalo I Mendes and Tuta, becomes Count of Portugal. |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1002 | Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir dies in the village of Salem. | |
| 1003 | Moors lay waste to the city of León. | |
| 1008 | Vikings raid Galicia, killing Count Mendo II Gonçalves of Portucal. | |
| Alvito Nunes, of a collateral line but also descent of Vímara Peres, married to Countess Tudadomna, becomes Count of Portucal. | ||
| Hisham II, Umayyad Caliph of Córdoba, is deposed in a popular uprising led by Muhammad II al-Mahdi. | ||
| Mohammed II al-Mahdi becomes Umayyad Caliph of Córdoba. | ||
| 1009 | Sulaiman al-Mustain becomes Umayyad Caliph of Córdoba, after deposing Mohammed II. | |
| The Taifa (independent Moorish kingdom) of Badajoz becomes independent of the Caliph of Córdoba and governs the territory between Coimbra and North Alentejo. | ||
| 1010 | Hisham II is restored as Umayyad Caliph of Córdoba by slave troops of the Caliphate under al-Wahdid. | |
| 1012 | Sulaiman al-Mustain is restored as Umayyad Caliph of Córdoba by the Berber armies. | |
| 1013 | Caliphate of Córdoba begins to break up. Berber troops take Córdoba with much plundering and destruction and kill the deposed Hisham II. Many Taifas (independent Moorish kingdoms) begin to spring up. | |
| 1016 | Norman invaders ascend the Minho river and destroy Tuy in Galicia. | |
| 1017 | Nuno I Alvites, son of Alvito Nunes and Tudadomna, becomes Count of Portugal. He marries Ilduara Mendes, daughter of Mendo II Gonçalves and Tuta. | |
| 1018 | The Taifa of the Algarve becomes independent. | |
| 1021 | Abd-ar-Rahman IV becomes Umayyad Caliph of Córdoba. | |
| 1022 | Abd-ar-Rahman V becomes Umayyad Caliph of Córdoba. | |
| The Taifa (independent Moorish kingdom) of Lisbon emerges. It will be annexed by the Taifa of Badajoz. | ||
| 1023 | Muhammad III becomes Umayyad Caliph of Córdoba. | |
| 1025 | Abu al-Qasim Muhammad ibn Abbad, Abbadid Emir of Seville, captures two castles at Alafões to the north-west of Viseu. | |
| 1027 | Hisham III becomes Umayyad Caliph of Córdoba. | |
| 1028 | Mendo III Nunes, son of Nuno I Alvites and Ilduara Mendes, becomes Count of Portugal. | |
| 7 August | Alfonso V, king of Asturias and León, lays siege to the Muslim town of Viseu but is killed by a bolt from the walls. | |
| Bermudo III, becomes King of León. | ||
| 1031 | Sancho III of Navarre declares war on Bermudo III of León. Navarre, sometimes assisted by Galician rebels and Normans, ravages the lands around Lugo in Galicia. | |
| The Moorish Caliphate of Córdoba falls. | ||
| 1033 | The Taifa (independent Moorish kingdom) of Mértola becomes independent. | |
| 1034 | The Leonese destroy a raiding force under Ismail ibn Abbad of Seville. Ismail ibn Abbad flees to Lisbon. | |
| Gonçalo Trastemires – a Portuguese frontiersman – captures Montemor castle on the Mondego river. | ||
| Sancho the Great of Navarre had incorporated Aragon, Sobrarbe, Barcelona, as well as Asturias, León and Castile, and he proclaims himself Rex Hispaniarum ("King of all Spains"). | ||
| 1035 | Sancho III of Navarre, Aragon and Castile dies and distributes his lands among his three sons; Castile and Aragon become kingdoms. | |
| Bermudo III of León defeats the Moors in César, in the Aveiro region. | ||
| 1037 | Ferdinand of Castile, son of Sancho III of Navarre, acquires the Kingdom of León in the Battle of Tamarón. The first Castilian king, Ferdinand I, defeats and kills his father-in-law, Bermudo III of León, thus inheriting his kingdom. With Bermudo III's death, the Astur-Leonese dynasty ends and is replaced by the Jiménez dynasty. | |
| 1039 | Ferdinand I of Castille-León proclaims himself Emperor of all Hispania. | |
| 1040 | The Taifa of Silves becomes independent. | |
| 1044 | Abbad III al-Mu'tamid, son of the Abbadid Emir of Seville Abbad II al-Mu'tadid, retakes Mértola, since 1033 an independent Taifa. | |
| 1050 | Count Mendo III Nunes of Portugal is killed in battle sometime during this period. | |
| Nuno II Mendes, son of Count Mendo III Nunes, becomes Count of Portugal. | ||
| 1051 | The Taifa of the Algarve is annexed by the Taifa of Seville. | |
| 1056 | The Almoravides (al-Murabitun) Dynasty begins its rise to power. Taking the name "those who line up in defence of the faith", this is a group of fundamentalist Berber Muslims who would rule North Africa and Islamic Iberia until 1147. | |
| 1057 | Ferdinand I of Castille-León conquers Lamego to the Moors. | |
| 1058 | Emir Al-Muzaffar al-Aftas (Abu Bekr Muhammad al-Mudaffar – Modafar I of Badajoz, Aftid dynasty) pays the Christians to leave Badajoz, but not before Viseu being conquered by Ferdinand I of Castile-León. | |
| 1060 | Council (Ecumenical Synod) of Santiago de Compostela. (to 1063) | |
| 1063 | Ferdinand I of Castile-León divides his kingdom among his sons. Galicia is allotted to his son Garcia. | |
| The Taifa of Silves is annexed by the Taifa of Seville. | ||
| 1064 | Ferdinand I of León-Castile besieges Muslim Coimbra from 20 January until 9 July . The Muslim governor who surrendered is allowed to leave with his family, but 5,000 inhabitants are taken captive, and all Muslims are forced out of Portuguese territory across the Mondego river. | |
| The Mozarabic (Christian) general Sisnando Davides, who led the siege of Coimbra, becomes Count of Coimbra. | ||
| The Hispanic calendar[clarification needed] is adopted. | ||
| 1065 | Independence of the Kingdom of Galicia and Portugal is proclaimed under the rule of Garcia II of Galicia. | |
| 1070 | Count Nuno II Mendes of Portugal rises against King Garcia II of Galicia. | |
| 1071 | Garcia II of Galicia became the first to use the title King of Portugal, when he defeated, in the Battle of Pedroso (near Braga), Count Nuno II Mendes, last count of Portugal of the Vímara Peres House. | |
| 1072 | Loss of independence of the Kingdom of Galicia and Portugal, forcibly reannexed by Garcia's brother king Alfonso VI of Castile. From that time on Galicia remained part of the Kingdoms of Castile and León, although under differing degrees of self-government. Even if it did not last for very long, the Kingdom set the stage for future Portuguese independence under Henry, Count of Portugal. | |
| 1077 | Alfonso VI of Castile and León proclaims himself Emperor of all Spains. | |
| 1080 | Coimbra is again a diocese. | |
| Count Sisnando Davides of Coimbra takes part in the invasion of Granada. | ||
| 1085 | The Order of Cluny is established in Portugal. (to 1096) | |
| 1086 | Several Muslim Emirs (namely Abbad III al-Mu'tamid) ask the Almoravids leader Yusuf ibn Tashfin for help against Alfonso VI of Castile. In this year Yusuf ibn Tashfin passed the straits to Algeciras and inflicted a severe defeat on the Christians at the Battle of az-Zallaqah (North of Badajoz). He was debarred from following up his victory by trouble in North Africa which he had to settle in person. | |
| Raymond of Burgundy, son of William I, Count of Burgundy, comes to Iberia for the 1st time to fight against the Moors, bringing with him his younger cousin Henry of Burgundy, grandson of Robert I, Duke of Burgundy. | ||
| 1090 | Almoravid Yusuf ibn Tashfin return to Iberia and conquers all the Taifas. | |
| Raymond of Burgundy and Henry of Burgundy come to Iberia for the 2nd time. | ||
| 1091 | Count Sisnando Davides of Coimbra dies. | |
| Alfonso VI of Castile gives her daughter Urraca of Castile in marriage to Raymond of Burgundy together with the fiefdom of Galicia. | ||
| The Taifa of Mértola falls to the Almoravids. | ||
| 1093 | Raymond of Burgundy and Henry of Burgundy sign a treaty whereby Henry promises to recognise Raymond as king upon the death of Alfonso VI of Castile, receiving in exchange the Kingdom of Toledo or of Portugal. | |
| 1094 | Alfonso VI of Castile grants Raymond of Burgundy the government of Portugal and Coimbra. | |
| Henry of Burgundy marries Alfonso VI of Castile's illegitimate daughter Teresa of León. | ||
| Almoravid Sir ibn Abi Bakr takes Badajoz and Lisbon. Fall of the Taifa of Badajoz. | ||
| 1095 | Establishment of the 2nd County of Portugal (Condado Portucalense), by Count Henry of Burgundy. | |
| The Almoravids take Santarém. | ||
| 1097 | Yusuf ibn Tashfin assumes the title of Amir al Muslimin (Prince of the Muslims). |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1102 | Diego Gemírez, Bishop of Santiago de Compostela, uses force to carry off the relics of St. Victor and St. Fructuosus of Dumes from Braga – recently reinstated as a Metropolitan See. | |
| 1103 | In the absence of Henry, Count of Portugal in Rome or Jerusalem, Theresa, Countess of Portugal, aided by Soeiro Mendes, governs Portugal. | |
| 1105 | The Almohads, founded by Ibn Tumart, began as a religious movement to rid Islam of impurities. Most specifically, the Almohades were opposed to anthropomorphisms which had slipped into Iberian Islam. Ibn Tumart's successor, Abd al-Mu'min, turned the movement against non-Muslims, specifically Jews and Christians. Sweeping across North Africa and into Muslim Iberia, the Almohads initiate riots and persecutions of both Muslims and non-Muslims. In some towns Jews and Christians are given the choice of conversion, exile, or death. | |
| 1107 | Count Raymond of Burgundy dies. The Kingdom of Galicia passes on to his son Alfonso Raimúndez. | |
| 1109 | 1 July | Alfonso VI of Castile and León dies. Urraca of Castile, Count Raymond of Burgundy's widow, is his only surviving legitimate child and marries King Alfonso I of Aragon. |
| 25 July | Afonso Henriques, son of Henry, Count of Portugal, is born in the city of Guimarães. | |
| 1110 | Henry, Count of Portugal unsuccessfully besieges King Alfonso I of Aragon in Penafiel. | |
| Urraca of Castile distances herself from her husband Alfonso I of Aragon accusing him of being abusive and infertile. | ||
| Henry, Count of Portugal makes common party with Alfonso I of Aragon against Urraca of Castile. | ||
| 1111 | Almoravids led by Sir ibn Abi Bakr occupy Lisbon and Santarém in the west. These cities were occupied by the Almoravids in 1094–95 this suggests a fluctuating border in Portugal. | |
| Conference of Palencia, where Urraca of Castile divides her estates with Henry, Count of Portugal and his wife and her sister Theresa. | ||
| Urraca of Castile makes peace with her husband Alfonso I of Aragon, even though they remain separated. | ||
| Henry, Count of Portugal, believing Urraca of Castile has betrayed him, besieges her and her husband Alfonso I of Aragon in Sahagún, aided by Urraca's son Alfonso Raimúndez. | ||
| Henry, Count of Portugal grants city rights and privileges to Coimbra and captures Santarém from the Moors. | ||
| Alfonso Raimúndez, Raymond of Burgundy and Urraca of Castile's son, is proclaimed King of Castile and León as Alfonso VII. This is not recognised. | ||
| 1112 | Henry, Count of Portugal dies. His son Afonso Henriques inherits the County of Portugal, but, being too young, it's his mother, Theresa, Countess of Portugal, that governs the county after her husband's death with the title of Regina (Queen). Santarém recaptured by the Moors. | |
| 1114 | The marriage between Urraca of Castile and Alfonso I of Aragon is annulled. | |
| The Taifa of Beja and Évora becomes independent. | ||
| 1116 | The armies of Theresa, Countess of Portugal battle against the armies of Urraca of Castile. | |
| 1117 | Almoravids under Emir Ali ibn Yusuf himself take Coimbra, but abandon the city after a few days. | |
| 1120 | Afonso Henriques takes sides with the Bishop of Braga against his mother Theresa, Countess of Portugal and her lover, the Count Fernando Peres de Trava of Galicia | |
| The armies of Theresa, Countess of Portugal battle against the armies of Urraca of Castile. | ||
| 1121 | Alfonso Raimúndez comes into Portugal in a mission of sovereignty with his mother Urraca of Castile. Their armies capture Theresa, Countess of Portugal at Lanhoso, that accepts to go free and hold the County of Portugal as a fief of the Kingdom of León. | |
| 1122 | Afonso Henriques, aged 14, makes himself a Knight on his own account in the Cathedral of Zamora. | |
| 1126 | Urraca of Castile dies. Her son Alfonso Raimúndez finally becomes King Alfonso VII of Castile and León. | |
| 1127 | Theresa, Countess of Portugal donates Vimieiro to the Order of Cluny | |
| The Kingdom of León invades Portugal and besieges Guimarães. The Portuguese Knight Egas Moniz de Ribadouro manages to make King Alfonso VII of Castile and León accept promises' of Portuguese fealty. | ||
| 1128 | Theresa, Countess of Portugal donates Soure to the Knights Templar. | |
| 24 July | Count Afonso Henriques defeats his mother, Theresa, Countess of Portugal, in the Battle of São Mamede (near Guimarães) and becomes sole ruler (Dux – Duke) after demands for independence from the county's people, church and nobles. | |
| 1129 | 6 April | Afonso Henriques proclaims himself Prince of Portugal. |
| 1130 | Prince Afonso Henriques invades Galicia. | |
| Prince Afonso Henriques' mother, Theresa, Countess of Portugal, dies in Galicia. | ||
| The Knights Hospitaller install themselves in Portugal. | ||
| 1135 | Prince Afonso Henriques conquers Leiria from the Moors. | |
| King Alfonso VII of Castile and León is proclaimed Imperator totius Hispaniae. | ||
| 1137 | Battle of Arcos de Valdevez | |
| Peace treaty of Tui, whereby Prince Afonso Henriques acknowledges himself as vassal to King Alfonso VII of Castile and León, through the possession of Astorga. | ||
| Prince Afonso I of Portugal tries and fails to conquer Lisbon from the Moors. | ||
| The Moors retake Leiria. | ||
| 1139 | King Afonso I of Portugal assembles the first assembly of the estates-general of Portugal at Lamego, where he was given the Crown from the Bishop of Braga, to confirm the independence. | |
| King Afonso I of Portugal retakes Leiria from the Moors. | ||
| 25 July | Independence of Portugal from the Kingdom of León declared after the Battle of Ourique against the Almoravids led by Ali ibn Yusuf: Prince Afonso Henriques becomes Afonso I, King of Portugal. | |
| 1140 | The Knights Hospitaller receive lands and privileges from King Afonso I of Portugal. | |
| Portuguese victory in the Battle of Valdevez against Leonese and Castilian forces. | ||
| King Afonso I of Portugal tries and fails to conquer Lisbon from the Moors. | ||
| The Moors retake Leiria. | ||
| 1142 | King Afonso I of Portugal retakes Leiria from the Moors and the town receives its foral (compilation of feudal rights) to stimulate the colonisation of the area. | |
| 1143 | Treaty of Zamora: Alfonso VII of León and Castille recognises the Kingdom of Portugal in the presence of King Afonso I of Portugal, witnessed by the papal representative, the Cardinal Guido de Vico, at the Cathedral of Zamora. Both kings promise durable peace between their kingdoms. | |
| King Afonso I of Portugal declares himself vassal to Pope Innocent II, placing the Kingdom of Portugal and himself under the protection of Saint Peter and the Holy See. | ||
| 1144 | The Muridun ("Disciples") under Abul-Qasim Ahmad ibn al-Husayn al-Qasi rebel in the Algarve. Ibn al-Mundhir takes Silves in his name and the governor of Beja, Sidray ibn Wazir, also supports him. Ibn al-Mundhir and Sidray ibn Wazir kill the garrison of Monchique castle, and 70 men take Mértola by surprise (12 Aug). Soon after the Andalusian governor of Niebla, Yusuf ibn Ahmad al-Bitruji declares for the Muridun. The Almoravid Yahya ibn Ali ibn Ghaniya drives the Muridun back from Seville, and subsequently Sidray ibn Wazir splits off from the other Muridun. | |
| The Taifa of Mértola and of Silves again become independent. | ||
| The Order of Cistercians installs itself in Portugal, at Tarouca. | ||
| 1145 | The Taifa of Badajoz again becomes independent and conquers the Taifa of Mértola. | |
| 1146 | The Taifa of Mértola gains independence from Badajoz. | |
| King Afonso I of Portugal marries Mafalda of Savoy, daughter of Amadeus III, Count of Savoy and Maurienne. | ||
| 1147 | The towns of Almada and Palmela, just south of Lisbon, are taken from the Moors. | |
| King Afonso I of Portugal orders the construction of the church and monastery of Church of São Vicente de Fora (St. Vincent outside the Walls), in Lisbon, in honour of St. Vincent the Deacon. | ||
| 15 March | King Afonso I of Portugal takes Santarém in a surprise attack. | |
| 19 May | A fleet of almost 200 ships of crusaders (Second Crusade) leaves from Dartmouth in England, consisting of Flemish, Frisian, Norman, English, Scottish, and some German crusaders. The fleet was commanded by Arnold III of Aerschot (nephew of Godfrey of Louvain) Christian of Ghistelles, Henry Glanville (constable of Suffolk), Simon of Dover, Andrew of London, and Saher of Archelle. | |
| 16 June | The crusaders fleet arrives at the northern city of Porto, and are convinced by the bishop, Pedro II Pitões, to continue to Lisbon. | |
| 1 July | The Siege of Lisbon begins, after the armies of King Afonso I of Portugal were joined by the crusaders. | |
| 21 October | The Moorish rulers of Lisbon agree to surrender to King Afonso I of Portugal, basically due to the hunger that was felt inside the city walls. The terms of surrender indicated that the Muslim garrison of the city would be allowed to flee. | |
| 25 October | The city of Lisbon opens its doors to the Christian armies. As soon as the Christians enter the city the terms of surrender were broken. Many Muslims were killed, and the city was thoroughly plundered before King Afonso I of Portugal finally was able to stop the onslaught. | |
| 1148 | Some of the crusaders that had helped King Afonso I of Portugal conquer Lisbon settle in the newly captured city, and Gilbert of Hastings is elected bishop of the renovated Diocese of Lisbon, but most of the crusaders' fleet continues to the east. | |
| 1149 | A new Berber dynasty, the Almohad, led by Emir Abd al-Mu'min al-Kumi conquers North Africa to the Almoravids and soon invades the Iberian Peninsula. | |
| 1150 | The Taifas of Badajoz and of Beja and Évora are taken by the Almohads. | |
| 1151 | King Afonso I of Portugal tries and fails to take Alcácer do Sal from the Moors. | |
| The Taifa of Mértola is taken by the Almohads. | ||
| 1152 | The Cistercians build the Monastery of St. John in Tarouca. | |
| 1153 | The Cistercians build the Monastery of Alcobaça. | |
| 1154 | Sancho, son of King Afonso I of Portugal and future King of Portugal is born. | |
| 1155 | The Taifa of Silves is taken by the Almohads. | |
| 1158 | King Afonso I of Portugal conquers Alcácer do Sal from the Moors. | |
| 1159 | The Castle of Cera (in Tomar) is donated to the Knights Templar. | |
| Évora and Beja, in the southern province of Alentejo, are taken from the Moors. | ||
| 1160 | The city of Tomar is founded by Gualdim Pais. | |
| 1161 | Évora, Beja and Alcácer do Sal are retaken by the Moors. | |
| 1162 | King Afonso I of Portugal retakes Beja from the Moors. | |
| 1163 | The Almohad Caliph Abd al-Mu'min al-Kumi dies and is succeeded by Abu Ya'qub Yusuf I. | |
| 1165 | The Portuguese armies, led by Gerald the Fearless, retake Évora from the Moors. | |
| Negotiations between Portugal and León result in the marriage of Princess Urraca of Portugal, King Afonso I's daughter, with King Ferdinand II of León. | ||
| 1166 | The Portuguese armies take Serpa and Moura (in Alentejo) from the Moors. | |
| 1168 | Portuguese frontiersman Gerald the Fearless goes into the territory of Badajoz. | |
| 1169 | King Afonso I of Portugal grants the Knights Templar one third of all they conquer to the Moors in Alentejo. | |
| Gerald the Fearless seizes Badajoz from the Almohads. | ||
| King Afonso I of Portugal is wounded by a fall from his horse in Badajoz, and is captured by the competing forces of King Ferdinand II of León. As ransom King Afonso I was obliged to surrender almost all the conquests he had made in Galicia in the previous years as well as Badajoz, that the Leonese gave back to the Almohads as a vassal territory. | ||
| 1170 | The Almohads transfer their capital to Seville. | |
| 1174 | The Crown of Aragon recognises Portugal as independent. | |
| 1175 | Beja recaptured by Almohads. | |
| 1179 | Pope Alexander III, in the Papal bull Manifestis Probatum, recognises Afonso I as King and Portugal as an independent country with the right to conquer lands from the Moors. With this papal blessing, Portugal was at last secured as a country and safe from any Leonese or Castilian attempts of annexation. | |
| King Ferdinand II of León repudiates his wife, Urraca of Portugal, King Afonso I's daughter. | ||
| 1184 | The Portuguese defeat the Almohads at Santarém. | |
| Yusuf I, Almohad Caliph, dies and is succeeded by Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur. | ||
| 1185 | Sancho I of Portugal becomes King of Portugal. | |
| Sancho I of Portugal founds several new towns and villages and takes great care in populating remote areas in the northern Christian regions of Portugal, notably with Flemings and Burgundians. (to 1212) | ||
| 6 December | King Afonso I of Portugal dies. | |
| 1199 | The Almohad Caliph Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur dies and is succeeded by Muhammad an-Nasir. |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1211 | Afonso II of Portugal becomes king. | |
| 1212 | Culmination of the Reconquista. Christians, amongst them the troops of King Afonso II of Portugal, defeat Almohads (Caliph Muhammad an-Nasir) at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. The Christians had 60–100,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry, and had troops from Western Europe, Castile, Navarre, Aragon, León and Portugal, Military Orders (Knights Templar, Knights Hospitaller, Santiago, Cavatrava), and urban Militias. | |
| 1213 | Abu Ya'qub Yusuf II becomes Almohad Caliph. | |
| 1217 | Siege of Alcácer do Sal. City captured by the Portuguese. | |
| 1223 | Sancho II of Portugal becomes king. | |
| 1236 | Portugal captures most of the Algarve. | |
| 1246 | Pope Innocent IV declares Sancho II an heretic and orders his removal of the throne. | |
| 1247 | Afonso III of Portugal becomes king; Sancho II is exiled to Toledo. | |
| 1254 | First official reunion of the Cortes, the kingdom's general assembly. | |
| 1255 | The city of Lisbon becomes the capital-city of Portugal. | |
| 1272 | Afonso III conquers Faro from the Moors, thus removing all Muslim communities from Portuguese soil and ending the Portuguese Reconquista. | |
| 1276 | John XXI becomes the first and only Portuguese Pope (died 1277). | |
| 1279 | Dinis of Portugal becomes king. | |
| 1290 | 1 March | Creation of the Estudo Geral (General Study) in Coimbra, the first Portuguese University, with the Faculties of Arts, Canons, Laws and Medicine, and later confirmed by Pope Nicholas IV.[2] |
| 1297 | Dinis signs the Treaty of Alcanizes with Ferdinand IV of Castile to define the borders between Portugal and Castile. |
|
Further information: Timeline of Portuguese history (Second Dynasty) |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1308 | First Portuguese commercial treaty, signed with England. | |
| The General Study is transferred to Coimbra.[2] | ||
| 1319–1324 | Civil War between D. Dinis and D. Afonso IV (Sotto Mayor Pizarro 1997, p. 190, Vol. I) | |
| 1325 | Afonso IV of Portugal becomes king. | |
| 1341 | Portugal raids the Canary Islands. | |
| 1355 | Inês de Castro is killed by royal order; begins civil war between Afonso IV and his heir Pedro. | |
| 1357 | Pedro I of Portugal becomes king; Inês de Castro is removed from her grave and crowned Queen of Portugal. | |
| 1367 | Fernando I of Portugal becomes king. | |
| 1383 | Civil war and political anarchy: 1383-1385 Crisis. (to 1385) | |
| 1385 | April | João I of Portugal acclaimed king by the Portuguese; Castilians do not accept this claim. |
| 14 August | Battle of Aljubarrota: João I defeats the Castilians and secures the throne. | |
| 1386 | 9 May | Treaty of Windsor, an alliance between England and Portugal, the oldest Portuguese diplomatic agreement and the oldest diplomatic alliance in the world still in force.[3] As a result, in 1387, Joao I marries, Phillipa, daughter of John of Gaunt, third son of King Edward III of England |
| 1394 | Henry the Navigator, son of king João I of Portugal, is born. |
|
Further information: Timeline of Portuguese history (Second Dynasty) |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1415 | João I conquers the city of Ceuta in northern Africa. | |
| 1419 | Madeira Islands discovered by João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira. | |
| 1427 | Azores Islands discovered by Diogo Silves. | |
| 1433 | Duarte of Portugal becomes king. | |
| 1434 | Gil Eanes crosses the Bojador Cape: exploration of the African coast begins. | |
| 1438 | Afonso V of Portugal becomes king. | |
| 1456 | Discovery of Cape Verde islands. (Settled 1462.) | |
| 1470 | Discovery of São Tomé island. | |
| 1471 | Discovery of Príncipe island. | |
| 1481 | João II of Portugal becomes king. | |
| 1483 | João II executes Fernando, the third Duke of Braganza, and Diogo, the Duke of Viseu, putting an end to high nobility conspiracies. | |
| 1484 | Diogo Cão discovers the Congo river. | |
| 1491 | Bartolomeu Dias becomes the first European to cross the Cape of Good Hope. | |
| 1494 | The Treaty of Tordesillas signed between Spain and Portugal, dividing the colonisable world in two halves. | |
| 1495 | Manuel I of Portugal becomes king. | |
| 1498 | Vasco da Gama reaches India through navigation around Africa. | |
| 1500 | Diogo Dias discovered an island they named after St Lawrence after the saint on whose feast day they had first sighted the island later known as Madagascar. | |
| Manuel I orders expulsion or conversion of the Portuguese Jews. | ||
| Gaspar Corte-Real made his first voyage to Newfoundland, formerly known as Terras Corte-Real.[4][5] | ||
| 22 April | Pedro Álvares Cabral discovers Brazil. |
|
Further information: Timeline of Portuguese history (Second Dynasty) |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1502 | Miguel Corte-Real set out for New England in search of his brother, Gaspar. | |
| João da Nova discovered Ascension Island. | ||
| Fernão de Noronha discovered the island which still bears his name. | ||
| 1503 | On his return from the East, Estêvão da Gama discovered Saint Helena Island. | |
| 1505 | Francisco de Almeida "the Great" appointed 1st Viceroy of India, arriving in Cochin in the same year at the head of the 7th Portuguese Indian Armada. | |
| 1506 | Tristão da Cunha discovered the island that bears his name. Portuguese sailors landed on Madagascar. | |
| The Lisbon Massacre. | ||
| 1509 | The Gulf of Bengal crossed by Diogo Lopes de Sequeira. On the crossing he also reached Malacca. | |
| Francisco de Almeida becomes the first Portuguese to arrive in Bombay by sea, seeking to avenge the death of his son. | ||
| 3 February | At the naval Battle of Diu, Francisco de Almeida inflicts a decisive victory on the Mamlûk Burji Sultanate of Egypt, the Ottoman Empire, the Zamorin of Calicut, and the Sultan of Gujarat, ridding the Indian Ocean of Egyptians and Ottomans and giving Portugal a monopoly of the sea route to Indian for almost 150 years. | |
| 1510 | Conquest of Goa by Afonso de Albuquerque, Governor of India. | |
| 1511 | Conquest of Malacca by Afonso de Albuquerque. | |
| 1512 | António de Abreu reaches Timor island and the Banda Islands, Ambon Island and Seram. Francisco Serrão reaches the Maluku Islands. | |
| 1513 | The first European trading ship to touch the coasts of China, under Jorge Álvares and Rafael Perestrello later in the same year. | |
| 1515 | Afonso de Albuquerque captures the Kingdom of Hormuz. | |
| 1517 | Fernão Pires de Andrade and Tomé Pires were chosen by Manuel I of Portugal to sail to China to formally open relations between the Portuguese Empire and the Ming Dynasty during the reign of the Zhengde Emperor. | |
| 1521 | João III of Portugal becomes king. | |
| António Correia captures Bahrain, which is under Portuguese rule until 1602. | ||
| 1526 | Jorge de Meneses reaches New Guinea for the first time. | |
| 1537 | After moving back and forth between Lisbon and Coimbra in the last two centuries, the General Study is definitely established in the latter.[2] | |
| 1543 | Portuguese explorers Fernão Mendes Pinto, Francisco Zeimoto and António Mota are the first Europeans to land in Japan. | |
| 1557 | Macau given to Portugal by the Emperor of China as a reward for services rendered against the pirates who infested the South China Sea. | |
| Sebastião of Portugal becomes king. | ||
| 1568 | King Sebastião of Portugal comes of age and takes control of government. | |
| 1569 | Plague epidemic in Portugal. 60,000 people die in Lisbon alone. | |
| Nagasaki is opened to Portuguese traders. | ||
| 1570 | Luís de Camões returns to Lisbon from the Orient. | |
| Goa, in Portuguese India, is attacked by a coalition of Indian forces, but these are defeated by Portuguese Vice-Roy Luís de Ataíde, Count of Atouguia. | ||
| 1572 | The first edition of the epic poem The Lusiads is published.[6] | |
| 1578 | Portuguese troops utterly defeated in Africa, in the battle of Alcácer Quibir; king Sebastião disappears in the battle never to be seen again. | |
| Cardinal Henrique I of Portugal becomes king. | ||
| 1579 | Cortes in Lisbon. | |
| 1580 | Cortes in Almeirim. | |
| King Cardinal Henrique I of Portugal dies. | ||
| Invasion of Portugal by a Spanish army commanded by Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba. | ||
| Battle of Alcântara between Portuguese and Spanish forces. | ||
| The Fortress of St. Julian, in Lisbon, surrenders to the Spanish. | ||
| Anthony of Portugal, the Prior of Crato, is acclaimed King of Portugal in Santarém. | ||
| Death of Luís de Camões, Portugal's national poet.[7] | ||
| Beginning of the Cortes (General Assembly of the Kingdom) of Tomar. | ||
| 1581 | Philip II of Spain is acclaimed in the Cortes of Tomar as King Philip I of Portugal in a personal union of the Crowns. Portugal loses de facto independence to Spain. | |
| Anthony of Portugal, the Prior of Crato, takes refuge in England. | ||
| The Azores refuse to recognise Philip I of Portugal as King. | ||
| 1582 | The Spanish Fleet of Santa Cruz defeats the Portuguese-French Fleet of Strozzi in the Azores. | |
| Introduction of the Gregorian Calendar in Portugal. | ||
| 1583 | Cortes in Lisbon. | |
| King Philip I of Portugal departs for Madrid and leaves the government of Portugal with Portuguese trustees. | ||
| The Azores are submitted. | ||
| Francis Drake attacks the Portuguese colony of Brazil. | ||
| 1589 | Anthony of Portugal, the Prior of Crato, attacks Lisbon with English aid, but with no success. | |
| 1595 | Anthony of Portugal, the Prior of Crato, dies in Paris. | |
| 1598 | Philip III of Spain becomes Philip II of Portugal. |
|
Further information: Timeline of Portuguese history (Fourth Dynasty) |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1621 | Philip IV of Spain becomes Philip III of Portugal. | |
| 1640 | 1 December | A small group of conspirators storms the Palace in Lisbon and deposes the Vicereine of Portugal, Margaret of Savoy. The Duke of Bragança, head of the senior family of the Portuguese nobility (and descended from a bastard of João I), accepts the throne as Dom João IV of Portugal, despite deep personal reluctance, by popular acclaim and at the urging of his wife. His entire reign will be dominated by the struggle to maintain independence from Spain. Francisco de Lucena, secretary to the governing council of Portugal for the past 36 years and thus the most experienced bureaucrat in the country, smoothly changes his loyalties and becomes chief minister of the restored monarchy. |
| 1641 | The Portuguese Inquisition attempts to derail the national restoration by giving its support to a counter-revolution mounted by a duke, a marquis, three earls and an archbishop. The plot fails, quelled by Francisco de Lucena, who has the ringleaders executed, but it initiates a 28-year-long war against Spain punctuated by frequent internal threats to the stability of the new regime. Meanwhile, the Dutch renew their attack on Angola and capture the most extensive Portuguese slaving grounds in Africa, including the Angolan port of Luanda. The Portuguese garrison flees upriver while trying to decide whether to declare continuing loyalty to the Habsburgs, accept Dutch rule or declare for João IV. They choose the House of Bragança and appeal to the Portuguese colony of Brazil for help in fending off African and Dutch attacks on their enclave. Salvador de Sá, leader of Rio de Janeiro, persuaded by the Jesuits in Brazil, also declares for King João and responds to the Angolan appeal. | |
| 1644 | Elvas withstands a nine-day siege by Spanish troops. | |
| 1648 | The Portuguese from Brazil under Salvador de Sá land in Angola, expel the Dutch and restore the African colony to Portugal. | |
| 1654 | Anglo-Portuguese treaty between João IV and Oliver Cromwell signed at Westminster. João agrees to prevent the molestation of the traders of the English Protector; they are allowed to use their own bible and bury their dead according to Protestant rites on Catholic soil. The Portuguese in Brazil drive the Dutch out of the great plantation colonies of the north-east, re-establishing the territorial integrity of Portugal's South American empire. | |
| 1656 | Death of João IV after a reign of 15 years. His Queen now reigns as Regent for their son, Afonso VI of Portugal. She seeks an accommodation with Spain. Portugal loses control of Colombo in Portuguese Ceylon when it is captured by the Dutch. | |
| 1659 | The Treaty of the Pyrenees ends Spain's long war with France, and Spanish troops are freed once more to suppress the Portuguese 'rebellion'. The Spaniards besiege Monção and are driven off by the Countess of Castelo Melhor. | |
| 1660 | On the restoration of Charles II in Britain, the Queen-Regent re-negotiates the treaty of 1654. Portugal is allowed to recruit soldiers and horses in England for the fight against Spain; and to seek out 4,000 fighting men in Scotland and Ireland and charter 24 English ships to carry them. The expeditionary force is to be issued with English weapons on arrival in Portugal and guaranteed religious freedom of worship. | |
| 1661 | Catarina da Bragança, sister of Afonso VI, marries Charles II of Great Britain on 31 May. She brings to London a dowry of 2,000,000 gold pieces, the practice of drinking afternoon tea, and England is given colonial toe-holds in the Portuguese Empire at Tangier and Bombay. Servicing the wedding debt burdens the Portuguese exchequer for the next half-century, and this marriage with a Protestant monarch is deeply unpopular with that section of the Portuguese nobility which favours alliance with France. | |
| 1662 | In a palace coup d’etat in Lisbon a restive younger faction of the nobility, supported by the young Afonso VI, overthrows the Queen Regent and installs the 26-year-old Count of Castelo Melhor as 'dictator' to prosecute the war with Spain. The adolescent king is married to a French princess and the young dictator models his government on the royal absolutism of the Bourbon dynasty. Opposition to this pro-French absolutism (from the King's sister the Queen of England, and his younger brother Prince Pedro) is swept aside, and Castelo Melhor initiates the final, successful phase of the Portuguese war of restoration with the aid of the Franco-German Marshal Schomberg, who brilliantly commands an international mercenary army against the Spanish forces. | |
| 1665 | 17 June | Portugal is victorious at the decisive Battle of Montes Claros, in which António Luís de Menezes defeats the Spanish army under the Prince of Parma; Spain ceases to make war, but peace will not be signed for another three years. |
| 1667 | Castelo Melhor and his Francophile party are overthrown in a new palace revolution. Prince Pedro, leader of the Anglophile party, becomes Regent for Afonso VI, who is declared incapable of governing and removed to the Azores. The French alliance is rejected, though Pedro shores up his political position by marrying his brother's estranged Queen. Castelo Melhor flees into exile (ironically, to England). | |
| 1668 | Peace treaty with Spain ends nearly 30 years of war. Portugal keeps all his possessions and territory with the exception of Ceuta in Morocco, which is ceded to Spain. Portugal remains economically weak, however, agriculturally undeveloped and dependent on British grain and trade goods generally, especially woven cloth. The Count of Ericeira, economic adviser to the Prince Regent, advocates the development of a native textile industry modelled on Flemish lines. 'Factories' are established at Covilhã with easy access to flocks of sheep and clean mountain water, but are highly unpopular with both town consumers and traditional weavers. Meanwhile, Portuguese attempts to develop a silk industry are fiercely resisted by the French, who wish to monopolise that market. | |
| 1683 | Death of Afonso VI. Pedro II of Portugal becomes king. | |
| 1690 | Suicide of Luís de Meneses, Count of Ericeira. | |
| 1692 | Great drought disrupts Portuguese silk production. | |
| 1697 | Discovery of gold in the interior of São Paulo province, Brazil. | |
| 1700 | Brazil now producing 50,000 ounces of gold per year. |
|
Further information: Timeline of Portuguese history (Fourth Dynasty) |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1703 | Sir John Methuen negotiates a Military Treaty with Portugal on 16 May, giving Britain an entry to Portugal at a time when the Bourbon dynastic alliance of France and Spain appears to threaten English access to the Continent. This is followed on 27 December by the commercial Methuen Treaty, signed to stimulate trade with Britain. This (which lasts until 1810) opens up new markets for Portuguese wine but helps to destroy the native textile industry by letting in British cloth at preferential rates. The fashion for Portuguese wine in Britain (which has banned the import of French wine due to the War of the Spanish Succession, which will last until 1714) makes the wine trade so profitable and competitive that over the next 40 years inferior wines, often adulterated and artificially coloured are passed off as the genuine article – giving 'port' a bad name. | |
| 1705 | Brazil is now producing 600,000 ounces of gold per year. For the second time in its history, Portugal controls one of the greatest gold-producing sources in the world. | |
| 1706 | João V of Portugal becomes king. He presides over a great flowering of Portuguese art and culture underpinned by the fabulous wealth provided by Brazilian gold. Social and economic reform are neglected for the next 40 years, and the pious King indulges in a penchant for fabulously expensive building. The Portuguese royal family is now the wealthiest in Europe and João V even considers moving his throne and court to Rio de Janeiro. The taxation of the Brazilian trade brings in an enormous personal revenue to the monarch and he is able to construct an absolutist regime similar to that of the French Kings, concentrating on pomp and ceremony at court. There is however no attention to the impoverished national agriculture, inadequate transport, neglected merchant navy and minimal industrial development of the country since corn and cloth can easily be exported, foreign ships can be hired and 'every problem in Portugal can be solved by the King's gift of a little basket of gold coins bearing his effigy'. Meanwhile, the Brazilian gold rush continues and civil war breaks out between the mining camps of Portuguese immigrants lately come to the north of the country and the Paulistas of southern Brazil who discovered the gold in the first place. | |
| 1716 | As a result of Portugal's political importance and the extensive global jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Lisbon, Pope Clement XI grants the titular Archbishop the title of Patriarchate of Lisbon and the privilege of wearing a Triple Tiara. Later, the Pope agrees to made the Patriarchate a cardinal at the first consistory following his appointment. Tomás de Almeida is appointed 1st Patriarch of Lisbon, becoming a cardinal in 1737. | |
| 1717 | Beginning of construction of the great palace-monastery of Mafra, which João V vowed on the birth of his heir, and which he intends as a rival to the Escorial. The elegance of the suites and courtyards are matched by the costliness of the furnishings in more than 1,000 rooms. The scale of the buildings and formal gardens is stupendous in relation to the impoverished countryside around it. However the roped gangs of forced labourers and the military regiment which controls them provides local employment throughout a generation, particularly in the servicing of the 7,000 carts and wagons and feeding of draught animals. | |
| 1732 | Disaster at Elvas: lightning strikes the gunpowder magazine in the castle. The explosion and fire kill 1500 people and destroy 823 houses. | |
| 1735 | Completion of the palace-monastery at Mafra. | |
| 1742 | João V orders the construction in Rome of the Capela de São João Baptista for installation in the Igreja de São Roque to honour his patron saint and to requite the Pope, whom he has persuaded to confer a patriarchate on Lisbon. For its size, this is reckoned the most expensive building ever constructed. Designed by the papal architect Vanvitelli, and using the most costly materials available including ivory, agate, porphyry and lapis lazuli, the chapel is erected in the Vatican in order that the Pope may celebrate Mass in it before it is dismantled and shipped to Portugal. | |
| 1750 | Death of João V. His son José I of Portugal becomes king. His powerful chief minister, Sebastião de Melo, Marquis of Pombal, embarks on a programme of reform to drag Portugal into the 18th century. | |
| 1752 | Building of the Rococo palace of Queluz. | |
| 1755 | The Great earthquake of Portugal is the most shattering natural phenomenon of the Age of Enlightenment. Striking at 9.30 am on All Saints' Day (1 November), it destroys much of Lisbon and many towns in parts of the Alentejo and Algarve (Faro, Lagos and Albufeira are devastated). In Lisbon, three major shocks within ten minutes, a host of rapidly spreading fires touched off by the candles of a hundred church altars, and a vast tsunami that engulfs the seafront, leave 40,000 dead out of a total population of 270,000. The Alfama district of the old city is largely untouched owing to its situation on a rocky massif, as is Belém. The Customs House is flooded and the India House and the English Factory destroyed, so that no trade can legitimately be conducted. The King proves himself able in crisis management and his illegitimate half-brothers, the royal dukes, organise defence, security, the burying of the dead and the continuance of religious observance. The disaster is described by Voltaire in Candide. Rebuilding begins immediately under the vigorous direction of Pombal, who now consolidates his position as Portugal's enlightened despot and leading statesman. It is decided to reconstruct Lisbon as the finest city in Europe, on the grid plan already adopted in the leading cities of Spanish America. | |
| 1759 | 13 January | The Duke of Aveiro together with members of the Távora family are executed for high-treason and attempted regicide by orders of the Marquis of Pombal. |
| 1762 | Spanish invasion of Portugal stopped with the help of Great Britain. (to 1763) | |
| 1777 | Maria I of Portugal becomes Queen regnant. The King consort is her husband and uncle, Pedro III of Portugal. Pombal is dismissed. | |
| 1792 | João assumes royal responsibilities due to the declining mental health of his mother, Maria I of Portugal. | |
| 1799 | João officially becomes prince regent |
|
Further information: Timeline of Portuguese history (Fourth Dynasty) |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1807 | Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French, invades Portugal and the Portuguese Royal Family is transferred to the colony of Brazil, where it becomes the centre of the Portuguese Empire. | |
| 1808 | Insurrection against Napoleon's general, Junot and landing of Arthur Wellesley (later Duke of Wellington) to defeat the French at the Battle of Vimeiro. Beginning of the Peninsular War. Subsequent French attack in 1810 led by Masséna repulsed at the Lines of Torres Vedras. | |
| 1815 | The colony of Brazil is elevated to the status of kingdom. Portugal changes the official name from Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves to United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. | |
| 1816 | João VI of Portugal becomes king. Portugal is governed by a Regency council headed by Marshal Beresford, head of the Portuguese army in the Peninsular War. | |
| 1820 | Liberal Revolution of 1820 against the British-led Regency of William Carr Beresford begins in Porto on 24 August. The Regency's troops decline to act against their countrymen and on 15 September declare for King, Cortes and Constitution. A provisional government is established on 1 October to oversee elections to the Cortes. | |
| 1821 | The national assembly opens on 26 January and on 9 March adopts a liberal parliamentary constitution (ratified 1822), inspired by the recent liberal advances in Spain, notably the 1812 Constitution of Cadiz. Metropolitan Portugal demands the return of João VI to Lisbon. João VI advises his son, Pedro, to declare the independence of Brazil and become its emperor, to ensure its continued rule by the Bragança dynasty. João VI lands in Portugal on 4 July, but only after consenting to the restrictions on his power proposed by the Cortes and agreeing to accept the new constitution, to which he swears allegiance on 1 October. But his wife Queen Carlota Joaquina and younger son Dom Miguel refuse to do so and become the focus of a reactionary movement. | |
| 1822 | Portugal's first constitution ratified. Brazil declares independence. Pedro becomes Emperor Pedro I of Brazil. Military coup against the parliamentarians. Fearing a move by France against democratic Portugal, or a civil war, Brigadier Saldanha, a grandson of the Marquis of Pombal, raises a small army and expels the 'constitutional extremists' from Lisbon. He proposes instead a compromise constitution in which the powers of the crown will be partially restored to the King. (This is the first of Saldanha's seven coups d'état in his career). | |
| 1823 | In May a 'Regency of Portugal' is established by the expelled traditionalists who had opposed the constitution at Valladolid, under the presidency of the Patriarch of Lisbon and becomes a centre for plotting to put Dom Miguel on the throne. | |
| 1824 | At the end of April Miguel attempts a coup d'etat but is defeated with British aid and goes into exile in Vienna. | |
| 1826 | Death of João VI, 10 March. The country is split between liberals and absolutists. Emperor Pedro I of Brazil becomes king Pedro IV of Portugal but abdicates in favour of his daughter Maria II of Portugal, naming his sister as Regent and inviting all parties swear to accept a new constitution, drawn up by Pedro on 23 April and somewhat less liberal than that of 1820, based upon the Brazilian constitution. Pedro's constitution (the Charter of 1826) assigns authority to the crown to moderate between the legislative, executive and judicial powers of the state and proposes a House of Lords of 72 aristocrats and 19 bishops. Miguel (in Vienna) makes a show of agreement. | |
| 1827 | In July Pedro names his brother Dom Miguel as Lieutenant and Regent of the Kingdom. Miguel leaves Vienna and visits Paris and London on his way to Portugal. | |
| 1828 | Dom Miguel arrives in Lisbon in February and though he makes a show of abiding by the constitution, after various moves against the constitutional forces he usurps the throne and abolishes parliament and the constitution, re-instituting the mediaeval Cortes and claiming to be 'Absolute King' (proclaimed 4 July). Many of the liberal parliamentarians are imprisoned, executed or driven into exile. All Portuguese territories apart from Terceira in the Azores declare for Miguel, but he is recognised as King only by Mexico and the USA. Beginning of civil war, known as the Liberal Wars. | |
| 1831 | Emperor Pedro I of Brazil abdicates in favour of his son Pedro II of Brazil and sets out to regain Portugal for his daughter. | |
| 1832 | Pedro's expeditionary force of Portuguese exiles and foreign mercenaries gathers in Terceira, regains the Azores, then sails for Portugal. Pedro is supported by Britain and France and the Portuguese intelligentsia, including the politically ambitious soldiers Saldanha and Sá da Bandeira. 9 July: Pedro lands at Pampelido north of Porto, where he is closely besieged by some 13,000 Miguelites across the River Douro. His defending force, the city garrison being commanded by Sá da Bandeira, includes an international brigade with a British contingent under Charles Shaw and Colonel George Lloyd Hodges. The city suffers cholera, starvation and bombardment. | |
| 1833 | Miguel's navy is defeated by Pedro's Admiral Charles Napier at the fourth Battle of Cape St Vincent. The Duke of Terceira defeats Miguel's army at Almada and occupies Lisbon. | |
| 1834 | 16 May | The Duke of Terceira wins the Battle of Asseiceira. Miguel capitulates at EvoraMonte on 26 May. End of the civil war: Miguel is exiled to Genoa, where he renounces his capitulation. For many years he plots his return, but is never able to put it into effect. After six years of bitter and destructive war the country is once again bankrupt and beholden to foreign creditors, and the constitutional radicals turn their anger against the landowners and ecclesiastical institutions that had supported Miguel. The crown lands (a quarter of the national territory) are taken over by the state to help pay the national debt. |
| 24 September | Death of Dom Pedro. Maria II of Portugal becomes queen in her own right. Dissolution of the monasteries – over 300 monastic communities are abolished – however the sale of church and crown lands does not revitalise Portugal in the way that had been anticipated. | |
| 1835 | Revolutionary fervour is rekindled by an urban uprising and a military coup d’etat. The national Guard sides with the insurgents and approved the call for Sá da Bandeira to lead the nation and bring back the constitution of 1822. Queen Maria is forced to swear allegiance to the 1822 constitution but the moderate leader, Saldanha, reaches an accommodation with Sá da Bandeira and a modest programme of modernisation can begin. | |
| 1839 | An unsettled period of many short-lived governments ends temporarily with the stable coalition led by the Conde do Bonfim, which remains in power for two years. | |
| 1843 | Queen Maria II marries Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who rules with her as Dom Fernando II, the thirtieth King of Portugal. He commissions the German architect Baron Eschwege to begin the building of the Pena Palace at Sintra. | |
| 1846 | The Revolution of Maria da Fonte, a 'peasants' revolt' inaugurates the last phase of the Revolution, starting as an uprising of the peasants of the Minho, largely led by women (their movement is named after the semi-mythical 'Maria da Fonte') against land enclosures and new land taxes demanded by the Costa Cabral government to finance its grandiose public works. They make common cause with the clergy and call for the return of the exiled Miguel as their saviour. Martial law is declared but soldiers refuse to fire on their kin. Fall of the Costa Cabral government and substitution of a government of national reconciliation in Lisbon. Autumn: A revolutionary government is proclaimed in Porto with Sá da Bandeira at its head. He opens negotiations with Britain, whence Costa Cabral has fled into exile, and settles terms for his return to take responsibility for the national debt. Civil war between the supporters of Queen Maria and the radical constitutionalists. The Count of Bonfim, for the Porto junta, is defeated by Saldanha at the siege of Torres Vedras and exiled to Angola. | |
| 1847 | Convention of Gramido brings the civil war to an end. Return of the political exiles from Angola. | |
| 1848 | Costa Cabral returns as prime minister. | |
| 1851 | Another coup d’etat by Saldanha. He ejects Costa Cabral, appoints himself prime minister and rules reasonably progressively from the house of lords for a full five-year term. Thus a proper parliamentary regime is finally established, with a two-party system and a bourgeois monarchy. Portugal enters its Age of Regeneration, with an old-fashioned cavalry officer in charge. The government embarks on an elaborate programme of public works to modernise the country, beginning with the establishment of a modern post office and a programme of road-building: in the entire country there is less than 200 km of all-weather road surface, and the government uses road taxes to finance 200 km of new road per year. | |
| 1853 | Pedro V of Portugal becomes king. | |
| 1856 | Opening of Portugal's first railway line (between Lisbon and Carregado). | |
| 1861 | Luis I of Portugal becomes king. | |
| 1867 | 1 July | After the legislation of 1852 regarding political crimes, the Penal and Prison Reform abolishes the death penalty for all civilian crimes.[8] |
| 1869 | The government of Sá da Bandeira formally abolishes slavery in all Portuguese territories. | |
| 1870 | A financial crisis in the wake of European recession brings the fall of the government and yet another coup d’etat by the aged Duque de Saldanha. | |
| 1889 | Carlos I of Portugal becomes king. | |
| 1891 | Republican insurrection in Porto. It is violently put down by the authorities, who afterwards institute a tight press censorship. Opponents of the government are accused of anarchism and exiled to the colonies. |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1906 | João Franco is appointed as Prime Minister of Portugal. | |
| Big strike of the typographers. | ||
| Foundation of the Escola Superior Colonial (Superior Colonial School) | ||
| 1907 | João Franco establishes a Dictatorship within the framework of the Monarchy. | |
| Student's strike at the University of Coimbra. | ||
| 1908 | Manuel II of Portugal, King Carlos's youngest son, becomes king. | |
| The Portuguese Republican Party manages to elect all its candidates in the local elections of Lisbon. | ||
| 28 January | Failed Republican revolutionary attempt. The conspirators are arrested. | |
| 1 February | 1 February, King Carlos I of Portugal and his son and heir, prince Luis Filipe, Duke of Braganza, are killed in the Regicide of Lisbon by Alfredo Luís da Costa and Manuel Buiça, republicans of the Carbonária (the Portuguese section of the Carbonari). | |
| 1909 | King Manuel II of Portugal goes on a personal trip to Madrid, London and Paris. | |
| The Portuguese Republican Party's Conference takes place in Setúbal, where the motion to accelerate the revolutionary movement to establish the Republic is approved. | ||
| In Lisbon a demonstration with more than 100,000 persons protests against the political and economical situation of the Monarchy. | ||
| 1910 | 31 August | Gafanha da Nazaré is founded by Prior Sardo and is bestowed to become a parish by the king Manuel II. Officially being the last town to receive such royal distinction by a Portuguese monarch. |
| 4 October | Beginning of the Republican Revolution. | |
| 5 October | The Portuguese Republic is officially proclaimed in Lisbon. End of the Monarchy. Teófilo Braga is the president of the Provisional Government. | |
| The last King of Portugal, Manuel II of Portugal, and the Portuguese Royal Family embark in Ericeira for exile in England. | ||
| 1911 | 28 May | Constituent National Assembly election, the Democratic Party wins a majority of 229 of the 234 seats. |
| 24 August | Indirect presidential election. Manuel de Arriaga wins in the 1st round. | |
| 3 September | João Pinheiro Chagas is appointed prime-minister. | |
| 13 November | Augusto de Vasconcelos is appointed prime-minister. | |
| 1912 | 16 June | Duarte Leite is appointed prime-minister. |
| 8 July | The royalist attack on Chaves, led by Henrique Mitchell de Paiva Couceiro, fails to reinstate the Monarchy. | |
| 23 September | Augusto de Vasconcelos becomes interim prime-minister. | |
| 1913 | 9 January | Afonso Costa is appointed prime-minister. |
| 16 November | Legislative election, the Democratic Party wins a plurality of 68 of the 153 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 24 of the 71 seats in the Senate. | |
| 1914 | 9 February | Bernardino Luís Machado Guimarães is appointed prime-minister. |
| 12 December | Victor Hugo de Azevedo Coutinho is appointed prime-minister. | |
| 1915 | 28 January | Pimenta de Castro is appointed prime-minister. |
| 14 May | A revolt brings the end of Pimenta de Castro's government. A Constitutional Junta is formed. | |
| 15 May | João Pinheiro Chagas is appointed prime-minister for a second time, but he did not take office. | |
| 17 May | José de Castro is appointed prime-minister. | |
| 29 May | Indirect presidential election to select someone to complete Manuel de Arriaga's term. Teófilo Braga wins in the 1st round. | |
| 6 August | Indirect presidential election. Bernardino Luís Machado Guimarães wins in the 3rd round. | |
| 13 June | Legislative election, the Democratic Party wins a majority of 106 of the 163 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 45 of the 69 seats in the Senate. | |
| 29 November | Afonso Costa is appointed prime-minister a second time. | |
| 1916 | 16 March | António José de Almeida is appointed prime-minister. |
| 7 August | The Portuguese Parliament accepts the participation of Portugal in the first world war, following the invitation of the British government to join the allied forces | |
| 1917 | 2 February | The first members of the Portuguese Expeditionary Corps arrive in France. |
| 25 April | Afonso Costa is appointed prime-minister a third time. | |
| 7 October | José Norton de Matos is appointed prime-minister. | |
| 25 October | Afonso Costa is appointed prime-minister a fourth time. | |
| 17 November | José Norton de Matos becomes interim prime-minister. | |
| 5 – 8 December | The December 1917 coup d'état marks the beginning of Sidónio Pais' rise to power. He leads the Military Junta. | |
| 1918 | 28 April | Sidónio Pais (National Republican Party) wins the 1918 Portuguese general election. He ran unopposed. |
| 11 November | The Armistice of 11 November 1918 marks the end of World War I. | |
| 14 December | Sidónio Pais is assassinated in the Rossio railway station. João do Canto e Castro succeeds Pais in leading the government. | |
| 16 December | Indirect presidential election. João do Canto e Castro wins in the 2nd round. | |
| 23 December | João Tamagnini Barbosa is appointed prime-minister. | |
| 1919 | 15 January | The Monarchy of the North is proclaimed in Porto, and the restoration of the Portuguese monarchy lasts for about a month before being crushed by republican forces. |
| 22 January | The Monarchy is proclaimed in Lisbon, in the Assault of Monsanto. | |
| 24 January | The Monarchic forces in Monsanto surrender, leading to the resignation of João Tamagnini two days later. | |
| 27 January | José Relvas is appointed prime-minister. | |
| 30 March | Domingos Leite Pereira is appointed prime-minister. | |
| 11 May | Legislative election, the Democratic Party wins a majority of 86 of the 163 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 36 of the 71 seats in the Senate. | |
| 30 June | Alfredo de Sá Cardoso is appointed prime-minister. | |
| 6 December | Indirect presidential election. António José de Almeida wins in the 3rd round.in the 3rd round. | |
| 1920 | 15 January | Francisco José Fernandes Costa is appointed prime minister. He did not take office and Alfredo de Sá Cardoso is re-appointed prime-minister. |
| 21 January | Domingos Leite Pereira is appointed prime-minister a second time. | |
| 8 March | António Maria Baptista is appointed prime-minister. | |
| 6 June | José Ramos Preto is appointed prime-minister, after António Maria Baptista suddenly dies. | |
| 26 June | António Maria da Silva is appointed prime-minister. | |
| 19 July | António Granjo is appointed prime-minister. | |
| 20 November | Álvaro de Castro is appointed prime-minister. | |
| 30 November | Liberato Pinto is appointed prime-minister. | |
| 1921 | 2 March | Bernardino Luís Machado Guimarães is appointed prime-minister a second time. |
| 6 March | The Portuguese Communist Party was founded from the ranks of the Portuguese Maximalist Federation as the Portuguese Section of the Communist International. | |
| 23 May | Tomé de Barros Queirós is appointed prime-minister. | |
| 10 July | Legislative election, the Republican Liberal Party wins a plurality of 79 of the 163 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 32 of the 71 seats in the Senate. | |
| 6 August | Indirect presidential election. Manuel Teixeira Gomes wins in the 3rd round. | |
| 30 August | António Granjo is appointed prime-minister a second time. | |
| 19 October | In the Bloody Night, then-head of Government António Granjo (Republican Liberal Party) is killed, along with other politician associates of his. Manuel Maria Coelho is appointed prime-minister. | |
| 5 November | Carlos Maia Pinto is appointed prime-minister. | |
| 16 December | Francisco Cunha Leal is appointed prime-minister. | |
| 1922 | 29 January | Legislative election, the Democratic Party wins a plurality of 74 of the 163 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 37 of the 70 seats in the Senate. |
| 7 February | António Maria da Silva is appointed prime-minister a second time. | |
| 1923 | 15 November | António Ginestal Machado is appointed prime-minister. |
| 18 December | Álvaro de Castro is appointed prime-minister a second time. | |
| 1924 | 7 July | Alfredo Rodrigues Gaspar is appointed prime-minister. |
| 22 November | José Domingues dos Santos is appointed prime-minister. | |
| 1925 | 15 February | Vitorino Guimarães is appointed prime-minister. |
| 5 March | First failed coup attempt by Filomeno da Câmara. | |
| 18 April | Second failed coup attempt by Filomena da Câmara, now with the aid of Raul Esteves. | |
| 1 July | António Maria da Silva is appointed prime-minister a third time. | |
| 19 July | Failed coup attempt by Mendes Cabeçadas. | |
| 1 August | Domingos Leite Pereira is appointed prime-minister a third time. | |
| 8 November | Legislative election, the Democratic Party wins a majority of 83 of the 163 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 39 of the 65 seats in the Senate. | |
| 11 December | Indirect presidential election. Bernardino Machado is elected President of the Republic for the 2nd time. | |
| 18 December | António Maria da Silva is appointed prime-minister a fourth time. | |
| 1926 | 27 May | The General Manuel de Oliveira Gomes da Costa arrives at Braga with the purpose of initiating a Coup d'état. |
| The Republican Government and Prime Minister António Maria da Silva, knowing of the forthcoming coup, try to organise resistance believing the uprising can be defeated. | ||
| 28 May | A Military coup d'état (henceforth known as the 28th May 1926 coup d'état) begins in Braga led by Gomes da Costa. Believing to have failed, Gomes da Costa announces his surrender. | |
| 29 May | The Portuguese Communist Party interrupts its 2nd Congress due to the political and military situation. | |
| The Confederação Geral do Trabalho (national trade union centre) declares its neutrality in the military confrontations. | ||
| The Military Coup spreads to the rest of the country, by influence of Mendes Cabeçadas, Sinel de Cordes and Óscar Carmona, and establishes the Ditadura Nacional (National Dictatorship) against the democratic but unstable 1st Republic. | ||
| The Government of Prime Minister António Maria da Silva resigns. | ||
| 30 May | The General Gomes da Costa is acclaimed in Porto. | |
| The President of the Republic, Bernardino Machado, resigns. | ||
| José Mendes Cabeçadas Júnior becomes Prime Minister and President of the Republic. | ||
| 3 June | António de Oliveira Salazar becomes Minister of Finance, he resigns 16 days after nomination. | |
| The Congress of the Republic of Portugal (National Assembly) is dissolved by dictatorial decree. | ||
| All heads of Municipalities are substituted. | ||
| The Carbonária (the Portuguese section of the Carbonari) is banned. | ||
| All Political parties are banned. | ||
| 17 June | General Gomes da Costa provokes a military coup. | |
| 19 June | General Gomes da Costa becomes Prime Minister. | |
| 22 June | Censorship is instituted. | |
| 29 June | General Gomes da Costa becomes President of the Republic. | |
| 9 July | General Gomes da Costa is obliged to step down and goes into exile. | |
| General António Óscar de Fragoso Carmona, of the conservative military wing, becomes Prime Minister. | ||
| 15 September | Failed military coup. | |
| 18 September | Failed military coup. | |
| 29 November | General António Óscar Carmona becomes President of the Republic. | |
| 16 December | The Police of Information of Lisbon, a Political Police, is created. | |
| 1927 | The Confederação Geral do Trabalho (national trade union centre) is dissolved. | |
| February | Failed Republican coup attempt against the Ditadura Nacional in Porto (2 to 7) and Lisbon (7 to 9). | |
| 26 March | The Police of Information of Porto, a Political Police, is created. | |
| 17 May | Minimum School years are reduced from the 6th to the 4th grade; in all levels of non-university schooling students are divided by sex. | |
| August | Failed right wing military coup. | |
| 1 December | Students demonstrate in Lisbon against the Ditadura Nacional. | |
| 1928 | General António Óscar de Fragoso Carmona remains President of the Republic. | |
| Acordo Missionário (Missionary Agreement) between the Catholic Church and the Portuguese Republic, giving special status to the action of the Catholic Church in Portugal's colonies. | ||
| Failed Republican revolutionary attempt against the Ditadura Nacional. | ||
| The Portuguese Communist Party's Main Office is closed. | ||
| February | The Comissão de Propaganda da Ditadura (Commission for the Propaganda of the Dictatorship) is created. | |
| 17 March | The Police of Information of Porto and Lisbon are fused. | |
| 18 April | General José Vicente de Freitas becomes Prime Minister. | |
| 26 April | António de Oliveira Salazar becomes Minister of Finance for the 2nd time. | |
| 20 July | Failed Republican coup attempt against the Ditadura Nacional. | |
| 1929 | Catholic religious institutes are again permitted in Portugal. | |
| The Portuguese Communist Party is reorganised under Bento Gonçalves. Adapting the Party to its new illegal status, the reorganisation creates a net of clandestine cells to avoid the wave of detentions. | ||
| 8 July | Artur Ivens Ferraz becomes Prime Minister. | |
| 1930 | The Acto Colonial (Colonial Act) is published, defining the status of Portuguese colonies (Angola, Cabinda, Cape Verde, Portuguese Guinea, São Tomé and Príncipe, Mozambique, Portuguese India, Portuguese Timor and Macau). | |
| The fundamental principles of the new regime are presented by António de Oliveira Salazar in the 4th anniversary of the 28 May Revolution. | ||
| 21 January | Domingos da Costa e Oliveira becomes Prime Minister. | |
| 4 April | A Republican coup attempt against the Ditadura Nacional starts in Madeira. It would then expand to Azores and Portuguese Guinea, before dying out on 2 May 1931. | |
| 1931 | 26 August | Failed Republican coup attempt against the Ditadura Nacional in Lisbon. There would be no remaining coup attempts during the Ditadura Nacional. |
| 1932 | 5 July | António de Oliveira Salazar becomes Prime Minister. |
| 1933 | A new Constitution is approved in a false referendum, defining Portugal as a Corporative, Single Party and Multi-continental country (in Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania). | |
| A fascist-leaning right-wing Dictatorial regime entitled Estado Novo is installed. | ||
| The Single Party União Nacional (National Union) is created. | ||
| The Estatuto do Trabalho Nacional (Code of National Labour) is published, prohibiting all free trade unions. | ||
| A Political Police, the PVDE (Polícia de Vigilância e de Defesa do Estado; State Defence and Vigilance Police) is created. | ||
| Censorship, particularly of the Mass media, is systematic and generalised. | ||
| 1935 | The Portuguese Communist Party's Secretary General Bento Gonçalves participates in the 7th Congress of the Comintern. Soon after returning to Portugal he is arrested by the Political Police PVDE. | |
| 1936 | The concentration camp for political prisoners of Tarrafal is created in the colony of Portuguese Cape Verde, under direct control of the political police PVDE. | |
| The political police PVDE focuses its action against Communism and the underground Portuguese Communist Party. During this pre-World War II period, several Italian Fascist and German Nazi advisors came to Portugal, to help the PVDE adopt a model similar to the Gestapo. | ||
| 19 May | Creation of the Mocidade Portuguesa (Portuguese Youth), a compulsory paramilitary youth organisation similar to the Hitler Youth. | |
| July | Beginning of the Spanish Civil War; Portugal promptly supports Nationalist Spain under General Francisco Franco and sends military aid (the Battalion of the Viriatos) in their fight against the Spanish Republicans. | |
| 1937 | December | The female section of the Mocidade Portuguesa is created. |
| 1939 | The Iberian Neutrality Pact is put forward by Salazar to Francisco Franco. | |
| 1942 | Salazar meets with Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. | |
| The Portuguese Communist Party's Secretary General Bento Gonçalves dies in the concentration camp of Tarrafal. | ||
| 1945 | The Political Police PVDE is reorganised and renamed PIDE (Polícia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado; International Police for the Defence of the State). | |
| 8 October | The MUD (Movimento de Unidade Democrática – Movement of Democratic Unity) is created with official permission. | |
| 1948 | January | The MUD is banished. |
| 1949 | The President António Óscar Carmona meets with Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. | |
| Spanish dictator Francisco Franco receives a Doctorate honoris causa by the University of Coimbra. | ||
| In the (forged) Presidential elections, General Norton de Matos, backed by the oppositionist illegal organisation MUD tries and fail to win the Presidency of the Republic. | ||
| 4 April | Portugal is a founding member of NATO. | |
| For the first time, a Portuguese citizen is awarded with the Nobel Prize: Egas Moniz, with the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.[9] | ||
| 1951 | António de Oliveira Salazar becomes Provisional President of the Republic due to the death of President António Óscar de Fragoso Carmona. | |
| Francisco Higino Craveiro Lopes becomes President of the Republic. | ||
| The Portuguese government overhauls the entire colonial system in an attempt to curb criticism on Portuguese Colonialism, all Portugal's colonies were renamed Portuguese Overseas Provinces. | ||
| 1954 | The Dadra and Nagar Haveli Portuguese enclave, dependent of Daman, is occupied by India. | |
| 1956 | Amílcar Cabral founds the PAIGC (Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde, African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde). | |
| December | The MPLA, Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola), is founded by Agostinho Neto. | |
| 1957 | Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola (National Front for the Liberation of Angola), is founded as União das Populações do Norte de Angola (Union of the Populations of Northern Angola). | |
| 7 March | First live event of the Portuguese National Television and the beginning of the regular broadcasting.[10] It was opened by the famous and former BBC war reporter, Fernando Pessa.[11] | |
| 1958 | Américo Thomaz becomes President of the Republic. | |
| 1959 | Pijiguiti Massacre – Portuguese soldiers open fire on protesting dockworkers in Bissau (Portuguese Guinea), killing 50. | |
| 1960 | January | A group of ten Portuguese Communist Party members escaped from the high-security prison in Peniche. Among the escapees was Álvaro Cunhal. |
| 4 January | Portugal is one of the founding member of the EFTA – European Free Trade Association. | |
| 1961 | The Prime Minister António de Oliveira Salazar takes on himself the office of Minister of National Defence and reorganises the Government to face the war in Africa. | |
| 4 February | The Portuguese Colonial War starts in Portuguese Angola with the attacks to the Prison, Police headquarters and Radio central in Luanda. | |
| 15 March | Attacks in northern Angola by the UPA (União do Povo Angolano; Union of the Angolan People), against Portuguese colonists and African populations, provoking hundreds of deaths. | |
| 12 December | The Indian army conquers Portuguese Goa. | |
| 19 December | The Indian army conquers Portuguese Daman and Diu. | |
| 1962 | The PAIGC Guerrilla warfare against the Portuguese begins with an abortive attack on Praia. | |
| 24 March | The Academic Crisis of '62 culminates in a huge student demonstration in Lisbon brutally repressed by the shock police, which caused hundreds of students to be seriously injured. | |
| 25 June | The FRELIMO – Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (Mozambican Liberation Front) is founded in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania). | |
| 1963 | The FLEC (Frente para a Libertação do Enclave de Cabinda; Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda) is founded. | |
| January | Amílcar Cabral and PAIGC declare full-scale war against the Portuguese in Portuguese Guinea. | |
| 1964 | The FRELIMO controls most of Northern Portuguese Mozambique. | |
| February | The first Party Congress of the PAIGC takes place at liberated Cassaca, in which both the political and military arms of the PAIGC were assessed and reorganised, with a regular army (The People's Army) to supplement the guerrilla forces (The People's Guerillas). | |
| 1965 | 6th Congress of the Portuguese Communist Party, one of the most important congresses in the Party's history, after Álvaro Cunhal released the report The Path to Victory – The tasks of the Party in the National and Democratic Revolution, which became an important document in the anti-dictatorship struggle. | |
| 1966 | The UNITA – União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola (National Union for Total Independence of Angola) is founded by Jonas Savimbi. | |
| 6 August | The Salazar Bridge is inaugurated in Lisbon above the Tagus river. It is the longest suspension bridge in Europe and a replica (made by the same engineers) of the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco. | |
| 1967 | By this time the PAIGC had carried out 147 attacks on Portuguese barracks and army encampments, and effectively controlled 2/3 of Portuguese Guinea. | |
| 1968 | Reorganisation of the Government. | |
| Portugal begins a new campaign against the guerrillas in Portuguese Guinea with the arrival of the new governor of the colony, General António de Spínola. | ||
| 25 September | António de Oliveira Salazar leaves the Government due to health problems. | |
| 28 September | Marcello das Neves Alves Caetano becomes Prime Minister. | |
| 1969 | The Single Party União Nacional is renamed Acção Nacional Popular (National Popular Action). | |
| The Political Police PIDE is renamed DGS (Direcção Geral de Segurança, Directorate-General of Security). | ||
| Beginning of the Primavera Marcelista (Marcelist Springtime), a timid and failed opening of the regime. | ||
| 1970 | Portugal invades Conakry, in the Republic of Guinea, 400 amphibious troops attacked the city and freed dozens of Portuguese Prisoners of war kept there by the PAIGC. | |
| 27 July | Death of António de Oliveira Salazar. | |
| 1973 | January | Amílcar Cabral, leader of the PAIGC, is assassinated in Conakry by a disgruntled former associate under influence of the Portuguese Political Police DGS. |
| 24 September | Independence of Guinea-Bissau (Portuguese Guinea) is unilaterally declared. | |
| November | A United Nations' General Assembly vote recognises the Independence of Guinea-Bissau, unprecedented as it denounced illegal Portuguese aggression and occupation and was prior to complete control and Portuguese recognition. | |
| 1974 | The Carnation Revolution of 25 April puts an end to five decades of dictatorship. | |
| 25 April | The Carnation Revolution puts an end to the authoritarian regime of Estado Novo. Prime-minister Marcello Caetano exiled to Brazil | |
| 1975 | Independence is granted to all Portuguese colonies in Africa and independence is promised to Portuguese Timor. | |
| 11 March | A right-wing coup fails: A turn to the left in the revolution happens and major industries and big properties are nationalised by government | |
| 2 August | A meeting takes place in Haga (near Stockholm in Sweden) where the Committee for Friendship and Solidarity with Democracy and Socialism in Portugal is created. This Committee supported democratic trends in Portugal and opposed pro-soviet communist tendencies. In the meeting were present Olof Palme, Harold Wilson, Helmut Schmidt, Bruno Kreisky, Joop den Uyl, Trygve Bratteli, Anker Jørgensen, Yitzhak Rabin, Hans Janitschek, Willy Brandt, James Callaghan, François Mitterrand, Bettino Craxi and Mário Soares. | |
| 25 November | A coup removes far-left influence in politics | |
| 7 December | East Timor (Portuguese Timor) is violently annexed by Indonesia | |
| 1976 | 2 April | a new Constitution is approved. The Constitutional Assembly disestablishes itself. |
| 25 April | the Constitution of 1976 enters into force. | |
| 19 November | Jaime Ornelas Camacho becomes the first President of the Regional Government of Madeira. | |
| 1980 | 4 December | Prime minister Francisco Sá Carneiro and the Minister of Defence Amaro da Costa died in a plane crash, in strange circumstances. |
| 1984 | Carlos Lopes wins the first Olympic gold medal for Portugal in the Los Angeles '84 marathon | |
| 1986 | 1 January | Portugal becomes a member of the European Economic Community, today's European Union' |
| 1998 | Lisbon organises the World's Fair Expo '98.[12] | |
| 28 June | In the first Portuguese abortion referendum, the proposal to allow the abortion until 10 weeks of pregnancy is rejected by 50.91% of the voters. This is the first referendum in the History of the Portuguese democracy. | |
| 8 October | For the very first time, a Portuguese Language author is awarded with the Nobel Prize of Literature:[13] José Saramago. | |
| 8 November | in the regionalisation referendum, a proposal to establish, in mainland Portugal, 8 administrative regions and to disestablish the 18 districts, is rejected in the polls: in the first question, the simple institution of the administrative regions is rejected by 60.67% of the voters; in the second question, the proposal to create 8 regions is rejected by 60.62% of the voters. This is the first referendum in the History of Portugal to have more than 1 question. | |
| 1999 | 20 December | Macau, the last overseas Portuguese colony, is returned to China |
|
Further information: Timeline of Portuguese history (Third Republic) |
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 4 March | Hintze Ribeiro Bridge disaster: 59 people die in the collapse of an old bridge on the Douro river. Hours after the accident, Jorge Coelho, Minister of Transportation, resigns. |
| 2002 | 1 January | Portugal adopts the euro as currency. |
| 2004 | 12 June – 4 July | 2004 European Football Championship is held in Portugal.[14] |
| 2005 | 31 December | The 2006 Dakar Rally, the longest and, arguably, the hardest off-road rally in the world starts in Lisbon.[15] |
| 2007 | 11 February | In the second Portuguese abortion referendum, almost 9 years after the first, the proposal to allow the abortion until 10 weeks of pregnancy is now approved by 59.25% of the voters. The law is published in April.[16] |
| 2010 | 17 May | The law that allows the same-sex marriage is approved by the Portuguese President of the Republic, Aníbal Cavaco Silva.[17] |
| In 2010, the official infant mortality rate was 2.53 per mil, the lowest ever recorded in Portugal (1.6‰ below the UE-27, 2010 average),[18][19] placing the country among the top-5 in the European Union in this particular value of Human Development. | ||
| 2016 | 10 July | Portugal national football team wins the 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, in Stade de France in Paris, France. |
| 2017 | 13 May | Salvador Sobral wins the 62nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, with the song Amar Pelos Dois, composed by Luísa Sobral, in Kiev, Ukraine. |
| 2018 | 8 – 12 May | Lisbon hosts the 63rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, after Portugal's win in the previous year. |