The Castle of Messejana ( pt, Castelo de Messejana), is a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

medieval castle in

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

of Messejana, in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Aljustrel Aljustrel () is a town and a municipality in the Portuguese district of Beja. The population in 2011 was 9,257, in an area of 458.47 km2. The present mayor is Nelson Domingos Brito, elected by the Socialist Party. The municipal holiday is Jun ...

, in the

district of Beja The Beja District () is located in southern Portugal. The district capital is the city of Beja. It is the largest district of the country by area, and constitutes around 11% of its area. Municipalities The district is composed of 14 municipali ...

History

Although the region was inhabited prior to the

Reconquista The ' (Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid ...

, it was sacked in 1235 by forces loyal to King D. Sancho II. The name ''Messejana'' has its origin in the Arab ''masjana'', that refers to prison or jail, a word derived from the verb ''sajana'' (to mean to incarcerate in prison). Proof of Arab occupation comes from excavations at the castle (1992) of silver coins, dating to the Ibn Wazir period. During the reign of King D.

Dinis Denis (, ; 9 October 1261 – 7 January 1325 in Santarém), called the Farmer King (''Rei Lavrador'') and the Poet King (''Rei Poeta''), was King of Portugal. The eldest son of Afonso III of Portugal by his second wife, Beatrice of Castile, an ...

(1279-1325) elevated the Messejana to the status of municipality donating the settlement to the knights of the

Order of Santiago The Order of Santiago (; es, Orden de Santiago ), is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the Patron Saint of Spain, "Santiago" ( St. James the Greater). Its initial objective was to protect the pilgr ...

, as a way to establish a frontier in the region. The castle was constructed in 1288, under the direction of Pero Soudo. A

foral 200px, Foral of Castro Verde - Portugal The word ''foral'' ({{IPA-pt, fuˈɾaɫ, eu, plural: ''forais'') is a noun derived from the Portuguese word ''foro'', ultimately from Latin ''forum'', equivalent to Spanish ''fuero'', Galician ''foro'', Ca ...

(''charter'') was issued by King D.

Manuel I Manuel I may refer to: *Manuel I Komnenos, Byzantine emperor (1143–1180) *Manuel I of Trebizond, Emperor of Trebizond (1228–1263) *Manuel I of Portugal Manuel I (; 31 May 146913 December 1521), known as the Fortunate ( pt, O Venturoso), was ...

(1495-1521) on 1 July 1512, but seemed inconsequential to national security.Daniel Alves (2007), p.1 King D.

John II John II may refer to: People * John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (1455–1499) * John II Casimir Vasa of Poland (1609–1672) * John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (died 1302) * John II Doukas of Thessaly (1303–1318) * John II Komnenos (1087–1 ...

(1481-1495), who was sick at the time, stopped at the site between 8–9 October 1495, when he travelled to

Caldas de Monchique Caldas de Monchique is a spa town in the Monchique Mountains in the Algarve region of Portugal. It has been famous since Roman times for its waters, which supposedly have healing properties. It was also used as a seasonal retreat for Portuguese r ...

. During the reign of King D. John III (1521-1557), the monarch donated the territory to D. João da Silva, 6th Master of

Vagos Vagos () is a town and a List of municipalities of Portugal, municipality in Aveiro District, belonging to Centro Region, Centro Region of Portugal. The district capital, Aveiro, Portugal, Aveiro, is its nearest large city. Its population in 2011 ...

, also known as the ''Grande Regedor'' (''Great Ruler'').Daniel Alves (2007), p.2 His son, D. Lourenço da Silva, succeeded him and erected, between 1566 and 1570, a Franciscan Convent in the town, and what would become known as the Church of the Misericórdia. D. Loureço, along with his five brothers, perished in the disastrous

Battle of Alcácer Quibir The Battle of Alcácer Quibir (also known as "Battle of Three Kings" ( ar, معركة الملوك الثلاثة) or "Battle of Wadi al-Makhazin" ( ar, معركة وادي المخازن) in Morocco) was fought in northern Morocco, near the t ...

(1578) along with D. Sebastião (1568-1578), whose mother had invited the King to Messejana in 1573. During the context of the Portuguese Civil War (1828-1834), the

Duke of Terceira The title duke of Terceira, ''de juro e herdade'' (meaning "forever granted") was created by decree of King Pedro I of Brazil, Pedro IV of Portugal, on 8 November 1832. António José de Souza Manoel de Menezes Severim de Noronha, 7th Count of Vila ...

was in Messejana with his military forces, where he met with his council of brigadiers on 17 July 1833. It was at this conference that the decision to take Lisbon, an operation that eventually succeeded, with the defeat of Miguelist/absolutist forces on 24 July 1833. The municipality was extinguished on 25 October 1835 by

Rodrigo da Fonseca Rodrigo is a Spanish, Portuguese and Italian name derived from the Germanic name '' Roderick'' (Gothic ''*Hroþareiks'', via Latinized ''Rodericus'' or ''Rudericus''), given specifically in reference to either King Roderic (d. 712), the last Vi ...

and over time its importance continued to deteriorate, subsumed by Aljustrel in the region. For various years the remains of the site was used as a quarry.

Architecture

The castle is located in an isolated, rural hilltop on the edge of the urban community. Near the site is the parochial church of Nossa Senhora dos Remédios. The site is dominated by vestiges of a rectangular building, encircled by three lines of fortifications in an advanced state of ruin. In a local home, archeologists discovered an arch with inscriptions in Latin for, "In the year 1300, 26 years of age, I ended (the construction?) made by/for Pero Soudo...: :''E M CCC / XXVI: ANIIS / IN FINE: M DII / PO: SOUDO / ME FEZ''

References

Notes

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aljustrel Messejana Messejana Castle Messejana Buildings and structures in Aljustrel