History

The Iberian Peninsula was occupied successively by different people, from the original Lusitans to Phoenicians, Romans, Sueves, Celts, Goths, Visigoths and later by North African Arabs and Berber invaders.

It however was part of Iberia as a whole. Times were hard, as the Iberian Peninsula was, at the time preceding the birth of Afonso Henriques, occupied by Moors except for the northern part, of which the Kingdom of Leon was one of the Christian Kingdoms left.

The French Count Henry (Henrique) of Burgundy was one of many knights that came to the general aid of the Peninsular Christian Kingdoms in the Crusading movement to draw back the Moors, and then to reach Jerusalem.

Henrique de Borgonha, the Portuguese way of naming Henry of Burgundy, married Dona Teresa, natural daughter of King Alfonso VI of Leon. As part of the dowry he was given the County of Portucal, and the castle of Guimarães.

Afonso Henriques was born in 1109 in the city of Coimbra . The name Henriques meant Son of Henrique, his father. In 1109 Alfonso VI of Leon died and a power struggle begun between Dona Urraca, his legitimate daughter and Dona Teresa, which led to numerous wars.

However by 1112 Henry of Burgundy died, and his wife continued the struggle with her half-sister. She has by then sided with a Galician nobleman, her lover Count of Trava. Such association made her forget her duties to her son, and most of all, to the powerful archbishop of Braga.

This behaviour lead to the rebellion of Afonso Henriques which would defeat her mother's troops at S. Mamede, very near the Castle of Guimarães in 1128.
In fact, in 1122 at the very early age of 13, Afonso Henriques anticipates in seven centuries the act of Napoleon. He ignored the Cardinal at knighted himself at Zamora.

The rebellious young count took possession of the Castle of Guimarães, and from there he departed into fighting for his County, the Condado Portucalense. Here is a chronology of facts that will show his wit and will in shaping a country.
Afonso Henriques was one of the warrior heroes of medieval romance; his exploits were sung by troubadours throughout south-western Europe, and even in Africa "ibn Errik" (the son of Henry) was known and feared.

The annals of his reign are filled with feats among which the description of the Valdevez tournament, in which the Portuguese knights vanquished the champions of Leon and Castile.