Lisbon History
A new chapter in the history of Lisbon was written with the social revolution of the 1383-1385 Crisis. This was a time of civil war in Portugal when no crowned king reigned. It began when King Ferdinand I of Portugal died without male heirs, and his kingdom ostensibly passed to the King of Castile, John […]
Afonso I granted Lisbon a Foral in 1179, and tried to restore the city’s commercial connections by inaugurating a major new fair or market. Consequently, the Portuguese merchants, Christian and Jewish, not only reestablished some of the old trade links of al-Us̲h̲būna with Seville and Cádiz, and in the Mediterranean with Constantinople, but also opened […]
Internal dissensions eventually divided the loyalties of the kingdoms in al-Andalus of the 11th century; the collapse of the Caliphate of Córdoba in 1031 led to a period of smaller successor states (taifas), while the Kingdom of León lying directly to the north was ceded the county of Portugal. The history of the county is […]
The prosperity of Lisbon was threatened when the Ottoman Empire invaded and conquered the Arab territories of North Africa, Egypt and the Middle East in the 15th century. The Turks were initially hostile to the interests of Lisbon and its allies in Venice and Genoa; consequently the trade in spices, gold, ivory and other goods […]
Recent archaeological finds show that Lisbon grew around a pre-Roman settlement on the hill of the Castelo de São Jorge, as its ancient name, Olissipo, indicates.During the Second Punic War, Mago, the younger brother of Hannibal Barca, was stationed with his troops among the Cynetes, or Conii, in the Algarve, while Hasdrubal Gisco was encamped […]
Urban development of the banks of the Tagus river (the Ribeira) was given a definitive impulse in the early 16th century, when King Manuel I built a new royal residence – the Ribeira Palace – by the river, outside the city walls. The area was further developed with the building of a port, ship building facilities (the Ribeira das Naus), the Casa […]
Ribeira Palace was the main residence of the Kings of Portugal, inLisbon, for around 250 years. Construction of the palace was ordered under King Manuel I of Portugal, when he found the Royal Palace of Alcáçova unsuitable. The palace suffered innumerous remodels and reconfigurations from its original Manueline complex, ending with its final Mannerist and Barroque form. The palace, along with most of the city of […]
Lisbon Overview 1459 Jeronimos Monastery Lisbon Downtwon, The Inquisition