A Brief History of Every King of Portugal: The Second Dynasty (House of Avis)

[See also: A Brief History of Every King of Portugal: The First Dynasty (House of Burgundy)] The Interregnum [1383-1385] The first post in this series ended in a cliffhanger in 1383. D. Fernando, the last Portuguese King of the House of Burgundy, had just died without a male heir. His only daughter, D. Beatriz, was

Out of the Mist [announcement]

On 5th August 1578, the Portuguese king D. Sebastião led his armies into the Battle of Alcácer-Quibir, known in Morocco as the Battle of the Three Kings. There the flower of Portuguese nobility perished, and the King was lost to History. The crisis triggered by this national catastrophe would soon lead to the loss of

How I accidentally became British

I came to the UK to do my PhD, back in 2014. At the time, Portuguese politics were still very much dominated by the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis; and every time someone my age announced their intention to go abroad someone would inevitably bring up that one time that our then Prime Minister

Portuguese Independence: The emergence of a kingdom

A few days ago it was the 5th of October, the Portuguese holiday which celebrates the institution of our First Republic. Curiously, it is a little-known fact that this is also the day associated with the most famous date in Portuguese History: 1143, the year of Portugal’s independence (and thus ironically also of the institution

Mea Culpa: The oldest borders in Europe (and in the World)

Dear most excellent reader, I write to you today as an act of contrition. I have sinned against Rigour and against you. I have proved undeserving of your trust. I have no excuse, so I don the proverbial hairshirt and shall do my utmost to mortify my pride as a collector of facts about Portugal

A Brief History of Every King of Portugal: The First Dynasty (House of Burgundy)

There is something curious about the relationship between monarchies, national identities, and the passage of time. Even if you know that monarchies have systematically sought to promote narratives where national identities are inextricably connected to their lineage – where the person of the monarch is conveniently presented as a link between the present and the

What’s in a surname?

Recently, I had to call 111 with a minor question about my little one1. Since 111 isn’t actually for emergencies, when you call it can take a few minutes before you get to actually pose your question – especially these days when you have to endure about three minutes of Covid-related recordings. This time, it

The Prince of Poets

Today we consider one of the greatest Portuguese geniuses of all time, of whom most non-Portuguese speakers have sadly never heard. Today, June 10, Portugal celebrates a triple holiday: the day of Portugal, Camões, and the Portuguese Communities. This is enough to show how central Luís Vaz de Camões, the Portuguese national poet, is to

The Carnations Revolution and a Doctorate’s Conclusion

Yesterday was the 25th of April, celebrated in Portugal as Freedom Day. It celebrates a revolution that took place 46 years ago today and marks a watershed in modern Portuguese history. It is also the anniversary of my viva (a.k.a. Ph.D. defence), which made it seem like a good excuse to kick things off around