Denis Ier of Portugal

Denis of Portugal , called the Farmer or the King Troubadour or the Father of the Fatherland or the Liberal , was born with Lisbon the October 9th 1261 and died in Odivelas the January 13rd 1325. It was the second wire of the king Alphonse III and his wife the infante Béatrice de Castille (1242-1303) and became the sixth king de Portugal in 1279 (and the fifth of the Algarves) in the place of its elder Robert which had been declared bastard of Mahaut de Dammartin.

Its reign

Like heir to the throne, Denis Ier was very early formed by his/her father to direct Portugal.
When it went up on the throne, Portugal was again in conflict with the Catholic church. Denis tried to solve the problem by signing a treaty with the pope Nicolas III where he promised to protect the interests from Rome in Portugal, particularly by conceding asylum in Portugal with the Ordre of the Temple, persecuted in France, under the name of Ordre of Christ.

The Reconquista being finished, Denis Ier was especially an administrative and peaceful king in spite of small conflicts with the Castille of which it obtained the possession of the villages of Serpa and Moura, the territories beyond Guadiana and the correction of the borders of Ribacoa. It signed a treaty of the limits with Ferdinand IV of Castille the September 12th 1297. This treaty is still in force. Once the solved problem, no other war took place during its reign, thus justifying the memory that it left of a king curiously peaceful for his time.

Thus, the priorities of government were primarily the organization of the country and the continuation of the actions of his/her father. Denis published the core of the Civil code and criminal concentrating on the protection of the less favoured classes against the abuses of power.

During its reign, he travelled in the country, visiting the boroughs and bringing solutions to the encountered problems. With the assistance his wife, the queen Isabelle d' Aragon known as holy Isabelle (1271-1336), Denis tried to improve the life of the poor and founded various institutions of charity.

Worried by the infrastructures of the country, Denis ordered the exploitation of iron and tin, money, copper mines and organized exports of these products towards the other European countries. He signed the first commercial treaty with England in 1308 and founded the Portuguese merchant navy.

Denis instituted the first land reform of Portugal, redistributed grounds by parcelling out the feudal and ecclesiastical grounds, encouraged agriculture and founded various rural communities, of the markets and the fairs. Under its reign, Portugal produced more cereals, exceeding its own needs, and exported the surplus. One of its greater benefits was the plantation of pines to protect the arable lands from the advance of sands on the coasts. The forest of pine of Leira always exists.

Denis formed a merchant navy to trade with the Catalogne, the Brittany, the England and the countries Scandinavian. Installing merchants génois with Lisbon, he was the promoter of the large navigators and made come from the adjoining countries of the technicians in navigation. The the Azores would have been discovered first once under its reign.

Denis Ier put Portugal on an equal footing with the other kingdoms of the Iberian peninsula.

The culture was another of its hearths of interest. Denis liked the literature and wrote itself some books on topics like the administration or hunting and of the works of poetry. He founded, in 1290, the University of Lisbon which he transferred to Coimbra in 1307.

By its decree “Magna Charta Priveligiorum”, it founded the Université of Coimbra. It defended the use and the teaching of the Latin in the place of the Portuguese.

The last years of its reign were remembered, however, by conflicts between its two sons: Alphonse, the legitimate heir and Alphonse Sanches, count d' Albuquerque his illegitimate son.

Descent

Of its marriage in 1282 with Elisabeth d' Aragon known as holy Isabelle or Elisabeth (1271-1336)

Constancy (January 3rd, 1290 - November 18th, 1313) which married Ferdinand IV, king de Castille
Alphonse IV of Portugal (1291-1357) its successor

Of Marie Pires (its mistress):

Jean Alphonse (1288-1336) lord of Lousã and Arouse

De Marinha Gums:

Marie Alphonse which married João de Lacerda, noble of Castille.

of Aldonça Rodrigues Telha,

Alphonse Sanches (1289-1329) count d' Albuquerque, rival of Alphonse IV

See too

Internal bond

Seal of the king Denis, series of stamps of Portuguese everyday usage, 20th century

Alphonse II of Portugal

Alphonse III of Portugal

Elisabeth d' Aragon

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