Dionysius I of Portugal

Dionysius I of Portugal (Dinis in Portuguese), nicknamed the Plowman (Lisbon, October 9, 1261 - Santarém, 7 January 1325). Son of King Alfonso III and his second wife, Beatrice of Castile, he succeeded his father to the throne of Portugal in 1279. In the diplomas he awarded during his reign, he titled himself as "Dom Denis, pella graça de Deus, Rei de Purtugal." e do Algarue", and this is stated in the jurisdiction granted to Rebordãos on May 18, 1285, as well as in other documents.

Life

Dionysius of Portugal was born on October 9, 1261 in Lisbon, son of King Alfonso III of Portugal and his wife Beatrice of Castile. He belonged, on his paternal side, to the Portuguese royal house, a direct descendant of the ducal house of Burgundy. On his maternal side, he descends from important personalities such as Alfonso X of Castile, his grandfather, Henry II of England and Philip of Swabia.

On his paternal side he is also a descendant of the same English king. Alfonso III, through his mother, was a first cousin of Louis IX of France, who was also a descendant of Henry.

He was the sixth king of Portugal, and ascended to the throne at the age of 17. Throughout his 46-year reign, he was one of the main people responsible for the creation of national identity and the dawn of Portugal's consciousness as a nation state. In 1297, after the end of the Reconquista by his father, he defined the borders of Portugal in the Treaty of Alcañices. With this treaty, Portugal has the oldest borders in Europe.^{[citation needed]}

Little is known about his childhood, but it is known that several tutors were in charge of his education, among which the best known were Lorenzo González Magro (who would be a descendant of Egas Moniz, or Aio). The infant was later entrusted to the care of the kingdom's sheriff, Nuno Martins de Chacim, whom Dionisio would later appoint as chief steward.

In 1265, at the age of four, he accompanied his mother in a military struggle, in the visit to his grandfather Alfonso X de Castilla in Seville, a journey related to the question of the Algarve, whose resolution implied the sending of Portuguese reinforcements for the war in Andalusia. In 1278 he received his own house, a year before ascending to the throne.

In 1282, at the age of 21, he married Isabel of Aragon, who was known as the Holy Queen.

He continued relevant judicial reforms, established the Portuguese language as the official language of the court, created the first Portuguese University, freed the military orders in the national territory from foreign influences and continued a systematic increase in royal centralism.

Its centralizing policy was articulated with important economic development actions such as the creation of countless counties and fairs. Likewise, he ordered the exploration of copper, silver, tin and iron mines, and organized the export of surplus production to other European countries. In 1308 the first Portuguese commercial agreement was signed with England.

In 1312, he founded the Portuguese Navy, and appointed the Genoese Manuel Pessanha first admiral of Portugal. He also ordered the construction of several docks.

Administration

As heir, his father made him share the responsibilities of government. At the time of his accession to the throne, Portugal was mired in various diplomatic conflicts with the Catholic Church. Dionysius signed an agreement with the pope and swore to protect the interests of the church in Portugal. For this reason, he guaranteed asylum to the persecuted Knights Templar in France and created the Order of Christ, designed to be the continuation of the Knights Templar.

With the Reconquista over and the country free of Muslim occupation, Dionisio became a basically administrative and non-military king. However, he maintained a brief feud with Castile over the possessions of Serpa and Moura. Afterwards, Dionysus avoided war; He was a lover of peace during an especially stormy period in European history. Dionisio signed a border pact (the Treaty of Alcañices) with King Ferdinand IV of Castile (1297) that has remained practically unchanged to this day.

The main priority of the Dionisio government was the organization of the country. He pursued his father ' s policies on the issues of legislation and power centralization. It enacted the core of Portuguese civil and criminal legislation, protecting the lower classes from abuse and extortion. He traveled all over the country, fixing unjust situations and solving problems. He ordered the construction of numerous castles, created new cities and guaranteed the privileges of numerous villas. Together with her wife, Princess Isabel de Aragón, Dionisio worked to improve the lives of the most disadvantaged and founded various social institutions.

Concerned about the country's infrastructure, Dionisio ordered the exploitation of copper, iron and silver mines and organized the export of excess production to other European countries. The first Portuguese trade agreement was signed in England in 1308. Dionysius founded the Portuguese navy under a Genoese admiral and ordered the construction of several ports.

His main concern was the development and promotion of rural infrastructure, hence his nickname of El Labrador. He redistributed land, promoted agriculture, organized farmers' committees and took special interest in the development of exports. He instituted fixed markets in numerous cities and regulated their activities. One of his main achievements was the protection of agricultural lands from the advance of coastal sands, ordering the planting of pine forests in the area near Leiría. This forest still exists and is considered one of the most important in Portugal. It is known by the name of Pinhal de Leiria.

Culture

Culture was another of the personal interests of King Dionisio. He wrote several books with themes ranging from administration to hunting, science or poetry. He was one of the greatest and most fertile troubers of his time. In our days 137 cantigas have arrived with their authorship, distributed in all types: 73 cantigas of love, 51 cantigas of friend and 10 cantigas of escarnio and maldecir; in addition to the original music of the seven of those cantigas discovered by Professor Harvey L. Sharrer in the National Archive of the Torre do Tombo, in a parchment that served from cover to a book of records

The Galician-Portuguese language, derived from Vulgar Latin, developed at least since the X century and was the already used for the verses of troubadour songs by authors from both Galicia and the court of the Kingdom of Castile itself and it is known that Alfonso this language.

His natural sons, Alfonso Sánchez and Pedro Alfonso, followed in their father's footsteps and composed, like him, an extensive work.

In 1290, he declared Galician-Portuguese as the official language of the Kingdom of Portugal, being consequently extended in the formulas of notarial prose.

In its time, Lisbon was one of the European centers of culture and knowledge. Later, in 1290, the General Survey was created, founding the document Scientiae thesaurus mirabilis, located in the current Largo do Carmo in Lisbon and thus continuing Jardo's work. In this institution the arts, civil law, canon law and medicine were taught.

In 1308, it was officially transferred to Coimbra, and was later designated as a university. This was transferred between Lisbon and Coimbra several times, being permanently installed in Coimbra since 1537, by decree of one of his descendants, John III of Portugal. The first statute of the University of Coimbra was the decree Magna Charta Priveligiorum signed by Dionysius.

In addition, he had important works translated, making his court one of the largest literary centers in the Iberian Peninsula.

Last years and death

The end of his peaceful reign was marked, however, by internal conflicts. The contenders were two of his sons, Alfonso el Bravo, legitimate heir, and Alfonso Sánchez, a bastard son who claimed royal favors. By the time of Dionisio's death in Santarén on January 7, 1325, the king had placed Portugal on the same level as the rest of the Iberian kingdoms. He was buried in the Monastery of San Dionisio, in Odivelas, which he founded.

Offspring

Dionysius was married to Isabel of Aragon, daughter of King Peter III of Aragon and his wife Constance II of Sicily. Two children were born from the marriage:

• Constance of Portugal (1290-1313), probably born in Coimbra and called just like her mother grandmother, was queen consort for her marriage to Fernando IV of Castile;
• Alfonso IV de Portugal (Coimbra, 8 February 1291-1357), King of Portugal with the name of Alfonso IV.

He had several natural children:

With Grácia Froes (also called Grácia Anes):

• Pedro Alfonso (1287-1354), Count of Barcelos.

With Aldonza Rodrigues Talha:

• Alfonso Sánchez (1289-1329), lord of Alburquerque and rival of his half-brother Alfonso IV. It was legitimized on May 8, 1304.

With Marina Gomes:

• María Alfonso, born before 1301, was appointed by her brother Alfonso Sánchez as a possible heir to the lordship of Alburquerque. He contracted marriage before 1317 with Juan Alfonso de la Cerda, Lord of Gibraleón. Both were buried in the monastery of Santo Domingos in Santarén;
• María Alfonso (1301-1320), nun in Monastery of San Dionisio. Between 1312 and 1320 he commanded to build an altar in the name of Saint Andrew.

With María Pires, "a good woman from Porto", in the words of Pedro Alfonso, the Count of Barcelos, was born in the mid-nineties:

• Juan Alfonso de Portugal (c. 1295-1326), legitimized in 1317, was alferez and elderdomo of his father from whom he was a faithful supporter as well as his half brother Alfonso Sánchez. He received many mercedes from his father, including Póvoa de Ervas Tenras, Outeiro de Miranda, Vila Verde de Braganza, Vilarelho in the lands of Vilariça, the villas of Nuzelos, Alfândega, Arouce, Lousã, Ázere and Rebordões in the land of Braganza. He was commanded to execute by his brother King Alfonso IV on July 4, 1326.

From a woman of unknown name he had:

• Fernán Sánchez (before 1290-1329), married in 1315 with Fruilhe Anes de Sousa, without descent. He died in June 1329 and was buried in the chapel of the Rosary in the church of Nuestra Señora de Oliveira in Santarén which was then integrated into the monastery of Santo Domingos das Donas. Its sarcophagus is now at the Archaeological Museum of Carmo in Lisbon.

Ancestors