During the eleventh century, Pope Alexander II encouraged Europeans to go to Spain to fight Moslems. Of the many French who heeded the call and became permanent settlers in Iberia ⁽¹⁾ two are particularly to be noted. The first, Raymond, son of the Count of Burgundy, arrived before the end of the century. He married Urraca, the only legitimate daughter of Alfonso. As Galicia was a troubled place, Alfonso decided to put this newly acquired member of his family in authority there, as a sort of viceroy. ⁽²⁾ The second figure of importance was Henry, cousin of Raymond and grandson of Robert, Duke of Burgundy. By 1095 he was married to Theresa (or Tarasia or Tareja), an illegitimate daughter of [165] Alfonso. ⁽³⁾ Henry was also given territory, that of present North Portugal. In the first year he may have been subject to the authority of Raymond, ⁽⁴⁾ although this is not certain. He may never have been answerable to anyone but Alfonso from the year 1095, when he was first given authority in the region south of the Minho River. ⁽⁵⁾

Documents of the period make a clear distinction between this territory and that of Raymond, to the north of the Minho. ⁽⁶⁾ Henry held his territory with sovereign rights, which were also rights of inheritance. This fact was demonstrated by the reversion of the territory without question, first to his widow and then to his son, Affonso Henriques. Nevertheless, it was not autonomy; Henry was the vassal of the Spanish king. ⁽⁷⁾ His situation was altered in the early years of the twelfth century when fundamental changes took place, brought about in the first instance by the death of the principal contenders for power. Raymond, who had laid plans to succeed his father in-law, Alfonso, died in 1107. Alfonso's son, Sancho, the heir, died in 1108. Alfonso himself died the next year. From these deaths came the various problems of succession and inheritance. Urraca, daughter of Alfonso and widow of Raymond of Galicia, was the legitimate heir to the Leonese throne; but when she assumed authority over the whole kingdom, Henry in Portugal felt that he had been bilked of his due. His anger was a promise of trouble to come. ⁽⁸⁾

Urraca added to her difficulties by marrying Alfonso of Aragon, known to history as "el Batallador." This union created antagonism among the clergy, who were vocal in their opposition. Her newly acquired husband took umbrage at these ecclesiastics and marched against them into Galicia, thereby [166] causing further antagonism, ⁽⁹⁾ not only with them, but even with his bride. Also, he occasionally beat her in public. She alternately opposed or joined her Aragonese husband, depending upon strategic expediency.

To add further confusion to the disrupted political affairs of the time, the Galician barons formed a nucleus around Urraca's son, Alfonso Raimundez, to the end of establishing him in power in the northwest. ⁽¹⁰⁾
 
 

Spanish disruption was great, and neither of the Spanish rivals had clear superiority of power. The balance held by Henry gave him a wonderful bargaining position. Never, it seems, was Portugal considered valuable enough to invade and conquer for itself. But the support that it could give to one or the other of the contestants was to be sought. The distress of León made Portuguese opportunity and Henry played both sides to his own advantage, changing quickly from one to the other and back again, according to the price offered for his aid. ⁽¹¹⁾ He was never punished for his perfidy, but rewarded each time that he changed sides. The result was increased strength for Henry and Portugal, and exhaustion for León and, in part, for Galicia. Henry reduced his dependence upon the king of León to virtually nothing. ⁽¹²⁾

Henry died, probably in 1112. His widow, Theresa, assumed power without any questions being raised as to her hereditary rights over the territory. At first she gave a nominal allegiance to the queen of León, but at the same time she was making secret plans with dissident groups in Galicia. ⁽¹³⁾ She established a [167] union, perhaps a marriage, with Fernando Peres of Galicia, which did not endear her to the local barons of the lands south of the Minho, for Peres was given lands there, in addition to authority. ⁽¹⁴⁾

That Theresa's independent strength was considerable at this time is shown by the fact that in 1117, when Urraca was at war with her husband, Galicians, Leonese, Castilians, and Asturians all fought with her, while Theresa took no part. ⁽¹⁵⁾ As far as can be determined she was in no way penalized for her lack of submission to the Spanish queen. In 1116 Theresa took a part of Galicia and in 1119 Túy and Orense, ⁽¹⁶⁾ which, however, she held but temporarily.

As the barons of Galicia had formed around Alfonso Raimundez, so did the barons of the territory south of the Minho River gather around Theresa's son, Affonso Henriques, forming a party of revolt against his mother. In 1128 the land to the north of the Douro was in the hands of this group, while Theresa and Peres were in control to the south. In the same year, at the Battle of São Mamede near Guimarães, Theresa and Peres were beaten and expelled from Portugal. ⁽¹⁷⁾
 

From this time forward, the area was under the control of local persons, exclusively occupied with what has become recognized as Portuguese and conscious of their determination to maintain an independent unit in present North Portugal. Their intentions as to the south were as yet unformed, insofar as we have evidence. Supposedly, the centuries-old habit of fighting Moslems on the south border was not lost to sight. Affonso Henriques successfully fought alternately the Moslems on the south and Alfonso VII on the east and north. In 1139 or 1140 [168] he assumed the title of king ⁽¹⁸⁾ and proclaimed the official independence of Portugal. Pope Alexander III underwrote this claim in 1179. ⁽¹⁹⁾

The particular opportunity offered to Count Henry and his son, Affonso Henriques, was a result of Spanish politics, but it was no accident of history that the independence of Portugal was achieved. The basis of an independent western nation in the Iberian peninsula had existed through all known time. It should be remembered that Portugal took form in the area with a persistent core of independent character, in the northwest of the peninsula. ⁽²⁰⁾

Portugal is named fittingly. The name suggests historical reality, as "Lusitania," a literary creation of the sixteenth century, does not. ⁽²¹⁾ This statement in no sense is meant to contradict Leite de Vasconcellos ⁽²²⁾ and Mendes Corrêa, ⁽²³⁾ who insist [169] that the Lusitanians were clearly an important part of the Portuguese admixture. But that they were an important part of the blend of peoples who ultimately achieved independence does not imply that it was in their territory that the movement started or, indeed, that in that area there was the psychological basis of such a movement. For this one must look to northwest Portugal.

It would seem more difficult to explain why Galicia, which had always been an integral part of the northwest culture region, remained separate from the Portuguese state. However, the reasons may not be difficult to find. One of them, obviously, is the fact that the re-establishment of political control of the province of the Minho came from Porto in the south and not from Galicia. León, on the other hand, was resettled out of the north, with Galicians making up part of the group of settlers. For the Portuguese area a new political and economic orientation had been established. Nuclear Portugal (the Minho Province) had a degree of isolation not possessed by Galicia. The only good entryway into the north of Portugal is along the western seacoast. Another entryway, from Verín along the Tâmega River Valley through Chaves and then, over a slight rise, into the valley of the Corgo River and finally into that of the Douro, is of local economic and of limited strategic importance. ⁽²⁴⁾ A third possible entryway is that along the high plain of northeastern Portugal leading into Spain in the neighborhood of the town of Alcañices. This, however, is even more inaccessible than that of Verín-Chaves. ⁽²⁵⁾ On the east there is none until south of the latitude of Salamanca where, after the twelfth century, a connection was made between Ciudad Rodrigo ⁽²⁶⁾ [170] in Spain and the Portuguese city of Guarda, settled in 1197. ⁽²⁷⁾ The Romans had used a route across this middle country, but it ran somewhat to the south of the Ciudad Rodrigo-Guarda road. ⁽²⁸⁾

Galicia itself is readily entered from the east, along the north coast or from the meseta directly, through the city of León to Astorga, and from there to Lugo. This is the old Roman road which was established in keeping with topography. Nowhere does it present great problems of slope. The same is true of the road leading from Lugo to the ria harbors of the west. This facility of entry is lacking in the mountain and canyon borderland separating Spain from most of the north and northeast of Portugal.

Perhaps an even more important reason for the separation of Galicia from nuclear Portugal concerns the establishment of Santiago de Compostela as a great religious and pilgrimage center. The road to Santiago across the north of Spain was a famous and important route, linking Spain with Galicia physically and emotionally. There was no such link between Portugal and Spain. On the contrary, the Portuguese church had been a relatively independent institution. The Bishop and later Metropolitan in Braga had independent rights. If, as was once hoped, the Metropolitan of Braga had become the Iberian Primate, Portuguese history might have been different, but this did not occur and his authority became localized.

There is no single, simple reason for Portuguese independence. Individual judgments, institutional decisions, historical backgrounds, and the position and nature of the land all contributed to the result.

1. Several settlements were established or influenced by the French. J. Leite de Vasconcellos, Origem histórica e formação do poyo Português, pp. 8-13.

2. Alexandre Herculano, História de Portugal (7th ed), pp. 14-15; Damião Peres, Como nasceu Portugal, p. 48.

3. Herculano, História de Portugal, pp. 16-17.

4. Ibid., p. 17.

5. Damião Peres, "A Reconquista Cristã," História de Portugal, I, 477.

6. Damião Peres, "Origens da nacionalidade," Congresso do Mundo Português, II, 20.

7. Ibid., p. 21.

8. Herculano, História de Portugal, p. 32.

9. Ibid., p. 36.

10. They claimed that Alfonso, prior to his death, stipulated that Alfonso Raimundez should inherit Galicia in the event that Urraca married again. Whether or not this was true, it became their shibboleth.

11. Peres, Como nasceu Portugal, pp. 90-91.

12. Loc. cit.

13. Peres, "Origens da nacionalidade," Congresso do Mundo Português, II, 27.

14. Peres, Como nasceu Portugal, pp. 96-100.

15. Ibid., p. 92.

16. J. Leite de Vasconcellos, "Delimitação da fronteira Portuguesa," Boletim da Classe de Letras, XIII (1918-1919), 1281.

17. Peres, "Origens da nacionalidade," Congresso do Mundo Português, II, 32.

18. Carl Erdmann, "A Adapção do título de Rei por D. Afonso Henriques" (trans. Rodolfo Frederico Knapic), Congresso do Mundo Português, II, 65.

19. Amando Melón y Ruiz de Gordejuela, Geografía histórica española, I. 257.

20. Herculano rejected the historical and ethnic background of the Portuguese state. He did so on the grounds that the Lusitanian territory and the Lusitanians themselves could not be equated with the area within present Portuguese boundaries. This is a straw man that he pushes over. Common to his period was an unwarranted, romantic belief in the exclusively Lusitanian background of Portugal. Reasonably, he found this to be erroneous. However, to reject the ethnic and historical continuity of the nuclear area in North Portugal is another matter. See A. A. Mendes Corrêa, Raizes de Portugal (2nd ed.), especially pp. 117-118.

Another factor, the importance of which it is impossible to gauge, is that indicated by physical anthropology. Although there is no doubt as to the close cultural relation between the two areas, the striking variance shown by physical anthropology between Galicia and present North Portugal may indicate deep-seated differences that may have conduced to political separation of the areas. Eastern Galicia with northern Asturias shows the greatest brachycephaly of Iberia, whereas to the south, in the mountains of North Portugal, there is the greatest dolichocephaly of the peninsula. Mendes Corrêa, Raizes de Portugal, pp. 90-91.

21. Pierre David, Etudes historiques sur la Galice et le Portugal du VIe au XIIIe siécle, p. xix.

22. J. Leite de Vasconcellos, Religiões da Lusitânia, I, xxv-xxvi.

23. A. A. Mendes Corrêa, "A Lusitania pré-romana," História de Portugal, I, 185.

24. Even though it is the entryway used by Soult in Napoleonic times, the fault valley of the Tâmega belongs essentially to Portugal and not to Galicia. Not far north of the Portuguese border is a highland which effectively separates the valley of the Tâmega from the Galician basin of the Miño River in Spain.

25. Mendes Corrêa, Raízes de Portugal, p. 42.

26. Repopulated in 1161. Júlio Gonzalez, "Repoblación de la 'Extremadura' leonesa," Hispania, XI, 226

27. Hermann Lautensach, "Portugal. Auf Grund eigener Reisen und der Literatur" 2. "Die portugiesischen Landschaften" (Gotha, Petermann's Mitteilungen, No. 230, 1937), 31.

28. A. de Amorim Girão, Geografia de Portugal, facing p. 366.