Timeline of Portuguese history (First County)

This is a historical timeline of Portugal.

First County of Portugal

9th century

• 868 - Establishment of the 1st County of Portugal, a fiefdom of the Kingdom of Asturias, by count Vímara Peres, after the reconquest from the Moors of the region between the Minho and Douro Rivers. Count Vímara Peres founded the fortified city that bears his own name Vimaranis, later Guimaranis, present day Guimarães, considered "The Cradle City" of Portugal.
• 873 - Vímara Peres dies and his son Lucídio Vimaranes becomes Count of Portugal. After his death the county passes to the hand of count Diogo Fernandes.
• 871 - The city of Coimbra is reconquered from the Moors. Hermenegildo Mendes is made Count of Coimbra.
• 878 - The region of Coimbra (today, Central Portugal) is incorporated in the Kingdom of Asturias by the Count Hermenegildo Guterres.
• 886 - Al-Mundhir becomes Umayyad Emir of Córdoba.
• 888 - Abdallah ibn Muhammad becomes Umayyad Emir of Córdoba.

10th century

• 909 - Alfonso III of Asturias is deposed by his sons yet also proclaimed Emperor.
• 910
  • Alfonso III of Asturias dies and his kingdom is divided among his sons into the dependent kingdoms of Astúrias, León and Galicia.
  • Ordoño II becomes King of Galicia with the support of the Count of Portugal.
• 911 - Count Hermenegildo Guterres of Coimbra, successor of Count Hermenegildo Mendes, dies and his son Arias Mendes becomes Count of Coimbra.
• 912 - Abd al-Rahman III becomes the Umayyad Emir of Córdoba.
• 913 - An expedition commanded by Ordoño II, then vassal king of Galicia, into Muslim territory takes Évora from the Muslims.
• 914
  • Ordoño II of Galicia, becomes King of León, after the death of his brother García I of León.
  • The capital city of the Kingdom of Asturias is moved from Oviedo to León, from now on Kingdom of León.
• 916 - Ordoño II of León is defeated by the Emir Abd al-Rahman III in Valdejunquera.
• 918
  • Battle of Talavera where Muslims under Abd al-Rahman III defeat the Christians.
  • Pope John X recognizes the orthodoxy and legitimacy of the Visigothic Liturgy maintained in the Mozarabic rite.
• 924 - Fruela II becomes King of León.
• 925
  • Sancho Ordonhes, son of Ordoño II of León, becomes vassal king of Galicia until 929.
  • Alfonso IV becomes King of León.
  • Ramiro II, son of Ordoño II of León, was the first to bear the title King of Portuguese Land.
• 926
  • Ramiro II takes residency in the city of Viseu.
  • Mendo I Gonçalves (also known as Hermenegildo Gonçalves, son of Count Gonçalo of Galicia) marries Mumadona Dias (daughter of Onega Lucides and Diogo Fernandes) and becomes Count of Portugal.
  • The Umayyad Emir Abd al-Rahman III, faced with the threat of invasion by the Fatimids, proclaims himself Caliph of Córdoba. Under the reign of Abd al-Rahman III Muslim Al-Andalus reaches its greatest height before its slow decline over the next four centuries.
• 928 - Gonçalo Moniz, grandson of Count Arias Mendes of Coimbra, becomes Count of Coimbra.
• 929 - Abd al-Rahman III proclaims himself Caliph in Córdoba and transforms the Emirate of Córdoba into an independent caliphate no longer under even theoretical control from Baghdad.
• 930 - Ramiro II leaves his residency in Viseu.
• 931 - Ramiro II becomes King of León.
• 938 - First document where the word Portugal is written in its present form.
• 946 - The county of Castile becomes independent.
• 950
  • Countess Mumadona Dias of Portugal divides amongst her sons her the vast domains, upon the death of her husband Count Mendo I Gonçalves.
  • Gonçalo I Mendes, son of Mumadona Dias and Mendo I Gonçalves, becomes Count of Portugal.
  • Ordoño III becomes King of León.
• 953 - Big Moorish incursion in Galicia.
• 955 - Ordoño III of León attacks Lisbon.
• 956 - Sancho I becomes King of León.
• 958
  • Sancho I of León is deposed.
  • Ordoño IV becomes King of León.
• 959 - Countess Mumadona Dias donates vast estates to the Monastery of St. Mamede in Guimarães.
• 960 - Sancho I of León is reinstated as King of León.
• 961 - Al-Hakam II becomes Umayyad Caliph of Córdoba.
• 962 - Count Gonçalo I Mendes of Portugal rebels against Sancho I of León.
• 966
  • Count Gonçalo Moniz of Coimbra rebels against Sancho I of León.
  • Vikings raid Galicia and kill the bishop of Santiago de Compostela in battle, but his successor St. Rudesind rallies the local forces and kills the Viking King Gundered.
• 967 - Ramiro III becomes King of León.
• 971 - Another minor Viking raid in Galicia.
• 976 - Caliph Al-Hakam II dies, and Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir takes over in the name of his protégé Hisham II, becoming a military dictator usurping caliphal powers and launching a big number of offensive campaigns against the Christians.
• 981 - Count Gonçalo Moniz of Coimbra dies.
• 982 - Bermudo II becomes King of León, having been acclaimed by the Counts of Galicia and anointed in Santiago de Compostela.
• 987
  • Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir lays waste to the now Christian Coimbra.
  • Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir seizes the castles north of the Douro River, and arrives at the city of Santiago de Compostela. The city had been evacuated and Al-Mansur burns it to the ground and destroys the Church of Santiago.
  • Count Gonçalo I Mendes takes the personal title Magnus Dux Portucalensium (Grand-Duke of Portucale) and rebels against King Bermudo II of León, being defeated.
• 999
  • Alfonso V becomes King of León.
  • Mendo II Gonçalves, son (or grandson?) of Gonçalo I Mendes and Tuta, becomes Count of Portugal.
  • Countess Mumadona Dias dies.

11th century

• 1002 - Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir dies in the village of Salem.
• 1003 - Moors lay waste to the city of León.
• 1008
  • Vikings raid Galicia, killing Count Mendo II Gonçalves of Portugal.
  • Alvito Nunes, of a collateral line but also descent of Vímara Peres, married to Countess Tudadomna, becomes Count of Portugal.
  • Hisham II, Umayyad Caliph of Córdoba, is deposed in a popular uprising led by Muhammad II al-Mahdi.
  • Mohammed II al-Mahdi becomes Umayyad Caliph of Córdoba.
• 1009
  • Sulaiman al-Mustain becomes Umayyad Caliph of Córdoba, after deposing Mohammed II.
  • The Taifa (independent Moorish kingdom) of Badajoz becomes independent of the Caliph of Córdoba and governs the territory between Coimbra and North Alentejo.
• 1010 - Hisham II is restored as Umayyad Caliph of Córdoba by slave troops of the Caliphate under al-Wahdid.
• 1012 - Sulaiman al-Mustain is restored as Umayyad Caliph of Córdoba by the Berber armies.
• 1013 - Caliphate of Córdoba begins to break up. Berber troops take Córdoba with much plundering and destruction and kill the deposed Hisham II. Many Taifas (independent Moorish kingdoms) begin to spring up.
• 1016 - Norman invaders ascend the Minho river and destroy Tuy in Galicia.
• 1017 - Nuno I Alvites, son of Alvito Nunes and Tudadomna, becomes Count of Portugal. He marries Ilduara Mendes, daughter of Mendo II Gonçalves and Tuta.
• 1018 - The Taifa of the Algarve becomes independent.
• 1021 - Abd-ar-Rahman IV becomes Umayyad Caliph of Córdoba.
• 1022
  • Abd-ar-Rahman V becomes Umayyad Caliph of Córdoba.
  • The Taifa (independent Moorish kingdom) of Lisbon emerges. It will be annexed by the Taifa of Badajoz.
• 1023 - Muhammad III becomes Umayyad Caliph of Córdoba.
• 1025 - Abu al-Qasim Muhammad ibn Abbad, Abbadid Emir of Seville, captures two castles at Alafões to the north-west of Viseu.
• 1027 - Hisham III becomes Umayyad Caliph of Córdoba.
• 1028
  • Mendo III Nunes, son of Nuno I Alvites and Ilduara Mendes, becomes Count of Portugal.
  • Alfonso V, king of Asturias and León, lays siege to Viseu but is killed by a bolt from the walls.
  • Bermudo III, becomes King of León.
• 1031
  • Sancho III of Navarre declares war on Bermudo III of León. Navarre, sometimes assisted by Galician rebels and Normans, ravages the lands around Lugo in Galicia.
  • The Moorish Caliphate of Córdoba falls.
• 1033 - The Taifa (independent Moorish kingdom) of Mértola becomes independent.
• 1034
  • The Leonese destroy a raiding force under Ismail ibn Abbad of Seville. Ismail ibn Abbad flees to Lisbon.
  • Gonçalo Trastemires - a Portuguese frontiersman - captures Montemor castle on the Mondego river.
  • By 1034, Sancho the Great of Navarre had incorporated Aragon, Sobrarbe, Barcelona, as well as Asturias, León and Castile, and he proclaims himself Rex Hispaniarum ("King of all Spains").
• 1035
  • Sancho III of Navarre, Aragon and Castile dies and distributes his lands among his three sons; Castile and Aragon become kingdoms.
  • Bermudo III of León defeats the Moors in César, in the Aveiro region.
• 1037 – Ferdinand of Castile, son of Sancho III of Navarre, acquires the Kingdom of León in the Battle of Tamarón. The first Castilian king, Ferdinand I, defeats and kills his father-in-law, Bermudo III of León, thus inheriting his kingdom.
• 1039 – Ferdinand I of Castille-León proclaims himself Emperor of all Hispania.
• 1040 - The Taifa of Silves becomes independent.
• 1044 - Abbad III al-Mu'tamid, son of the Abbadid Emir of Seville Abbad II al-Mu'tadid, retakes Mértola, since 1033 an independent Taifa.
• 1050
  • Count Mendo III Nunes of Portugal is killed in battle sometime during this period.
  • Nuno II Mendes, son of Count Mendo III Nunes, becomes Count of Portugal.
• 1051 - The Taifa of the Algarve is annexed by the Taifa of Seville.
• 1056 - The Almoravides (al-Murabitun) Dynasty begins its rise to power. Taking the name "those who line up in defence of the faith", this is a group of fundamentalist Berber Muslims who would rule North Africa and Islamic Iberia until 1147.
• 1057 - Ferdinand I of Castille-León conquers Lamego to the Moors.
• 1058 - Emir Al-Muzaffar al-Aftas (Abu Bekr Muhammad al-Mudaffar - Modafar I of Badajoz, Aftid dynasty) pays the Christians to leave Badajoz, but not before Viseu being conquered by Ferdinand I of Castile-León.
• 1060–1063 - Council (Ecumenical Synod) of Santiago de Compostela.
• 1063
  • Ferdinand I of Castile-León divides his kingdom among his sons. Galicia is allotted to his son Garcia.
  • The Taifa of Silves is annexed by the Taifa of Seville.
• 1064
  • Ferdinand I of León-Castile besieges Muslim Coimbra from 20 January until 9 July . The Muslim governor who surrendered is allowed to leave with his family, but 5,000 inhabitants are taken captive, and all Muslims are forced out of Portuguese territory across the Mondego river.
  • The Mozarabic (Christian) general Sisnando Davides, who led the siege of Coimbra, becomes Count of Coimbra.
  • The Hispanic calendar is adopted.
• 1065 - Independence of the Kingdom of Galicia and Portugal is proclaimed under the rule of Garcia II of Galicia.
• 1070 - Count Nuno II Mendes of Portugal rises against King Garcia II of Galicia.
• 1071 - Garcia II of Galicia became the first to use the title King of Portugal, when he defeated, in the Battle of Pedroso (near Braga), Count Nuno II Mendes, last count of Portugal of the Vímara Peres House.
• 1072 - Loss of independence of the Kingdom of Galicia and Portugal, forcibly reannexed by Garcia's brother king Alfonso VI of Castile. From that time on Galicia remained part of the Kingdom of Castile and León, although under differing degrees of self-government. Even if it did not last for very long, the Kingdom set the stage for future Portuguese independence under Henry, Count of Portugal.

See also

• Timeline of Portuguese history
  • Al'Garb Al'Andalus and the beginning of the Reconquista (8th to 9th century)
  • Second County of Portugal (11th to 12th century)