Union of Iberian Crowns — Philip II Annexes Portugal
Philip II of Spain claimed the Portuguese throne in 1580 and held it, uniting the two crowns for sixty years. The succession crisis was created by a disaster in Morocco. King Sebastian, twenty-four and unmarried, led an army into Morocco in 1578 and was destroyed at Alcácer Quibir along with much of the Portuguese nobility. His great-uncle Cardinal Henry, aged sixty-six and a churchman, succeeded him and died within two years. Philip's claim came through his mother, a Portuguese princess and daughter of Manuel I, and it was the strongest in law. The rival was António, Prior of Crato, an illegitimate grandson of Manuel with popular support. Philip bought the nobility and the merchants, and sent the Duke of Alba with an army. The war lasted about a month and was settled at Alcântara outside Lisbon in August 1580. He was recognised at the Cortes of Tomar in 1581 on terms that mattered: Portugal kept its own laws, currency, language, Cortes, and separate administration of its empire, and only Portuguese could hold office there. It was a personal union rather than an annexation. The empire that resulted stretched from Macau to Brazil to Manila to the Netherlands. It also made Portugal's possessions targets for Spain's enemies, and the Dutch took Malacca, Ceylon and much of the African and Brazilian coast during the union. Portugal revolted in December 1640 while Spain was fighting Catalonia, and the Braganza dynasty took the throne. The restoration war ran twenty-eight years, and Portugal has been independent since.
- Year: 1580 CE
- Category: Political
