Portugal celebrates 842 years of history

estatua de d. afonso henriques em guimarães

By the hand of Dom Afonso Henriques and the King of León and Castile, in October 1143 was signed the treaty of Zamora, which defined that the King and Kingdom of Portugal was recognized as being independent. However, only on May 23, 1179, with the Papal Bull Manifestis Probatumby Pope Alexander III, ensured that the remaining countries of Europe and the Catholic Church recognized Portugal as a sovereign and independent state.

Guimarães, the city of Dom Afonso Henriques and the cradle of Portugal

The Papal Bull, the first document with the rules of governance.

The document issued by the Holy Church dictated at the time a set of rules under which authority the country could be governed. Being at the time the Catholic Church the one dictating the rules of governing, by power and respect for God, the document Manifestis Probatum was thus drawn up where it is evident that Dom Afonso Henriques must the Apostolic faith love with sincere affection and seek to attend effectively, in their just supplications, those whom divine Providence has chosen for the government and salvation of the people”. Among several other requirements, it also mentions the payment of due taxes to Holy Mother Church. According to history, before the Papal Bull, the battle of Ourique and the Treaty of Zamora took place.

exterior do castelo de guimaraes

Guimarães Castle

The Bull

The Bull reads (in current Portuguese and the original Latin): “Alexander, Bishop, Servant of the Servants of God, to your dear son in Christ, Alfonso, Illustrious King of the Portuguese, and to your heirs, ‘in perpetuum‘.

“It is clearly demonstrated that, as a good son and Catholic prince, you have rendered innumerable services to your mother, the Holy Church, by intrepidly exterminating the enemies of the Christian name through hard work and military prowess, and by diligently spreading the Christian faith, thus leaving to the future a name worthy of memory and an example worthy of imitation. The Apostolic faith must love with sincere affection and seek to attend effectively, in their just supplications, to those whom divine Providence has chosen for the government and salvation of the people. Therefore, We, attending to the qualities of prudence, justice and aptitude of government which illustrate your person, take it under the protection of St. Peter and ours, and grant and confirm by apostolic authority to your exalted dominion the kingdom of Portugal with full honors of a kingdom and the dignity which belongs to kings, as well as all the places which with the help of heavenly grace you have conquered from the hands of the Saracens and in which neighboring Christian princes cannot claim rights.

And so that you may be more fervent in devotion and service to the prince of the apostles, St. Peter, and to the Holy Church of Rome, we have decided to make the same concession to your heirs, and, with God’s help, we promise to defend it, as far as it falls within our apostolic teaching.

Continue, then, to show yourself a most dear son, so humble and devoted to the honor and service of your mother, the Holy Roman Church, and to occupy yourself in defending her interests and in spreading the Christian faith in such a way that this Apostolic See may rejoice in such a devout and glorious son and not doubt his affection. To signify that the said kingdom belongs to St. Peter, you have determined, as a testimony of the greatest reverence, to pay annually two gold marks to Us and to our successors. You will therefore take care to deliver, you and your successors, to the Archbishop of Braga pro tempore, the census which belongs to Us and to our successors. You will therefore take care to deliver, you and your successors, to the Archbishop of Braga pro tempore, the census which belongs to Us and to our successors.

We determine, therefore, that no man shall be permitted to rashly disturb your person or those of your heirs, as well as the said kingdom, nor to take away what belongs to it, or, having taken it away, to retain it, diminish it, or make any impositions on it. If in the future any ecclesiastical or secular person knowingly acts against what we have in this our Constitution, and does not present a worthy satisfaction after a second or third warning, let him be deprived of the dignity of his honor and power, let him know that he must give an account to God for having committed an iniquity, let him not partake of the most holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our divine Lord and Redeemer, and let no penalty be raised against him in the hour of death.

But with all those who respect the rights of the kingdom itself and of its king, be the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that in this world they may gather the fruit of their good deeds, and at the sovereign judge they may find the prize of eternal peace. Amen. Amen.” Ámen. Ámen.”

The Battle of Ourique

In this battle the Christian troops, commanded by D. Afonso Henriques, and the Muslim troops, (the Saracens mentioned in the Bull) in much larger numbers, faced each other. A Moorish army came out against them and, despite the numerical inferiority, the Christians won.

The Christian victory was such that Afonso Henriques was acclaimed by his troops still on the battlefield, and his chancellery began to use the title Rex Portugallensis (King of the Portucalenses or King of the Portuguese) from 1140 onwards – making him de facto king. The de jure title (and Portugal’s independence) was recognized by the King of Leon in 1143 through the Treaty of Zamora, and later formal recognition by the Holy See in May 1179, through Pope Alexander III’s Bull Manifestis probatum.

Treaty of Zamora.

Under the terms of the treaty, Afonso VII agreed that the Condado Portucalense would become a kingdom, with Dom Afonso Henriques as its rex (king). Afonso Henriques then benefited from the action of the Archbishop of Braga, João Peculiar, in favor of the constitution of the new Kingdom of Portugal. The latter sought to reconcile the first two and arranged for them to meet in Zamora on October 4 and 5, 1143, in the presence of Cardinal Guido de Vico.

The Portuguese sovereignty, recognized by Afonso VII in Zamora, was confirmed by Pope Alexander III only in 1179, with the Papal Bull containing the title of rex, which Afonso Henriques had been using since 1139. It was confirmed in Zamora, whereupon the Portuguese monarch committed himself before the cardinal to consider himself a vassal of the Holy See, obliging himself and his descendants to pay an annual census.

Wikisource text credits contain primary sources related to Bula Manifestis Probatum

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