Illustrious Generation (Portugal)
Encyclopedia
The Ínclita Geração is a term commonly used by Portuguese
historians to refer to a group of 15th C. infantes (princes) of the House of Aviz
, specifically the sons of King John I of Portugal
and his wife Philippa of Lancaster
(daughter of John of Gaunt). The princes are the future king Edward of Portugal, future regent Peter of Coimbra, Henry the Navigator, the constable John of Reguengos and the martyr Ferdinand the Saint Prince.
Some lists are expanded to include their sister:
and their older half-brother, the natural son of John I and Inês Peres
in his 16th C. epic Os Lusíadas
, (Canto IV, stanza 50) on the death of John I
:
and were knighted in the aftermath by their father, John I of Portugal
with arming sword
s supplied by their dying mother, Philippa of Lancaster
. They began receiving their lordships in the aftermath - e.g. in 1416, Peter was made duke of Coimbra
, Henry duke of Viseu
, etc. John I also began to seize control of the main military orders of Portugal by securing from the pope the appointment of his sons as their grand masters - John taking the Order of Santiago in 1418, Henry the Order of Christ
in 1420 and Ferdinand succeeding to his own Order of Aviz
. John I appointed young John to succeed his loyal lieutenant Nuno Álvares Pereira
as Constable of Portugal
(high miitary chief) in 1431.
Despite the high titles, John I maintained his sons under a tight leash, deploying them as deputies of his will, and not allowing them too much room for independent maneouver, responsibility or authority. It is probably as a result of this that, through the 1420s, the princes dedicated themselves to individual pursuits - Edward to philosophy, Peter to celebrated tours of Renaissance
Europe and Henry to his nautical charts. The 'illustrious' label of this generation refers in good part to the intellectual achievements of the princes during this period. It also justifies the inclusion of Isabella of Portugal in this list, as she helped transpose much of the Renaissance spirit and flair of the Burgundian
court back to stuffy Medieval Lisbon.
It is really only after the death of their father in 1433 that the princes came into their own. Now king, Edward of Portugal ran his court almost jointly with his brothers, who were his intimate counsellors. Edward generously handed out lucrative benefices and monopolies to his brothers, giving them the means for independent action. Flush with new grants, Henry the Navigator's naval expeditions kicked into high gear after 1433.
Disagreements over policy soon produced fraternal fissures. In 1436, Edward assembled the Cortes of Evora to consider the ambitious scheme proposed by Henry the Navigator to conquer Tangiers from Morocco. Peter of Coimbra and John of Reguengos argued vigorously against the plan, urging Edward to focus of domestic priorities, but Ferdinand the Saint backed Henry's plan. Against Edward's misgivings, the plan went forward, with Henry personally leading the expeditionary force in 1437. It was a fiasco. The Portuguese army was quickly surrounded and starved into submission. The humiliation was complete when Henry agreed to deliver Ceuta
back to the Marinid
s and left his youngest brother, Ferdinand as hostage for the fulfillment of the treaty. Despite Peter and John's entreaties, the Portuguese Cortes refused to ratify the treaty, and left Ferdinand to die in captivity in Fez, Morocco.
The Tangiers debacle and the harrowing fate of young Ferdinand probably contributed to Edward's premature death in 1438. The country was surprised by Edward's will, which appointed his consort Eleanor of Aragon, rather than his brothers, as regent
of the kingdom on behalf of his young son, the new king Afonso V of Portugal
. Many commoners believed the foreign-born Eleanor would be a pliable puppet of the Portuguese high aristocracy, who were itching to claw back the authority they lost to the burghers since the revolution of the 1380s
. The country seemed to be careening towards civil war, when John of Reguengos, in his capacity as constable, quickly seized control of the city of Lisbon
, and assembled a burgher-packed Cortes who promptly elected his brother and ally Peter of Coimbra as regent. The Portuguese high nobility, now rallied around the half-brother Afonso of Barcelos
, urged Eleanor to refuse to step down. The crisis was finally defused when Henry the Navigator offered to arbitrate between the parties, negotiating a tense power-sharing arrangement between Peter, Eleanor and Afonso. For many commoners, who were steadfast behind Peter and John and believed they had the upper hand, Henry's intervention was not welcome.
Despite the strange regency agreement, Peter of Coimbra quickly seized the lion's share of power, buying off noble opponents one by one, with promises of new titles and benefices (which he was not quick to fulfill). The death of John of Reguengos, Peter's loyal brother and ally in 1442, was a setback. But he quickly began to cultivate the support of the ambivalent Henry the Navigator, renewing and expanding his benefices, most notably granting him a lucrative monopoly on trade in Africa south of Cape Bojador in 1443. To seal his position and influence, Peter persuaded his nephew, the young king Afonso V, to marry his own daughter, Isabella of Coimbra, in 1445. By 1446, Peter felt confident enough to unveil his Afonsine Ordinances, a new Portuguese legal code uniting Visigothic, Roman and common law. The Portuguese burghers applauded the move, the high nobility were appalled and turned to the half-brother Afonso of Barcelos for redress.
Afonso of Barcelos
's tense relationship with Peter had turned decidedly for the worse after the death of John of Reguengos in 1442, when Peter decided to appoint John's son, Diogo of Portugal
, as the successor to his father's important titles of Constable of Portugal
and master of Santiago, titles which had been promised to Afonso of Barcelos and his sons. Things only got worse after Diogo's sudden death in 1443, when, once again, Peter overlooked Afonso and appointed his own son, Peter of Portugal
, as Constable. To appease Afonso of Barcelos, Peter of Coimbra created him the first Duke of Braganza
in 1443.
The Afonsine Ordinances of 1446 brought the bulk of the nobility to rally behind the discontented Afonso and urged him to do something about it. Afonso of Barcelos-Braganza set about ingragiating himself with the impressionable young king Afonso V of Portugal
, and soon displaced Peter as his favorite uncle.
In June 1448, Afonso V finally came of age, and dismissed Peter of Coimbra as regent. The machinations of Afonso of Braganza soon bore fruit when, in September of 1448, Afonso V nullified all of the edicts and laws passed under Peter's regency, and began rooting out Peter's appointees and passing their positions over to Braganza's men.
In 1449, Peter of Coimbra gathered his loyalists, knights and bureaucrats who had been dismissed by Afonso V's purge, and set out on what he claimed was a peaceful mass march on Lisbon, to protest the dismissals and petition the king to allow his men to defend themselves against the false accusations being lobbed at them in court. But Afonso of Braganza persuaded Afonso V that Peter intended to lay siege to the city and provoke a popular uprising by the overwhelmingly supportive burghers. The latter interpretation gained currency, and Afonso V declared Peter a rebel and outlaw, and led the royal army out to intercept his uncle's march. The armies met at the Battle of Alfarrobeira
in May 1449. It was not much of a battle - Peter of Coimbra was killed by missile fire near the start, and his 'army' quickly laid down their arms.
The victory of Afonso of Braganza and the rest of the nobility was now complete, and they remained high in the saddle through the rest of Afonso V's reign. In the aftermath, Henry the Navigator, the last surviving member of the illustrious generation, went into near-hermitical seclusion in Sagres
. Having allowed his household knights to join field with the king's army against Peter, Henry reputation as dynastic traitor was cemented in the popular mindset, thoroughly hated by Peter's partisans and the burghers. To the new order of Braganza and the high nobility, Henry was a useless relic, a quirky old man who liked to play with ships. Henry spent his last remaining years launching a new set of naval expeditions, stretching Portuguese discoveries as far as the Gold Coast
of west Africa. Henry died in 1460, a bachelor without heirs, largely unlamented, save perhaps by the Order of Christ, who's fortunes he had so enlarged.
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
historians to refer to a group of 15th C. infantes (princes) of the House of Aviz
House of Aviz
The House of Aviz is a dynasty of kings of Portugal. In 1385, the Interregnum of the 1383-1385 crisis ended with the acclamation of the Master of the Order of Aviz, John, natural son of king Peter I and Dona Teresa Lourenço as king...
, specifically the sons of King John I of Portugal
John I of Portugal
John I KG , called the Good or of Happy Memory, more rarely and outside Portugal the Bastard, was the tenth King of Portugal and the Algarve and the first to use the title Lord of Ceuta...
and his wife Philippa of Lancaster
Philippa of Lancaster
Philippa of Lancaster, LG was a Queen consort of Portugal. Born into the royal family of England, her marriage with King John I secured the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance and produced several famous children who became known as the "Illustrious Generation" in Portugal...
(daughter of John of Gaunt). The princes are the future king Edward of Portugal, future regent Peter of Coimbra, Henry the Navigator, the constable John of Reguengos and the martyr Ferdinand the Saint Prince.
Members
The illustrious generation is normally given as the five legitimate sons of John I and Philippa of Lancaster:- Infante D. Duarte (1391–1438), King Edward of Portugal, from 1433 to 1438.
- Infante D. Pedro (1392–1449), Peter of Coimbra, first Duke of CoimbraDuke of CoimbraDuke of Coimbra was an aristocratic Portuguese title with the level of Royal Dukedom, that is, associated with the Portuguese Royal House, created in 1415, by King John I of Portugal to the his 2nd. male son, Infante Pedro...
(f.1416), and regentRegentA regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
of Portugal from 1439 to 1448. - Infante D. Henrique (1394–1460), Prince Henry the Navigator, first Duke of ViseuDuke of ViseuDuke of Viseu was a Portuguese Royal Dukedom created in 1415 by King John I of Portugal for his third male child, Prince Henry the Navigator, following the conquest of Ceuta....
(f.1416), master of the Order of ChristOrder of Christ (Portugal)The Military Order of Christ previously the Royal Order of the Knights of Our Lord Jesus Christ was the heritage of the Knights Templar in Portugal, after the suppression of the Templars in 1312...
(f.1420), pioneer organizer of the Portuguese discoveriesPortuguese discoveriesPortuguese discoveries is the name given to the intensive maritime exploration by the Portuguese during the 15th and 16th centuries. Portuguese sailors were at the vanguard of European overseas exploration, discovering and mapping the coasts of Africa, Asia and Brazil, in what become known as the... - Infante D. Joao (1400–1442), Prince John of Reguengos, Master of the Portuguese Order of Santiago (f.1418) and Constable of PortugalConstable of PortugalConstable of Portugal or Constable of the Kingdom was a title created by the King of Portugal Ferdinand I in 1382, to substitute the title Alferes Mór do Reino. The constable was the second most powerful person in the kingdom, after the King of Portugal...
(f. 1431). - Infante D. Fernando (1402–1443), Ferdinand the Saint Prince, Master of the Order of AvizOrder of AvizThe Military Order of Aviz , previously to 1910 Royal Military Order of Aviz , previously to 1789 Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz , previously Knights of St. Benedict of Aviz or Friars of Santa Maria of Évora, is a Portuguese Order of Chivalry...
(f.1434) and martyrMartyrA martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
saintSaintA saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
of the Catholic Church.
Some lists are expanded to include their sister:
- Infanta D. Isabella (1397–1471), Isabella of Portugal, duchess of BurgundyDuchy of BurgundyThe Duchy of Burgundy , was heir to an ancient and prestigious reputation and a large division of the lands of the Second Kingdom of Burgundy and in its own right was one of the geographically larger ducal territories in the emergence of Early Modern Europe from Medieval Europe.Even in that...
(consort of duke Philip III the Good f. 1430)
and their older half-brother, the natural son of John I and Inês Peres
- D. Afonso (1377–1461), Afonso de BarcelosAfonso, 1st Duke of BraganzaDom Afonso I, the 1st Duke of Braganza was the eighth Count of Barcelos, the 2nd Count of Neiva, 2nd Lord of Faria and the first Duke of Braganza.-Origins:...
, co-regentRegentA regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
in the 1440s, first Duke of BraganzaDuke of BraganzaThe title Duke of Braganza in the House of Braganza is one of the most important titles in the peerage of Portugal. Since the House of Braganza acceded to the throne of Portugal in 1640, the male heir of the Portuguese Crown was known as the Duke of Braganza and Prince of Brazil until 1822, or...
(f.1443)
Origins of the label
The appellation Ínclita Geração was originally coined by Portuguese poet Luís de CamõesLuís de Camões
Luís Vaz de Camões is considered Portugal's and the Portuguese language's greatest poet. His mastery of verse has been compared to that of Shakespeare, Vondel, Homer, Virgil and Dante. He wrote a considerable amount of lyrical poetry and drama but is best remembered for his epic work Os Lusíadas...
in his 16th C. epic Os Lusíadas
Os Lusíadas
Os Lusíadas , usually translated as The Lusiads, is a Portuguese epic poem by Luís Vaz de Camões ....
, (Canto IV, stanza 50) on the death of John I
John I of Portugal
John I KG , called the Good or of Happy Memory, more rarely and outside Portugal the Bastard, was the tenth King of Portugal and the Algarve and the first to use the title Lord of Ceuta...
:
| Original Portuguese | Literal English Translation |
|---|---|
Não consentiu a morte tantos anos Que de Herói tão ditoso se lograsse Portugal, mas os coros soberanos Do Céu supremo quis que povoasse. Mas, pera defensão dos Lusitanos, Deixou Quem o levou, quem governasse E aumentasse a terra mais que dantes: Ínclita geração, altos Infantes. |
Death did not consent that for so many years Portugal could enjoy that felicitous Hero, but the sovereign choirs of the supreme Heaven wanted him among themselves, But for the defense of the Lusitanians, He who removed him, left behind those that would govern and augment the land more than ever : Illustrious generation, high Royal Princes. |
Relationships
According to the chronicler Gomes Eanes de Zurara, all the brothers participated in the 1415 Conquest of CeutaBattle of Ceuta
The Battle of Ceuta and the subsequent conquest of the Wattasid city of Ceuta by the Portuguese had its roots in the earliest years of the House of Aviz dynasty of Portugal...
and were knighted in the aftermath by their father, John I of Portugal
John I of Portugal
John I KG , called the Good or of Happy Memory, more rarely and outside Portugal the Bastard, was the tenth King of Portugal and the Algarve and the first to use the title Lord of Ceuta...
with arming sword
Arming sword
The arming sword is the single handed cruciform sword of the High Middle Ages, in common use between ca. 1000 and 1500, possibly remaining in rare use into the 16th century...
s supplied by their dying mother, Philippa of Lancaster
Philippa of Lancaster
Philippa of Lancaster, LG was a Queen consort of Portugal. Born into the royal family of England, her marriage with King John I secured the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance and produced several famous children who became known as the "Illustrious Generation" in Portugal...
. They began receiving their lordships in the aftermath - e.g. in 1416, Peter was made duke of Coimbra
Duke of Coimbra
Duke of Coimbra was an aristocratic Portuguese title with the level of Royal Dukedom, that is, associated with the Portuguese Royal House, created in 1415, by King John I of Portugal to the his 2nd. male son, Infante Pedro...
, Henry duke of Viseu
Duke of Viseu
Duke of Viseu was a Portuguese Royal Dukedom created in 1415 by King John I of Portugal for his third male child, Prince Henry the Navigator, following the conquest of Ceuta....
, etc. John I also began to seize control of the main military orders of Portugal by securing from the pope the appointment of his sons as their grand masters - John taking the Order of Santiago in 1418, Henry the Order of Christ
Order of Christ (Portugal)
The Military Order of Christ previously the Royal Order of the Knights of Our Lord Jesus Christ was the heritage of the Knights Templar in Portugal, after the suppression of the Templars in 1312...
in 1420 and Ferdinand succeeding to his own Order of Aviz
Order of Aviz
The Military Order of Aviz , previously to 1910 Royal Military Order of Aviz , previously to 1789 Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz , previously Knights of St. Benedict of Aviz or Friars of Santa Maria of Évora, is a Portuguese Order of Chivalry...
. John I appointed young John to succeed his loyal lieutenant Nuno Álvares Pereira
Nuno Álvares Pereira
Dom Nuno Álvares Pereira, O. Carm. , also spelled Nun'Álvares Pereira, was a Portuguese general of great success who had a decisive role in the 1383-1385 Crisis that assured Portugal's independence from Castile...
as Constable of Portugal
Constable of Portugal
Constable of Portugal or Constable of the Kingdom was a title created by the King of Portugal Ferdinand I in 1382, to substitute the title Alferes Mór do Reino. The constable was the second most powerful person in the kingdom, after the King of Portugal...
(high miitary chief) in 1431.
Despite the high titles, John I maintained his sons under a tight leash, deploying them as deputies of his will, and not allowing them too much room for independent maneouver, responsibility or authority. It is probably as a result of this that, through the 1420s, the princes dedicated themselves to individual pursuits - Edward to philosophy, Peter to celebrated tours of Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
Europe and Henry to his nautical charts. The 'illustrious' label of this generation refers in good part to the intellectual achievements of the princes during this period. It also justifies the inclusion of Isabella of Portugal in this list, as she helped transpose much of the Renaissance spirit and flair of the Burgundian
Duchy of Burgundy
The Duchy of Burgundy , was heir to an ancient and prestigious reputation and a large division of the lands of the Second Kingdom of Burgundy and in its own right was one of the geographically larger ducal territories in the emergence of Early Modern Europe from Medieval Europe.Even in that...
court back to stuffy Medieval Lisbon.
It is really only after the death of their father in 1433 that the princes came into their own. Now king, Edward of Portugal ran his court almost jointly with his brothers, who were his intimate counsellors. Edward generously handed out lucrative benefices and monopolies to his brothers, giving them the means for independent action. Flush with new grants, Henry the Navigator's naval expeditions kicked into high gear after 1433.
Disagreements over policy soon produced fraternal fissures. In 1436, Edward assembled the Cortes of Evora to consider the ambitious scheme proposed by Henry the Navigator to conquer Tangiers from Morocco. Peter of Coimbra and John of Reguengos argued vigorously against the plan, urging Edward to focus of domestic priorities, but Ferdinand the Saint backed Henry's plan. Against Edward's misgivings, the plan went forward, with Henry personally leading the expeditionary force in 1437. It was a fiasco. The Portuguese army was quickly surrounded and starved into submission. The humiliation was complete when Henry agreed to deliver Ceuta
Ceuta
Ceuta is an autonomous city of Spain and an exclave located on the north coast of North Africa surrounded by Morocco. Separated from the Iberian peninsula by the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta lies on the border of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta along with the other Spanish...
back to the Marinid
Marinid
The Marinid dynasty or Benemerine dynasty was a Zenata Berber dynasty of Morocco. The Marinid dynasty overtook the Almohads in controlling Morocco in 1244. They controlled most of the Maghreb from the mid-14th century to the 15th century and supported the Kingdom of Granada in Al-Andalus in the...
s and left his youngest brother, Ferdinand as hostage for the fulfillment of the treaty. Despite Peter and John's entreaties, the Portuguese Cortes refused to ratify the treaty, and left Ferdinand to die in captivity in Fez, Morocco.
The Tangiers debacle and the harrowing fate of young Ferdinand probably contributed to Edward's premature death in 1438. The country was surprised by Edward's will, which appointed his consort Eleanor of Aragon, rather than his brothers, as regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
of the kingdom on behalf of his young son, the new king Afonso V of Portugal
Afonso V of Portugal
Afonso V KG , called the African , was the twelfth King of Portugal and the Algarves. His sobriquet refers to his conquests in Northern Africa.-Early life:...
. Many commoners believed the foreign-born Eleanor would be a pliable puppet of the Portuguese high aristocracy, who were itching to claw back the authority they lost to the burghers since the revolution of the 1380s
1383–1385 Crisis
The 1383–1385 Crisis was a period of civil war in Portuguese history that began with the death of King Ferdinand I of Portugal, who left no male heirs, and ended with the accession to the throne of King John I in 1385, in the wake of the Battle of Aljubarrota.In Portugal, this period is also known...
. The country seemed to be careening towards civil war, when John of Reguengos, in his capacity as constable, quickly seized control of the city of Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, and assembled a burgher-packed Cortes who promptly elected his brother and ally Peter of Coimbra as regent. The Portuguese high nobility, now rallied around the half-brother Afonso of Barcelos
Afonso, 1st Duke of Braganza
Dom Afonso I, the 1st Duke of Braganza was the eighth Count of Barcelos, the 2nd Count of Neiva, 2nd Lord of Faria and the first Duke of Braganza.-Origins:...
, urged Eleanor to refuse to step down. The crisis was finally defused when Henry the Navigator offered to arbitrate between the parties, negotiating a tense power-sharing arrangement between Peter, Eleanor and Afonso. For many commoners, who were steadfast behind Peter and John and believed they had the upper hand, Henry's intervention was not welcome.
Despite the strange regency agreement, Peter of Coimbra quickly seized the lion's share of power, buying off noble opponents one by one, with promises of new titles and benefices (which he was not quick to fulfill). The death of John of Reguengos, Peter's loyal brother and ally in 1442, was a setback. But he quickly began to cultivate the support of the ambivalent Henry the Navigator, renewing and expanding his benefices, most notably granting him a lucrative monopoly on trade in Africa south of Cape Bojador in 1443. To seal his position and influence, Peter persuaded his nephew, the young king Afonso V, to marry his own daughter, Isabella of Coimbra, in 1445. By 1446, Peter felt confident enough to unveil his Afonsine Ordinances, a new Portuguese legal code uniting Visigothic, Roman and common law. The Portuguese burghers applauded the move, the high nobility were appalled and turned to the half-brother Afonso of Barcelos for redress.
Afonso of Barcelos
Afonso, 1st Duke of Braganza
Dom Afonso I, the 1st Duke of Braganza was the eighth Count of Barcelos, the 2nd Count of Neiva, 2nd Lord of Faria and the first Duke of Braganza.-Origins:...
's tense relationship with Peter had turned decidedly for the worse after the death of John of Reguengos in 1442, when Peter decided to appoint John's son, Diogo of Portugal
Diogo of Portugal
Diogo of Portugal was a Portuguese infante, son of John, Lord of Reguengos de Monsaraz, infante of Portugal, and of his wife Isabella of Braganza...
, as the successor to his father's important titles of Constable of Portugal
Constable of Portugal
Constable of Portugal or Constable of the Kingdom was a title created by the King of Portugal Ferdinand I in 1382, to substitute the title Alferes Mór do Reino. The constable was the second most powerful person in the kingdom, after the King of Portugal...
and master of Santiago, titles which had been promised to Afonso of Barcelos and his sons. Things only got worse after Diogo's sudden death in 1443, when, once again, Peter overlooked Afonso and appointed his own son, Peter of Portugal
Peter V of Aragon
Peter V of Aragon , Infante of Portugal, Constable of Portugal and Grand Master of the Order of Aviz.He was son of Infante Peter, Duke of Coimbra, and Isabella of Aragon, Countess of Urgel, and grandson of John I of Portugal.During the War Against John II, between 1463 and 1466 Peter was King of...
, as Constable. To appease Afonso of Barcelos, Peter of Coimbra created him the first Duke of Braganza
Duke of Braganza
The title Duke of Braganza in the House of Braganza is one of the most important titles in the peerage of Portugal. Since the House of Braganza acceded to the throne of Portugal in 1640, the male heir of the Portuguese Crown was known as the Duke of Braganza and Prince of Brazil until 1822, or...
in 1443.
The Afonsine Ordinances of 1446 brought the bulk of the nobility to rally behind the discontented Afonso and urged him to do something about it. Afonso of Barcelos-Braganza set about ingragiating himself with the impressionable young king Afonso V of Portugal
Afonso V of Portugal
Afonso V KG , called the African , was the twelfth King of Portugal and the Algarves. His sobriquet refers to his conquests in Northern Africa.-Early life:...
, and soon displaced Peter as his favorite uncle.
In June 1448, Afonso V finally came of age, and dismissed Peter of Coimbra as regent. The machinations of Afonso of Braganza soon bore fruit when, in September of 1448, Afonso V nullified all of the edicts and laws passed under Peter's regency, and began rooting out Peter's appointees and passing their positions over to Braganza's men.
In 1449, Peter of Coimbra gathered his loyalists, knights and bureaucrats who had been dismissed by Afonso V's purge, and set out on what he claimed was a peaceful mass march on Lisbon, to protest the dismissals and petition the king to allow his men to defend themselves against the false accusations being lobbed at them in court. But Afonso of Braganza persuaded Afonso V that Peter intended to lay siege to the city and provoke a popular uprising by the overwhelmingly supportive burghers. The latter interpretation gained currency, and Afonso V declared Peter a rebel and outlaw, and led the royal army out to intercept his uncle's march. The armies met at the Battle of Alfarrobeira
Battle of Alfarrobeira
The Battle of Alfarrobeira took place on 20 May 1449. It was a confrontation between the forces commanded by King Afonso V of Portugal and his uncle Afonso, Duke of Braganza, against the army of the rebellious Pedro, Duke of Coimbra. The place was Alverca do Ribatejo, near Lisbon, at the margins...
in May 1449. It was not much of a battle - Peter of Coimbra was killed by missile fire near the start, and his 'army' quickly laid down their arms.
The victory of Afonso of Braganza and the rest of the nobility was now complete, and they remained high in the saddle through the rest of Afonso V's reign. In the aftermath, Henry the Navigator, the last surviving member of the illustrious generation, went into near-hermitical seclusion in Sagres
Sagres, Portugal
Sagres is a town located in the municipality of Vila do Bispo, Algarve, Portugal. It has a surface of 34,28 km² and a population of 1 939 . Sagres Point, historically connected to the Portuguese Age of Discovery, is located there....
. Having allowed his household knights to join field with the king's army against Peter, Henry reputation as dynastic traitor was cemented in the popular mindset, thoroughly hated by Peter's partisans and the burghers. To the new order of Braganza and the high nobility, Henry was a useless relic, a quirky old man who liked to play with ships. Henry spent his last remaining years launching a new set of naval expeditions, stretching Portuguese discoveries as far as the Gold Coast
Gold Coast (region)
The Gold Coast was the region of West Africa which is now the nation of Ghana. Early uses of the term refer literally to the coast and not the interior. It was not until the 19th century that the term came to refer to areas that are far from the coast...
of west Africa. Henry died in 1460, a bachelor without heirs, largely unlamented, save perhaps by the Order of Christ, who's fortunes he had so enlarged.
Sources
- Gomes Eanes de Zurara (1450) Chronica de el-rei D. João I [1899-1900 edition, Lisbon: Escriptorio.vol. 1, vol. 2, vol. 3
- Gomes Eanes de Zurara (1453) Crónica dos feitos notáveis que se passaram na Conquista da Guiné por mandado do Infante D. Henrique or Chronica do descobrimento e conquista da Guiné. [Trans. 1896-99 by C.R. Beazley and E. Prestage, The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea, London: Halyut, v.1, v.2
- Diffie, Bailey W., and George D. Winius (1977) Foundations of the Portuguese empire, 1415-1580 Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press
- Russell, P.E. (2001) Prince Henry 'the Navigator: a life New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press.