![Chronicon Lusitanum](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Chronicon_Lusitanum.png)
The ''Chronicon Lusitanum'' or ''Lusitano'' (also ''Chronica Lusitana'' or ''Chronica/Chronicon Gothorum'') is a
chronicle
A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...
of the
history of Portugal
The history of Portugal can be traced from circa 400,000 years ago, when the region of present-day Portugal was inhabited by Homo heidelbergensis.
The Roman invasion in the 3rd century BC lasted several centuries, and developed the Roman provinc ...
from the earliest
migrations of the
Visigoths
The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is ...
(which it dates to 311) through the reign of Portugal's first king,
Afonso Henriques
Afonso I of PortugalOr also ''Affonso'' (Archaic Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonso'' (Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonsus'' (Latin version), sometimes rendered in English as ''Alphonzo'' or ''Alphonse'', depending on the Spanish or French inf ...
(1139–85). The entries in the chronicle, ordered by year and dated by the
Spanish Era
The Spanish era ( la, Æra Hispanica), sometimes called the era of Caesar, was a calendar era (year numbering system) commonly used in the states of the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th century until the 15th, when it was phased out in favour of the ...
, get increasingly longer and the majority of the text deals with the reign of Afonso. The conventional title of the chronicle means "
Lusitania
Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province located where modern Portugal (south of the Douro river) and
a portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and the province of Salamanca) lie. It was named after the Lusitani or Lusita ...
n (i.e. Portuguese) chronicle" or "chronicle of the Goths". It was first given by the editor
Enrique Flórez
Enrique or Henrique Flórez de Setién y Huidobro (July 21, 1702August 20, 1773) was a Spanish historian.
Biography
Flórez was born in Villadiego. At 15 years old, he entered the order of St Augustine. He subsequently became professor of theol ...
, who rejected the title under which it had previously been edited (''Gothorum Chronica'') because of its subject matter. Flórez also claims that the manuscript of the ''Chronicon'' had previously been utilised by
André de Resende
André de Resende (1498–1573) was a Dominican friar who is considered to be father of archaeology in Portugal.
He spent many years traveling in Spain, France and Belgium, where he corresponded with Erasmus and other learned men. He was also in ...
, the first archaeologist of Portugal, and , the first journalist of Portugal; it was also edited in the third volume of the ''Monarchia Lusitana'' by (1632).
Excerpts
311. The Goths left their homeland.
328. They entered Hispania, and they reigned there 387 years. From their own land to Spain took them seventeen years.
...
1008. On 6 October
Count Menendo was killed.
1016. On 6 September the
Northmen
The Norsemen (or Norse people) were a North Germanic ethnolinguistic group of the Early Middle Ages, during which they spoke the Old Norse language. The language belongs to the North Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages and is the pre ...
came to the "Castle of Vermudo", which is in the province of
Braga
Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...
. The count there was then
Alvito Nunes.
1018. The lord king
Alfonso /nowiki>"> of León/nowiki> died at
Viseu
Viseu () is a city and municipality in the Centro Region of Portugal and the capital of the district of the same name, with a population of 100,000 inhabitants, and center of the Viseu Dão Lafões intermunipical community, with 267,633 inhabita ...
028 ''recte'' And in this year died the great count Nuño Álvarez.
1034. On 14 October took
Montemor-o-Velho
Montemor-o-Velho () is a town and concelho, municipality of the Coimbra District, in Portugal. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 26,171, in an area of 228.96 km².
History
In 711, the Muslim invasion of Iberia, Arab occupation ...
and restored it to the Christians.
1039. On 1 September Gonçalo Trastamires was killed at
Avenoso.
...
1128. As his father the lord
Count Henry died while this child
fonso Henriqueswas only two or three years of age, certain undignified foreigners
ed_by_ ed_by_Fernando_Pérez_de_Traba">Fernando_Pérez_de_Traba.html"_;"title="ed_by_Fernando_Pérez_de_Traba">ed_by_Fernando_Pérez_de_Traba/nowiki>_came_to_the_kingdom_of_Portugal,_with_the_consent_of_his_mother_Theresa,_Countess_of_Portugal.html" ;"title="Fernando_Pérez_de_Traba.html" ;"title="Fernando_Pérez_de_Traba.html" ;"title="ed by Fernando Pérez de Traba">ed by Fernando Pérez de Traba">Fernando_Pérez_de_Traba.html" ;"title="ed by Fernando Pérez de Traba">ed by Fernando Pérez de Traba/nowiki> came to the kingdom of Portugal, with the consent of his mother Theresa, Countess of Portugal">Queen Dona Teresa, who desired to take the place of her husband and her son in the affairs of the realm. Since such a dishonorable injury he [Afonso] could never bear (being already grown up and well-formed), he invited his friends and the more noble men of Portugal, who much preferred his rule to that of his mother or of the ignoble foreigners who wished to dispossess him, and he met them to battle in the field of São Mamede, which is beside the castle of Guimarães
Guimarães () is a city and municipality located in northern Portugal, in the district of Braga.
Its historic town centre has been listed as a UNESCWorld Heritage Sitesince 2001, in recognition for being an "exceptionally well-preserved and a ...
, and they were fought and defeated by him, and they fled from his face, and he captured them. He hus
Hus or HUS may refer to:
Medicine
* Hemolytic-uremic syndrome, a disease characterized by haemolytic anemia, kidney problems and a low platelet count
People
* Hus (surname)
* Hus family, an 18th-century French dynasty of ballet dancers and ac ...
obtained the government and the kingship of the realm of Portugal.
...
1162. On 30 November during the night of Saint Andrew the Apostle
Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Peter ...
the men of the king of Portugal, Dom Afonso, led by Fernão Gonçalves and other ''cavaleiros vilões'' invested the city of Pace, that is, Beja at night, and bravely captured it, and the Christians possessed it in the thirty-fifth year of his fonso’sreign.
1166. The city of Évora
Évora ( , ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. It has 53,591 inhabitants (2021), in an area of 1307.08 km2. It is the historic capital of the Alentejo and serves as the seat of the Évora District.
Due to its well-preserved old to ...
was captured and devastated and entered at night by Gerald, called ‘without fear’, and his fellow bandits, and he handed it over to the king Dom Afonso. Shortly after this king seized Moura and Serpa
Serpa () is a city and a Concelho (municipality) in the central Portuguese region Alentejo. The population in 2011 was 15,623, in an area of . The Guadiana River flows close to the town of Serpa.
History
Serpa has its origins in early settlem ...
and Alconchel
Alconchel is a Spanish municipality in the province of Badajoz, Extremadura
Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city ...
, and he ordered the castle of Coruche
Coruche () is a municipality in Santarém District in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 19,944, in an area of 1115.72 km².
The present Mayor is Francisco Silvestre de Oliveira, elected by the Socialist Party.
The Coruche City Council ha ...
rebuilt in the thirty-ninth year of his reign.
1168. King Dom Afonso and his army were defeated at Badajoz
Badajoz (; formerly written ''Badajos'' in English) is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana. The population ...
in the forty-first year of his reign.[Æra 1206. Factum est infortunium Regis D. Alfonsi & sui exercitus in Badalioz anno 41. Regni ejus.]
Editions
*Enrique Flórez. ''España Sagrada'' (Madrid: 1796)
XIV:415–32
*Marc Szwajcer, trans
French translation based on Flórez's edition.
*A partial English translation can be found in Lucas Villegas-Aristizábal
"Revisiting the Anglo-Norman Crusaders' Failed Attempt to Conquer Lisbon c. 1142"
''Portuguese Studies'' 29:1 (2013): 7–20.
Notes
{{reflist, 2
Portuguese chronicles
12th-century Latin books