It all started 32 thousand years ago when first people have lived in Portugal. The world then was in the grip of the ice age. The first people from Portugal were fishermen and hunters. They also gathered plants for food, wore leather clothes and used stone tools.
Long before Portugal became a prominent tourist attraction due to Porto walking tours, it had a long history that we will present you here. In 5000 BC Portuguese were introduced to farming, however, they used stone tools. They started making tools out of bronze in about 2000 BC.
In about 700 BC Celtic tribes came to Portugal from the north, and they introduced iron to natives. Meanwhile, today’s Lebanon, or as they called it back then Phoenicians had started trading with the Portuguese. Greek also began trading with them in about 600 BC.
In 210 BC, Romans have invaded the Iberian Peninsula, which means that they acquired the south and later central parts of Portugal. Click here to learn more on Iberian Peninsula. The Celtic tribe called Lusitania led by ruler Viriatus rebelled against Roman rule, and they fought them for decades until 139 BC when Romans captured Viriatus.
The Resistance soon afterward collapsed, and that is when Celtic tribe gave the name to Lusitania. By the middle of the third century AD, the Roman Empire was in decline, and the rule completely collapsed in the fifth century in Portugal.
After that, Germanic people decided to invade the Iberian peninsula, and Suevi was the first tribe who entered the plane lands. The Germanic invaders became new upper class such as warriors and landowners with wealth, while the Jewish people dominated rule trade.
Enter this website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lusitania to check more information on Roman province Lusitania.
Middle Ages
In the 8th century, Moors invaded Portugal from North Africa. They entered southern Portugal. However, they were unable to enter the northern parts too. Town life flourished under the Moorish rule in south Portugal.
On the other hand, by the 11th century, the Counts were vassals of the king Leon. He granted his daughter Dona Teresa and her husband to rule Portugal. They ruled until her husband died, she decided to marry a Galician noble. However, her son Dom Alfonso defeated her and became a ruler of Portugal.
Soon afterward, Portugal became independent of Leon, and Alfonso called himself king of Portugal. Alfonso also acquired territory from the Moors and defeated then until 1147 when he captured Lisbon and moved to River Tagus.
In the middle of the 13th century, the capital of Portugal became Lisbon, and the first University was found there. However, during Black Death in the middle of the 14th century, it was devastated, and plague killed one-third of the population.
16th and 17th Century
During these times, the Portuguese were the ones who dominated space trade because they were near the sea. Spice was expensive in Europe and they made significant profits from it. By 1510 they reached Goa in India and took Malacca in Indonesia. They entered China in 1514 and established a post at Macao.
To get a comprehensive historical background on Portuguese rule in Goa, click here.
They also colonized Brazil, and at the same time, the Inquisition was formed. During the 17th century, Portugal and Spain shared a monarch, however, soon afterward, this particular union grew unpopular, and Portuguese nobles created a coup in Lisbon.
18th Century
In the late 17th century, Portugal discovered Brazil and diamonds over there. They also won naval victory against Turks at Matapan. In 1755 Lisbon was shattered by an earthquake that caused killing of thousands of peoples and entire cities were destroyed. That is the time when Marques de Pombal decided to rebuild Lisbon as a modern city.
Enter this webiste: https://www.britannica.com/event/Lisbon-earthquake-of-1755 to learn more on Lisbon earthquake of 1755.
19th Century
French army invaded Portugal with Napoleon in charge. The entire court fled to Brazil. However, a rebellion against the French started in 1808. French were driven out of Portugal in 1811. Industrial revolution transformed many European Countries. However, Portugal remained an agricultural country.
The popularity of the monarchy went down, and republican feel grew along the way. The revolution happened in 1891, but the monarchy defeated it. Revolution movements assassinated king Carlos in 1908, and finally, in 1910 the coup took place, and King Manuel II fled to Britain.
