The Capture of Porto took place in October 1580 by the Spanish forces commanded by Don

Sancho d'Avila Sancho d'Avila (21 September 1523 – 1583) was a Spanish general. Born at Ávila, he first served as the commander of the Duke of Alba's bodyguard. It was in this function that d'Avila arrested the Count of Egmont. When the Eighty Years' W ...

during the

War of the Portuguese Succession The War of the Portuguese Succession, a result of the extinction of the Portuguese royal line after the Battle of Alcácer Quibir and the ensuing Portuguese succession crisis of 1580, was fought from 1580 to 1583 between the two main claimants ...

. The city was captured easily by the Spanish troops, thereby finishing off the

Prior of Crato The Prior of Crato (''Prior do Crato''), was the traditional title given to the head of the Order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem (Hospitaller) in Portugal. It is a reference to the domains of the order around Crato, Portugal. The Port ...

's army and its final defeat in Mainland Portugal, thus assuring the

personal union A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interlink ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

for 60 years under the

Iberian Union pt, União Ibérica , conventional_long_name =Iberian Union , common_name = , year_start = 1580 , date_start = 25 August , life_span = 1580–1640 , event_start = War of the Portuguese Succession , event_end = Portuguese Restoration War , ...

Background

Following the victory accomplished by the Spanish troops led by Don

Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa, the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka. It is equivalent to the G ...

at the Battle of Alcântara on 25 August 1580, near

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, the decimated Portuguese army under the command of Dom

António, Prior of Crato António, Prior of Crato (; 153126 August 1595; sometimes called ''The Determined'', ''The Fighter'', ''The Independentist'' or ''The Resistant''), was a grandson of King Manuel I of Portugal who claimed the Portuguese throne during the 1580 d ...

, fled towards

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto Metropolitan Area, Porto, and Bra ...

and

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

with the intention of reassembling his troops. The Duke of Alba, noticing the remote but possible threat, ordered his General Don

to pursue across the sea and completely destroy them in order to wrap up any opposition to

Philip II of Portugal Philip III ( es, Felipe III; 14 April 1578 – 31 March 1621) was King of Spain. As Philip II, he was also King of Portugal, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia and Duke of Milan from 1598 until his death in 1621. A member of the House of Habsburg, Phi ...

Porto

The Spanish troops commanded by Don

, transported by sea, arrived and disembarked in

on 24 October 1580. The city was captured easily by the Spanish army, thereby finishing off Portuguese army and the invasion of their neighbouring country. Don

obtained a victory, it would be his last great military accomplishment. After the end of the war, the Spanish General returned to

. In Lisbon he received a wound from a horse which he did not attend to properly and as a consequence he died in May 1583.

Aftermath

With the Spanish capture of

, the

Kingdom of Portugal The Kingdom of Portugal ( la, Regnum Portugalliae, pt, Reino de Portugal) was a monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and 1910, it was also kno ...

was controlled by the Spanish armies. Only the

Azores Islands ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

escaped from Spanish control. In early 1581, Dom António fled to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

carrying with him the

Portuguese Crown Jewels The Portuguese Crown Jewels (''Jóias da Coroa Portuguesa''), also known as the Royal Treasure (''Tesouro Real''), are the pieces of jewelry, regalia, and vestments that were used by the Kings and Queens of Portugal during the time of the Portugu ...

, including many valuable diamonds. He was well received by the

Queen of France This is a list of the women who were queens or empresses as wives of French monarchs from the 843 Treaty of Verdun, which gave rise to West Francia, until 1870, when the Third Republic was declared. Living wives of reigning monarchs technica ...

Catherine of Medici Catherine de' Medici ( it, Caterina de' Medici, ; french: Catherine de Médicis, ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Florentine noblewoman born into the Medici family. She was Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to King H ...

, who had a claim of her own to the

Crown of Portugal A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

. By promising to cede the Portuguese colony of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

to her and the sale of some Portuguese jewels, Dom António secured support to form a fleet manned by the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

and Portuguese led by him and

Filippo di Piero Strozzi Filippo di Piero Strozzi ( French: ''Philippe Strozzi''; 1541 – 27 July 1582) was an Italian condottiero, a member of the Florentine family of the Strozzi. He fought mainly for France. Biography He was born in Florence to Piero Strozzi and L ...

, a Florentine exile in the service of France, and also supported by the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

fleet.Konstam. ''The Armada Campaign (1588)'' p.11

Notes

References

*Fernández Duro, Cesáreo. ''La Armada Española desde la Unión de los Reinos de Castilla y de León.'' Madrid (1973). *Geoffrey Parker. ''The Army of Flanders and the Spanish road''. London (1972) *Enciclopedia Universal Ilustrada. Espasa. Volume 6 (1999). *Konstam, Augus. ''The Armada Campaign 1588 - The great enterprise against England.'' Osprey Publishing. *Jan Glete. Warfare At Sea 1500-1650; Maritime Conflicts and the Transformation of Europe London (2000) {{coord missing, Portugal 1580 in Portugal

History of Porto War of the Portuguese Succession