Where it all started
This is the castle of Guimarães. Traditionally the place where Portugal was born.
The statue depicts Dom Afonso Henriques, or Afonso I of Portugal, son of Henry of Burgundy Count of Portugal. In 1120, eight years after his father's death he rebelled against his own mother and the king of Castile (tradition has it he beat up his mother and had her put in chains) and proclaimed the independence of Portugal.Of course the king of Castile didn't quite like the idea, war broke out. Things were hard, battles were won, others lost but finally in 1143 in the city of Zamora, Spain, a peace treaty was signed and Portugal was officially recognized as an independent kingdom.
Some say it is no wonder most of us have a bit of a bad temper, a nation that started with a son beating his own mom.
Locate these pictures on the map
2 comments:
No, that only explains the politicians, D.
GG: Maybe. But even with all the wars and palace plots the rulers of the old days seemed a lot more honest than our current politicians.
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