History of Portugal

Timeline

• Paleolithic
• Modern Humans make way into the Iberian peninsula, coming from Southern France.
• Extinction of the Neanderthal Man in its last refuge - Portugal.
• Pre-historic art in the Valley of Foz Côa.
• Mesolithic
• The European population, sheltered in Iberia due to the Ice Age, migrates and recolonizes all of Western Europe during the Allerød Oscillation.
• Neolithic
• Development of Agriculture in Iberia.
• Beginning of the Megalithic European culture.
• Bronze Age
• First wave of Indo-European migrations into Iberia, of the Urnfield culture (Proto-Celts).
• Bronze culture of the Castro Villages in the Northwest of Iberia (modern Galicia and nothern Portugal); Bronze culture of Portuguese Estremadura; Bronze culture of Portuguese Beira Alta; Emergence of Tartessos in Andalusia.
• Iron Age
• Phoenician colonization and influence of Mediterranean Iberia.
• Tartessian cvilization in southern Iberia.
• Emergence of towns and cities in the southern coastal areas of western Iberia.
• Second wave of Indo-European migration into Portuguese territory (Celts of the Hallstatt culture).
• Greek colonization and influence in eastern Iberia.
• First forms of writing in Portugal, the Southwest script, part of the Tartessian script.
• A new wave of Celts (of the La Tène culture) establish themselves in Alentejo.
• The Lusitanians inhabit central Portugal, the Calaicians or Gallaeci northern Portugal, the Celtici are in Alentejo and the Conii are in the Algarve.
• Roman Lusitania and Gallaecia
• 218 BC - Invasion of Iberia by the Roman Republic as part of the offensive against Carthage during the Second Punic War.
• 200 BC-150 BC - Several Lusitanian rebellions against Roman conquest.
• 147 BC-139 BC - Lusitanian War against the Romans under the command of Viriathus.
• 137 BC - The Romans conquer Gallaecia.
• 114 BC - Praetor Gaius Marius is governor of Lusitania; the Lusitanians resist with a long guerrilla war.
• 83 BC-72 BC- Quintus Sertorius Hispanic revolt, where he is joined by the Lusitanians.
• 61 BC-60 BC - Julius Caesar is Propraetor governor of Lusitania and defeats rebelious Lusitanians and Gallaecians.
• 27 BC - The Roman Emperor Augustus creates the province of Lusitania (till then part of Hispania Ulterior), with capital in Emerita Augusta (currently Mérida). Originally Lusitania included the territories of Asturias and Gallaecia.
• 23 BC - The emperor Augustus establishes the Principate and the Pax Romana.
• c. 250 - Braga becomes an Episcopal Diocese.
• 366-383 - Damasus, son of Antonius and Laurentia, born in the Conventus Bracarensis of Gallaecia (near the modern city of Guimarães), is the reigning Pope under the name Damasus I.
• 388 - Paternus becomes bishop of the Episcopal see of Braga.
• Germanic Kingdoms
• 409
• Invasion of the NW of the Iberian peninsula (the Roman Gallaecia) by the Germanic Suevi (Quadi and Marcomanni) under king Hermerico.
• Invasion of the Iberian peninsula by the Germanic Vandals (Silingi and Hasdingi) and the Sarmatian Alans.
• 415 - Invasion of the Iberian peninsula by the Germanic Visigoths lead by King Theodorid.
• 429 - The Vandals and the Alans move to North Africa.
• 468 - Lusídio, Roman governor of Lisbon, delivers the city to the Suevi.
• 470 - King Euric of the Visigoths conquers southern Gallaecia and Lusitania to the Suevi.
• 562 - Saint Martin of Dumes becomes Bishop of Braga.
• 585 - Andeca, the last king of the Suevi, helds out for a year before surrendering in to the Visigothic King Leovigild. With his surrender, this branch of the Suevi vanished into the Visigothic kingdom.
• Al'Garb Al'Andalus and the begining of the Reconquista
• 711 ? Islamic Umayyad Moors (mainly Berber with some Arab), under Tariq ibn-Ziyad, invade and eventualy conquer the Iberian Peninsula (Visigothic King Roderic is killed while opposing the invasion), except from the northernmost part - the Asturias.
• 718 - Pelayo establishes the Kingdom of Asturias. This is considered to be the beginning of the Reconquista.
• 722 - A powerful Moorish force sent to conquer Asturias once and for all is defeated by king Pelayo at the Battle of Covadonga. Today, this is regarded as the first significant Christian victory of the Reconquista.
• 755 - Abd ar-Rahman I of the Umayyad dynasty flees to Iberia to escape the Abbasids.
• 756 - The Umayyad Abd ar-Rahman I defeats Yusuf al-Fihri and becomes Commander of al-Andalus Muslims, proclaiming himself Emir of Cordoba.
• 791 - Alfonso II becomes King of Asturias in Oviedo and conquers a number of Moorish strongholds and settles the lands south of the Douro River.
• 798 - In a raid on Muslim lands, Alfonso II of Asturias enters Lisbon but can not occupy it.
• 800 - 10 year Rebellion againsts the Muslims breaks out in the fringes of Al-Andalus (Lisbon, Merida, Toledo). Each rebellion is bloodily suppressed by the central Islamic authorities.
• 844 - Vikings raid the Galician estuaries, are defeated by Ramiro I of Asturias, attack Lisbon, Beja and the Algarve, and sack Seville.
• 866 - Alfonso III the Great, son of Ordonho I of Asturias, becomes King of Asturias. He iniciates the repopulation of Porto, Coimbra, Viseu and Lamego.
• First County of Portugal
• 868 - Establishment of the 1st County of Portugal, a fiefdom of the Kingdom of Asturias, by count Vímara Peres, after the reconquest from the Moors of the region between the Minho and Douro Rivers.
• 878 - The region of Coimbra (today, Central Portugal) is incorporated in the Kingdom of Asturias by the Count Hermenegildo Guterres.
• 910 - Ordonho II becomes King of Galicia with the support of the Count of Portugal.
• 913 - An expedition commanded by Ordonho II, then vassal king of Galicia, into Muslim territory takes Évora from the Muslims.
• 925 - Ramiro II, son of Ordonho II of León, was the first to bear the title King of Portuguese Land.
• 926 - The Umayyad Emir Abd al-Rahman III, faced with the threat of invasion by the Fatimids, proclaims himself Caliph of Córdova.
• 938 - First document where the word Portugal is writen in its present form.
• 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 lauching a big number of offensive campaignes against the Christians.
• 1031 - The Moorish Caliphate of Córdoba falls. Many Taifas (independent Moorish kingdoms) begin to spring up.
• 1056 - The Almoravides (al-Murabitun) Dynasty begins its rise to power.
• 1063 - Ferdinand I of Castile-León divides his kingdom among his sons. Galicia is allotted to his son Garcia.
• 1065 - Independence of the Kingdom of Galicia and Portugal is proclaimed under the rule of Garcia II of Galicia.
• 1071 - Garcia II of Galicia becames the first to use the title King of Portugal, when he defeates, in the Battle of Pedroso (near Braga), Count Nuno 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.
• 1090 - Almoravid Yusuf ibn Tashfin cames to Iberia and conquers all the Taifas.
• 1094 - Almoravid Sir ibn Abi Bakr takes Badajoz and Lisbon.
• 1095 - The Almoravides take Santarém.
• Second County of Portugal
• 1095 - Establishment of the 2nd County of Portugal (Condado Portucalense), by Count Henry of Burgundy, who marries princess Teresa of León.
• 1112 ? Afonso Henriques inherits the County of Portugal, a fiefdom of the Kingdom of León.
• 1128 ? Count Afonso Henriques defeats his mother, Teresa of León, that governs the county after her husband's death with the title of Regina (Queen), in the Battle of São Mamede and becomes sole ruler (Dux - Duke) after demandes for independence from the county's people, church and nobles.
• First Dynasty: Burgundy
• 1139, July 26 ? Independence of Portugal from the Kingdom of León declared after the Battle of Ourique against the Almoravides lead by Ali ibn Yusuf: Duke Afonso Henriques becomes Afonso I, king of Portugal.
• 1143 ? Treaty of Zamora. Alfonso VII of Leon and Castille recognizes the Kingdom of Portugal with the assintance of the Holly Sea who recognizes Alphonso has the ruller of Portugal, but the church did not wanted a division in Hispania in an era of crusades against the Moors so it did not recognized him as king.
• 1179 ? Pope Alexander III recognizes Afonso I as King, thus Portugal becomes officially a kingdom.
• 1095–1279 A Portuguese kingdom was established independent from León and extended southwards until it reached its present continental limits.
• 1279–1383 The monarchy was gradually consolidated in spite of resistance from the Church, the nobles and the rival kingdom of Castile.
• 1383-1385 ? Civil war and political anarchy: 1383-1385 Crisis.
• Second Dynasty: Aviz
• 1385
• João I of Portugal acclaimed king by the Portuguese; Castilians do not accept this claim.
• Battle of Aljubarrota: João I defeats the Castilians and secures the throne.
• 1386 - Treaty of Windsor (between Portugal and England), an alliance between England and Portugal.
• 1394 ? Henry the Navigator, son of king João I of Portugal, is born.
• 1415–1499 - A period of crusades and discoveries.
• 1494 - The Treaty of Tordesillas is signed between Portugal and Spain, divided the world outside of Europe in an exclusive duopoly between the two Iberian nations.
• 1498 - Vasco da Gama discovers the sea-route to India.
• 1500 - Pedro Álvares Cabral discovers Brasil
• 1499–1580 - The Portuguese Empire stretches from Brasil eastward to the Moluccas, reaching the zenith of its prosperity and entering a period of swift decline.
• 1580 - Dinastic crisis of the 16th century.
• Third Dynasty: Habsburg (Spanish rule)
• 1581–1640 - Spanish kings ruled over Portugal in a personal union of the Crowns. Portugal loses de facto independence to Spain.
• Fourth Dynasty: Bragança
• 1640 ? The Duke of Braganza becomes king João IV of Portugal. Restauration of Portuguese Independece and end of Spanish control.
• 1755 ? The Lisbon earthquake destroys the city to the ground; an enormous tsunami wave washes away what remained standing.
• 1755-1789 - Sebastião de Melo, Marquis of Pombal rules Portugal as Prime Minister of King Joseph I of Portugal.
• 1807-1814 - Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France, invades Portugal. The Portuguese Royal Family is transferred to the colony of Brasil. An Anglo-Portuguese Army, commanded by Sir Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, resists French occupation during the Peninsular War.
• 1820 - Portugal demandes the return of King João VI of Portugal to Lisbon.
• 1822 - Brasil declares independence. Pedro, son of King João VI of Portugal, becomes Emperor Pedro I of Brazil.
• 1826 ? Emperor Pedro I of Brazil also becomes King Pedro IV of Portugal.
• 1828 ? Miguel, King Pedro IV of Portugal's brother, is proclaimed Absolute King Miguel I of Portugal, rival to Pedro IV. Beginning of the Portuguese Liberal Wars.
• 1834 - End of the Portuguese Liberal Wars. Miguel I of Portugal is exiled to Germany. Portugal becomes a Constitucional Monarchy.
• 1890 - Emergence of a strong Portuguese Republicanism movement.
• First Republic
• 1910 - The Republican Revolution, supported by popular uprising and virtually no resistance, is victorious and puts an end to the Portuguese Monarchy. The last King of Portugal, Manuel II of Portugal, and the Portuguese Royal Family, embark for exile in England. The Republic is officialy proclaimed in Lisbon.
• 1916–1918 - Portugal contributes to the Great War on the Allies' side.
• Second Republic: Authoritarian Estado Novo
• 1926 - A Military Coup d'état ends the 1st Republic of Portugal. Establishment of the Ditadura Nacional (National Dictatorship).
• 1928 - António de Oliveira Salazar becomes Minister of Finance. General António Óscar de Fragoso Carmona is President of the Republic.
• 1932 - António de Oliveira Salazar becomes Prime Minister.
• 1933
• A new Constitution is approved in a false referedum, defining Portugal as a Corporative, Single Party and Multi-continental country (in Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania).
• A Conservative Authoritarian 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 Defense and Vigilance Police) is created.
• Censorship, particularly of the Mass media, is systematic and generalized.
• 1936-1939 - During the Spanish Civil War, Portugal promptly supportes Nationalist Spain under General Francisco Franco and sends military aid (the Battalion of the Viriatos) in their fight against the Spanish Republicans.
• 1939-1945 - During World War II Portugal remains neutral.
• 1949 - Portugal is a founding member of NATO.
• 1954 - The Dadra and Nagar Haveli enclave of Portuguese India, dependent of Daman, is occupied by India.
• 1960 - Portugal is one of the founding member of the EFTA - European Free Trade Association.
• 1961
• The Portuguese Colonial War starts in Angola, it will spread, in the years to come, to Mozambique and Portuguese Guinea (today Guinea-Bissau).
• The Indian army conquers Portuguese Goa and Daman and Diu, in Portuguese India.
• 1968
• António de Oliveira Salazar leaves the Government due to health problems.
• Marcello das Neves Alves Caetano becomes Prime Minister.
• 1970
• Death of António de Oliveira Salazar.
• Portugal invades Conakry, in the Republic of Guinea.
• 1974 - The Carnation Revolution of the 25 April puts an end to five decades of authoritarian dictatorship.
• 1975 - Independence is granted to all Portuguese colonies in Africa and promised to East Timor (which is violently annexed by Indonesia).
• 1986 - Portugal joins the European Communities (EEC later EU).
• 1999
• Macao, the last overseas Portuguese colony, is returned to China.
• Indonesia ceases its occupation of East Timor.
• 2002 - Portugal adopts the euro as currency.