Kingdom of Portugal

(Toda part of central and northern Portugal)

His successor Afonso Henriques (ruled 1143 – 1185) had made use of the disorder in the Kingdom of Leon and Castile, and named himself an independent ruler, and in mid-12^th century, he had raised the County of Portugal to the status of kingdom. He had named the well fortified city of Guimaraes his seat, near the archdiocese center in Braga. In the Crusades against the Moors, he had won the southern parts, together with the city of Lisbon, onto which he had extended the name of Portugal. Afonso had asked for the papal recognition of his newly-founded kingdom, presenting it as a form of war legitimated by God. At the same time, he and his successors had fought against the rulers of Castile in the north.

 The Portuguese Reconquista and the expansion of the state towards the south will end in the 13^th century, after the wars had thoroughly ravaged the land after a long period of the Muslim peace. Portuguese society, with its prominently powerful Church and Inquisition, had, for centuries thereafter, been divided into the agrarian north, dominated by the feudal hierarchy of social relations, the manufacturing and mercantile middle part, and the south, which was dominated by religious knightly orders. The Order of Aviz, in particular, had played a great part in the Reconquista. They were founded in mid-12^th century, but had got their name for the fortress of Aviz, which they had gained at the beginning of the 13^th century. The Grand Master of the Order shall also found the royal dynasty of Aviz, which will rule Portugal from 1385 to 1580.