County of Portugal

Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. It is an unitary semi-presidential republic composed by continental Portugal and two autonomous regions, with Lisbon as both its capital and largest city. The continental portion borders Spain to the north and east, with Madeira and the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean. It features the westernmost point in continental Europe.

The western Iberian Peninsula has been continuously inhabited since prehistoric times, with the earliest signs of settlement dating to 5500 BC. Celtic and Iberian peoples arrived in the first millennium BC. The region came under Roman control in the second century BC. A succession of Germanic peoples and the Alans ruled from the fifth to eighth centuries AD. Muslims invaded mainland Portugal in the eighth century, but were gradually expelled by the Christian Reconquista, culminating with the capture of the Algarve between 1238 and 1249. Modern Portugal began taking shape during this period, initially as a county of the Christian Kingdom of León in 868, and formally as a sovereign kingdom with the Manifestis Probatum in 1179.

Portuguese (endonym: português or língua portuguesa) is a Western Romance language of the Indo-European language family originating from the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. It is spoken chiefly in Brazil, Portugal, and several countries in Africa, as well as by immigrants in North America, Europe, and South America. With approximately 267 million speakers, it is listed as the fifth-most spoken native language.

Portuguese-speaking people or nations are known as Lusophone (lusófono). As a result of expansion during colonial times, a cultural presence of Portuguese speakers is also found around the world. Portuguese is part of the Ibero-Romance group, which evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia and the County of Portugal, and has retained some Celtic phonology.

The Kingdom of Portugal was a monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between the mid-12th century and the early 20th century, it was also known as the Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves after 1471, and was the main constituent of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves, which existed between 1815 and 1822. It coexisted with the Portuguese Empire, the realm's overseas colonies.

The nucleus of the Portuguese state was the County of Portugal, established in the 9th century as part of the Reconquista by Vímara Peres, a vassal of the King of Asturias. The county became part of the Kingdom of León in 1097, and the Counts of Portugal established themselves as rulers of an independent kingdom in the 12th century, following the Battle of São Mamede. The kingdom was ruled by the Afonsine Dynasty until the 1383–85 Crisis, after which the monarchy passed to the House of Aviz.

Portuguese participation in the Reconquista occurred from when the County of Portugal was founded in 868 and continued for 381 years until the last cities still in Muslim control in the Algarve were captured in 1249. Portugal was created during this prolonged process and largely owes its geographic form to it.

The Portuguese Reconquista involved the participation of north European crusaders passing through Portuguese coasts en route to the Holy Land, such as Englishmen, French, Flemings, Normans and Germans, most notably at the conquest of Lisbon in 1147, but also in 1142, 1154, 1189, 1191 and 1217. Many settled in Portugal at the invitation of king Afonso I or his son and successor Sancho I.

The Portuguese people (Portuguese: Portugueses – masculine – or Portuguesas) are a Romance-speaking ethnic group and nation indigenous to Portugal, a country that occupies the west side of the Iberian Peninsula in south-west Europe, who share culture, ancestry and language.

The Portuguese state began with the founding of the County of Portugal in 868. Following the Battle of São Mamede (1128), Portugal gained international recognition as a kingdom through the Treaty of Zamora and the papal bull Manifestis Probatum. This Portuguese state paved the way for the Portuguese people to unite as a nation.

Vímara Peres (died in Galicia, 873) was a ninth-century nobleman who served as the first Count of Portugal.

The Portuguese House of Burgundy (Portuguese: Casa de Borgonha) was a Portuguese noble house that ruled the County and later Kingdom of Portugal from its founding until the 1383–85 Portuguese Interregnum.

The house was founded by Henry of Burgundy, who became Count of Portugal in 1096. His son, Afonso Henriques, was proclaimed King of Portugal following his victory at the Battle of Ourique in 1139, establishing the Afonsine dynasty (Dinastia Afonsina). Burgundian monarchs would rule Portugal through much of its early formation, including the formalization of the Portuguese language under King Dinis I, the first Portuguese parliament, under King Afonso II, and the conquest of the Kingdom of the Algarve, under King Afonso III. Numerous princes of the house took up thrones across Europe, such as Ferdinand I, Count of Flanders and Peter I, Count of Urgell. Similarly, many princesses became royal consorts, including Berengaria, Queen of Denmark, Leonor, Queen of Aragon, and Teresa, Duchess of Burgundy, among others.