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

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

Day Zero

Today was the day before the West died – The West the Tall and Proud and Fearless – followed by his twin – The West the Kind and Open and Fearless… Amid the rubble, blinded by smoke, frantically searching underneath debris – there remained The West the Orphan, the strong and fearful The West the