Jean Ier of Portugal

Jean Ier ( João I ), tenth king ''' of Portugal ''', was born with Lisbon the April 11th 1357 and died in the same city the August 14th 1433. He was the illegitimate son of the king Pierre Ier of Portugal and Therese Lourenço. In 1364, it was devoted Grand Master of Aviz. He became king de Portugal, first of the second dynasty in 1385, after the interregnum. He accepted the nickname of of Good memory , because of the good memory which he left of his reign in the memory of the Portuguese. He is also called of the Good or Large the .

At the time of died of the king Ferdinand I {{er}} of Portugal, without direct heir, Portugal was likely to lose its independence because the heiress, the Béatrice princess, was married with the king Jean I {{er}} of Castille and that the marriage contract envisaged this annexation explicitly. The government thus passed in the hands of Éléonore Teles which proclaimed Béatrice queen. However, the middle-class and part of the nobility was combined with the population against the transformation of Portugal into a province of Castille and nourishes a deep dislike for the widowed queen whose lover, João Fernandes Andeiro was assassinated by the Master of Aviz (It is interesting to note that this political crime which, made by others, would receive the general opprobrium, here is regarded as a “crime shakespearien which raises the tragic emotions”). Two applicants opposed Béatrice: Bastard Jean, wire of Pierre Ier of Portugal and Ines of Castro (who known as legitimates himself considering the alleged marriage of his parents), and Jean, the Large Master of Aviz.

It followed from there the crisis of 1383-1385, one period of anarchy and political instability where Portugal was controlled by nobody.

Finally, on April 6th, 1385, the Cortes of Portugal met in Coimbra and proclaimed the Large Master of Aviz, Jean Ier, king de Portugal . It acts, in practice, of a declaration of war in Castille. A little later Jean de Castille invades helped Portugal of a French cavalry. The English had been combined in Jean d' Aviz within the framework of the One hundred Year old War. Jean Ier named Nuno Álvares Pereira, Connétable and guard of the kingdom. The invasion was pushed back during the summer after the Bataille of Aljubarrota, on August 14th, 1385, close to Alcobaça, where the army of Castille was almost completely destroyed. Castille was thus withdrawn and crowns it of Jean Ier was definitively acquired.

In 1387, Jean Ier Maria with Philippa of Lancaster, girl of Jean of Ghent, duke of Lancaster, reinforcing by bonds of family the agreements of the Traité luso-British which are worth still today.

After the death of Jean de Castille without descent with Beatrice, the threat to have king Castille on the throne of Portugal was definitively isolated. As from this moment, Jean Ier devoted to economic development and social country without more arguments, with his neighbor Castille or with an international level.

During the war against Castille, part of the old nobility had remained neutral; for that, Jean withdrew his confidence to him and part of employment to entrust them to the bourgoisy which started to create a new nobility with institutions copied on those of the British nobility. Jean less and less joins together the Cortes and it became increasingly absolutist. The purpose of the conquest of Ceuta in the north of Africa, in 1415, a place of strategic importance in the control of navigation on the African coast, was regarded as the completion of the Reconquista but was also to stop the desire of expansion of Castille to the Morocco.

The contemporary chroniclers describe Jean Ier as a subtle man who made a point of preserving the capacity but at the same time benevolent and of pleasant personality. In its youth, the education which it accepted as Grand Master of Aviz made of it a king very cultivated for the time. Its taste of knowledge passed to its sons: the king Edouard I {{er}} was a poet and a writer, Pierre, duke of Coimbra was one of the most enlightened princes of his time and Henri, duke of Viseu, invests all its fortune in research related to navigation, the navy and the cartography. His/her only daughter, Isabelle, married the duke of Burgundy and maintained in her grounds a refined court and érudite.

During his reign, his/her Henri son sponsored forwardings through the oceans, is established in Sagres not far from the Cape Saint-Vincent and founded a city there. He started to recognize the coasts of Africa and exceeded the the Canaries.

Jean Ier of Portugal was the first king representing the Dynastie of Aviz. This house reigned on the Portugal of 1385 with 1578. It succeeded the house of Burgundy.

Descent

(the Illustre Generation is a name given by the Portuguese historians to the children of king Jean Ier of Portugal and Philippa of Lancaster. The epithet is a reference to the individual value of each one of these princes who, in one way or another, marked the history of Portugal and Europe.)

Of Philippa of Lancaster (1359-1415)

* White (1388-1389)

* Alphonse (1390-1400)

* Edouard, king of Portugal (1391-1438)

* Pierre, duke of Coimbra (1392-1449, died in the vataille of Alfarrobeira, was regent of Alphonse V, his nephew; regarded as the prince more cultivated of his time.

* Henri, duke of Viseu, known as the Navigator (1394-1460), founded the School of Navigation of Sagres and was the large organizer of the Portuguese Discoveries

* Isabelle (1397-1471), married with Philippe III, duke of Burgundy, acts in the name of her husband lasting various diplomatic meetings and was regarded as real controlling of Burgundy.

* White (1398)

* Jean of Portugal, duke of Beija (1400-1442), grandfather of Isabelle the Catholic.

* Ferdinand, the Saint Infant (1402-1433), died in captivity with Fez after having refused to return Ceuta in exchange of its own freedom.

De Inês Worse

* Alphonse (1377-1461), first duke of Bragance

* Beatrice (v. 1386-1447), married with Thomas FitzAlan, Count d' Arundel

Internal bonds

Sources

We consulted

* the wikipédie in Portuguese language

* the encyclopedia Britannica

* the Books of the History nº 12

* Joaquim Ferreira, História of Portugal

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