The military history of Portugal is as long as the history of the country, from before the emergence of the independent Portuguese state.
Before Portugal Before the emergence of Portugal, between the 9th and the 12th centuries, its territory was part of important military conflicts – these were mainly the result of three processes.
Roman expansion The conflict between Ancient Rome and Carthage for the dominion of the western Mediterranean sea mainly occurred in Iberia (the Roman Hispania) during the Second Punic War from 218 to 201 BC.
The Roman conquest of Hispania, a long process from 218 BC (in the context of the Second Punic War) to 17 BC (already during Emperor Augustus), had three major confrontations regarding modern Portuguese territory: The Lusitanian War from 155 to 139 BC, between the Romans and the Lusitanians, namely during the period these were led by Viriatus. The expedition and conquest of Gallaecia (north of Portugal and Galicia), from 135 and 132 BC, led by Consul Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus. The Cantabrian Wars from 29 to 19 BC, in the last of Roman conquest, that, although not directed at populations in the present Portuguese territory, greatly involved military movements in what is now the north of Portugal. The Roman republican civil wars that took place, wholly or partially, in Hispania, even if in interaction and connection to the process of conquest, namely: Sertorius' revolt in Hispania, from 83 to 72 BC, under the leadership of Sertorius. Caesar's Civil War, from 49 to 45 BC, between Julius Caesar and the optimates (conservative republicans), initially led by Pompey.
Germanic expansion
The invasions during the Migration Period and the Decline of the Roman Empire, in the beginning of the 5th century, and the subsequent conflicts between conquerors (until the 8th century), namely: Invasion of Roman Gallaecia by the Germanic Suebi (Quadi and Marcomanni) under king Hermeric, accompanied by the Buri in 409. Invasion of Hispania by the Germanic Vandals (Silingi – established in Baetica, and Hasdingi – established in interior Gallaecia, near the Suebi) and the Sarmatian Alans (established in Roman Lusitania), in 409. Invasion of Hispania by the Germanic Visigoths led by King Theodoric, expanding from Aquitaine and under request by the Romans, in 410, establishing the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania. The war between The Suevi and the Hasdingi Vandals, where the first resisted with Roman aid, in 419. The war between the Alans and the Suevi and Romans where the last two are defeated at the Battle of Mérida, in 428. The war between the Visigoths and the Vandal–Alanic alliance, that ended in 429, with most of the Vandals and Alans moving to North Africa. The on and off continuous dynastic disputes between the Suevi. The on and off continuous war between the Suevi and the Visigoths, that ended when the Visigothic king, Liuvigild, conquered the Kingdom of the Suebi in 585. The war between the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania and the Byzantine Empire in its southern Iberian province of Spania, from 552 until 624. The dynastic and civil war in the Visigothic Kingdom between the supporters of Achila II (controlling most of eastern Hispania) and Roderic (controlling most of western Iberia).
Islamic expansion and Christian standoff The Moorish Umayyad conquest of Hispania, from 711 to 718, taking advantage of the civil war, and that established the Islamic Al-Andalus. The Reconquista started as an insurgency in Asturias in 722. Currently Historians and archaeologists generally agree that Northern Portugal, between the Minho and the Douro rivers, kept a significant share of its population, in social and political Christian area that until the late 9th century there were no acting political powers. However, in late 9th century, the region is part of a structure of powers, the Galician–Asturian, Leonese and Portuguese power structures. The county of Portugal slowly grew in power and territory forming a separate Kingdom of Portugal which expanded at the expense of the Moorish states of Al-Andalus, finishing its Reconquista in 1249.
Portuguese Reconquista (868–1249)
County of Portugal
The county of Portugal is traditionally considered to be formed upon the reconquest of Porto by Vímara Peres in 868, who received the county as reward by Alfonso III of Asturias. The military history of this county, in its 381 years of existence, was marked by battles against both fellow Christian and Muslim forces.
In the context of the Reconquista, the County of Portugal expanded southward against Muslim forces, with considerable periods of conquest and loss. Some notable military conflicts within this period include the siege of Coimbra in 1064 (by the Portuguese), the capture of Santarém in 1111 (by the Almoravids) and the siege of Coimbra in 1117 (in which the Almoravids failed to capture Coimbra). In the Battle of Ourique (1139), then count Afonso Henriques won a victory against the Amoravid forces after which he would proclaim himself King of Portugal, with the support of his troops.
As the county of Portugal slowly grew in power, it often fought against Christian forces. In the Battle of Aguioncha (966/967), Gonzalo Menéndez, count of Portugal, defeats Galician count Rodrigo Velázquez. Portugal's counts later started to style themselves as dukes, one of which became regent of the Kingdom of León between 999 and 1008 (Menendo González). In 1070, the Portuguese count Nuno Mendes wished the Portuguese title and the Battle of Pedroso was fought on 18 February 1071, the count being killed in combat led by Garcia II of Galicia. The later annexed the county and started to styled himself as "King of Portugal and Galicia" (Garcia Rex Portugallie et Galleciae). Garcia's brothers, Sancho II of Castille and Alfonso VI of Leon, united and annexed Garcia's Kingdom during that same year who agreed to split it among themselves, however the king of Castille was killed by a noble in that same year and Alfonso took Castille for himself and Garcia recovered his kingdom of Portugal and Galicia, but in 1073 the Alfonso VI gathered all power and started to style himself as Imperator totius Hispaniæ (Emperor of All Hispania) since 1077. When the Emperor died, the Crown was left for his daughter Urraca, while Teresa inherited the County of Portugal. In the Battle of São Mamede (1128), Afonso Henriques defeats his mother's forces, leading him to proclaim himself Prince of Portugal as its new ruler. In the Luso–Leonese War (1130–1137), Afonso Henriques and his cousin Alfonso VII of León and Castile would fight over territorial claims in Galicia, ending with the Treaty of Tuy in which, supposedly, Afonso Henriques recognized his cousin's authority in matters of land ownership. Conflict between the two parties would continue, namely in the Battle of Cerneja (1139) and with Henrique's proclamation as King in the aftermath of the Battle of Ourique (vs. the Almoravids).
Kingdom of Portugal
Battle of Valdevez - 1140/1141 (vs. Kingdom of Léon) Siege of Lisbon - 1142 Conquest of Santarém - 1147 Siege of Lisbon - 1147 Luso-Leonese War (1162-1165) Luso–Leonese War (1167–1169) Siege of Santarém - 1184 Siege of Silves - 1189 Almohad campaign against Portugal (1190–1191) - 1190-1991 Siege of Alcácer do Sal - 1217 Siege of Faro - 1249
Military history in modern-day Portugal at the Reconquista time outside the Kingdom of Portugal Murīdūn - 1140 (Sufi revolt in Almoravid-occupied Mértola) Alvor massacre - 1189 (Christian crusaders during the Third Crusade against Almohad-occupied Alvor)
After the Reconquista – conflicts with Castile
1383–85 Crisis
Anglo-Portuguese Alliance
Imperial expansion
Portuguese–Mamluk war Persian–Portuguese war Portuguese intervention in Abyssinia Portuguese conquest of Jaffna Kingdom Dutch–Portuguese War Battle of Alcácer Quibir Ottoman–Portuguese conflicts Conquest of Tunis (1535) Ottoman–Portuguese conflicts (1538–57) Ottoman–Portuguese conflicts (1558–66) Ottoman–Portuguese conflicts (1580–89) Ottoman–Venetian War (1714–18) (in support of the Republic of Venice) Ethiopian–Adal War (in support of the Ethiopian Empire) Kongo-Portuguese conflicts Battle of Mbumbi Battle of Mbanda Kasi Battle of Mbwila Battle of Kitombo Guaraní War Portuguese conquest of the Banda Oriental Japanese-Portuguese conflicts
Conflicts with Spain
War of the Portuguese Succession Portuguese Restoration War War of the Spanish Succession Portugal in the War of Spanish Succession Spanish–Portuguese War (1735–37) Spanish–Portuguese War (1761–63) Spanish–Portuguese War (1776–77) Seven Years' War Fantastic War
The Napoleonic Wars War of the Oranges (1801)
Instability prior to the French invasions Riots of Campo de Ourique and conspiracy of the Marquis of Alorna (1803) On 24 and 25 July 1803, in Campo de Ourique, Lisbon, a regiment of infantry commanded by liberal army man Gomes Freire de Andrade and the Legion of Light Troops commanded by the also liberal-leaning Marquis of Alorna mutinied against the state authorities, entering in confrontation with the then recently created Royal Guard of the Police. The end of the mutinies, of forcing political liberalism on Portuguese government, did not succeed.CRONOLOGIA DO LIBERALISMO - DE 1777 A 1926 - O governo de D. João, Príncipe Regente, até à ida para o Brasil, de 1799 a 1807, O Portal da História
Conspiracy of Mafra (1805) In 1805, then Princess regent (soon afterwards Queen) Carlota Joaquina promoted a conspiracy in Mafra with the objective of removing her husband Prince João from regency by claiming him to be mentally incapable, assuming regency on her own in his place, being aided in the attempted coup by the Count of Sabugal, the Marquis of Ponte de Lima, the Count of Sarzedas, the Marquis of Alorna and Francisco de Melo. The attempted conspiracy did not succeed, but it did increase the tension between the couple to the point of a divorce or separation being considered, which was never advanced due to the damage that it would bring to the Portuguese state, and the couple still had two children after the attempted conspiracy of Carlota (Maria da Assunção, born in 1805, and Ana de Jesus Maria, born in 1806), although there are suspicions about the possibility of the four children of the couple born after 1801, including the 1802-born Miguel, were not children of João but of one or several of the lovers of Carlota Joaquina).D. João VI: perfil do rei nos trópicos , Marieta Pinheiro de Carvalho, Rede da Memória Virtual Brasileira
Riots of Saint Torcato (1805) The riots of Saint Torcato was a popular uprising in the Portuguese country side with a strong mixture of religious influence and zealotry.S. Torcato, 1805: o povo, a religião e o poder. (Análise de um motim de província), A. Santos Silva, Estudos contemporâneos, nº 0 (1979), 15-82
Peninsular War (1807–14)
First invasion