Sancho I of Portugal
Sancho I was the second king of Portugal, known as the Populator for concentrating on settlement and administration rather than conquest. Born in Coimbra in 1154, the son of Afonso Henriques and Matilda of Savoy, he was knighted at fifteen and campaigned alongside his father, effectively commanding the kingdom's forces after Afonso was injured at Badajoz in 1169. He succeeded in 1185. He continued the war in the south for a time, taking Silves in the Algarve in 1189 with the help of a passing crusader fleet, but the Almohads recovered it and most of the territory beyond the Tagus within two years, and he concluded that holding land mattered more than taking it. His policy from then on was the settlement of the interior. He granted charters, or forais, to towns, recruited settlers including Flemish and Burgundian immigrants, founded or refounded a considerable number of towns, and encouraged the military orders — the Templars, Hospitallers and the Order of Santiago — to garrison and cultivate the frontier zones. He also supported the growth of the fairs and of a merchant class, and accumulated a large royal treasury. He clashed persistently with the Church over jurisdiction and taxation of clerical property, and was excommunicated; the dispute with the bishops of Coimbra and Porto ran for years. He married Dulce of Aragon, and had a substantial number of children, legitimate and otherwise, whose provision in his will created difficulties for his successor. His daughters Teresa, Sancha and Mafalda were later beatified. He died at Coimbra in 1211, leaving the kingdom to his son Afonso II.
- Lived: 1154 CE – 1212 CE
- Nationality: Portuguese
- Roles: king, head_of_state
