Spanish-Portuguese Relations

Reconquista

In 1139, Portugal became an independent kingdom. On July 25, 1139, after defeating the Moors at the Battle of Ourik Afonso I, the Great proclaimed himself king of the country. In 1143, he was recognized by King Alfonso VII the Emperor , and in 1179 - Pope Alexander III . It is generally accepted that Spain gained its present appearance in 1479, after the union of Castile and Aragon , although the unification of Spain and the creation of a single national state took place in the Enlightenment . Portugal, Castile and Aragon were allies in the Reconquista and together conquered the land from Muslim Moors in the south of the Iberian Peninsula . In 1249, Portugal was liberated, and the territory of Spain was completely conquered in 1492. In 1500, after the death of Miguel da Pasha (Prince of Portugal, Asturias , Girona and Viana ), all hopes of uniting all the kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula disappeared.

Foreign expansion

In the 15th century, possessing a powerful fleet of the kingdoms of Portugal and Castile, they began to explore the world outside Europe , sending their researchers to Africa and Asia . In 1492, after the first trip of Christopher Columbus to the Caribbean, both states began to acquire territories of the New World. Under the Tordesillas Treaty (1494), Brazil (most of South America ) became a colonial possession of Portugal, as well as a number of possessions in Africa and Asia, while Castile took the rest of South America. Subsequently, new treaties were concluded to create the modern borders of Brazil and the delimitation of Asian possessions ( Zaragoza Treaty of 1529).

Iberian Union

After in 1578 the young Portuguese king Sebastian I laid down his head at El Ksar al-Kebir , the ruling Avis dynasty was on the verge of extinction. The king was proclaimed the elderly childless cardinal Enrique . Two years later, his death led to an acute dynastic crisis , during which the grandsons of Manuel I , the legitimate but alien to the Portuguese Philip II of Spain (son of Isabella of Portugal ), the illegitimate prior Prior Antonio of Kratu and the Duchess Katerina Braganza, disputed the crown. In the XVII century, the Portuguese elites began to realize that union brings their country more damage than benefits. This was connected not only and not so much with the deterioration of the attitude of the ruling monarch towards the Portuguese, but with the fact that the Portuguese colonies became the main target of numerous enemies of Spain, and the Spaniards were in no hurry to defend them. The gap with England , which had maintained allied relations with Portugal since the signing of the Windsor Treaty in 1386, was especially acute. A movement has begun to restore statehood. The grandson of the Duchess of Braganca was proclaimed king under the name of Juan IV , and the Spaniards lost the 28-year-old Spanish-Portuguese war (1640–1668). The union was dissolved and the Bragança dynasty took over the Portuguese throne.

Modernity

The Republic of Portugal and the Kingdom of Spain occupy the vast majority of the Iberian Peninsula, relations between these countries are sometimes called Iberian relations. In recent years, countries have maintained friendly relations, are members of the European Union , the Eurozone , the Schengen zone and NATO .

• Vicente, António Pedro. Espanha e Portugal: Um olhar sobre as relações peninsulares no século XX. - Tribuna da História, 2003 .-- ISBN 9789728799014 .