Mark Meek's Ideas: Lisbon

Lisbon, the capital and largest city of Portugal, is one of the oldest cities in the world. It is on the far west coast of Europe and built around a natural harbor. It was an important place for the Celts, and then anyone who travelled by ship, first the Phoenicians and then the Romans.

The Moors, Moslems from North Africa, ruled Portugal as well as Spain. Lisbon was conquered by the Moors in 711. But Portugal was completely liberated by Catholics about 250 years before Spain. Lisbon was liberated, after a siege, in 1147. Neighboring Spain was not entirely liberated until 1492.

The Second Crusade was directed toward the Holy Land but also helped to liberate Portugal. The combat to liberate Portugal was not just in Portugal itself, Catholic forces also landed in the Moors' homeland of north Africa.

Lisbon became the capital of Portugal in 1225. What is so important about Lisbon is that it is the port from which the Age of Discovery began, the colonization of most of the world by Europeans. For good or bad, this completely changed the world.

The Age of Discovery was about sailing out into the Atlantic in search of new lands. It shifted the balance of the region away from the Mediterranean. The best-known figure from the Age of Discovery is Christopher Columbus. But it actually began with Portugal, with ships sailing from Lisbon. Columbus, with the idea of reaching the east by sailing west, approached Portugal and England with his idea, but was declined before convincing the king and queen of Spain.

The Age of Discovery began, in the late Fifteenth Century, with the Portuguese discovery of the Azores Islands and Madeira, all in the Atlantic. Vasco Da Gama then took the monumental step of sailing around Africa to reach India. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to establish contact with Japan. Another captain, named Cabral, crossed the Atlantic and landed on the coast of Brazil. It is uncertain whether Europeans established this first contact with South America by intentional cross-Atlantic exploration, or whether the ship was on the way around Africa and was knocked off course by a storm.

Portugal would come to rule a vast empire. The country was much smaller than the other colonial powers, Spain, France and, England, but it's empire was just as vast as theirs. We think of South America as speaking Spanish but did you know that more people in South America speak Portuguese? That is because Brazil speaks Portuguese and has nearly half the population of the continent and countries on the north coast of the continent, Guyana and Suriname, do not speak Spanish.

The first captain to sail completely around the world, Ferdinand Magellan, was Portuguese but was sailing for Spain. He stopped, and was killed, in the Philippines, and this is why the Philippines was ruled by Spain for over three hundred years. It was named for Philip II of Spain, who would also rule Portugal in a dynastic union but Portugal wanted to be a separate country and achieved that with the Portuguese Restoration War, ending in 1668.

The House of Aviz was the Portuguese branch of the House of Burgundy, until 1580 when there was a succession crisis due to the lack of a male heir. That was when Philip II of Spain gained control and the Philippine Dynasty, named for three successive kings named Philip, was the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs. This dynastic union of Spain and Portugal was known as the Iberian Union, as Spain and Portugal share the Iberian Peninsula.

This history would later be repeated in neighboring Spain, in the War of the Spanish Succession. The Spanish branch of the House of Habsburg would die out. The war for control would be between the Austrian branch of the Habsburgs and the French House of Bourbon. The Bourbons would win and the House of Bourbon still reigns over Spain today.

After Portugal gained separation from Spain in the Portuguese Restoration War, it was ruled by the House of Braganza, or Brigantine Dynasty, which lasted until the 1910 revolution in Portugal. In 1908 King Carlos I was assassinated and the Republican Party overthrew the monarchy two years later. What is known as the First Portuguese Republic then lasted from 1910 until a May 1926 military coup.

The First Republic had been unstable but, after it's overthrow in 1926, was followed by 48 years of authoritarian rule. First what was called the "National Dictatorship" and then the "New State", or the Second Republic. The leader associated with this time is Antonio Salazar. This was finally ended by the "Carnation Revolution" of 1974, bringing in the Portuguese Third Republic. The Carnation Revolution was nearly bloodless.

Notice that the modern histories of France, Spain and, Portugal all go by these numbered republics. A new republic basically means a new constitution.

The 16th Century Tower of Belem is the gateway to Lisbon from the sea. The first three images are from Google Earth and Street View.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >, After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.6916514,-9.2158698,2a,75y,215.59h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sfDKIO5RXJnUAAAQvxgKVWw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DfDKIO5RXJnUAAAQvxgKVWw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D209.19179%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

The New Testament states that St. Paul had plans to one day visit Spain, although he apparently never got around to it. There was no nation of Spain at the time so this means the Iberian Peninsula. Could St. Paul have ever imagined that some day there would be a city called Lisbon. Ships sailing from it's harbor would establish a city on the other side of the world. That city would become the largest city in both the western hemisphere and the southern hemisphere and it would be named for St. Paul, Sao Paulo.

Alfama is the oldest part of Lisbon. This dates to the time of the Moors and mostly survived the great earthquake of 1755. The square is called Commerce Square. The arch entering the square is in commemoration of recovery from the earthquake. Lisbon's cathedral is nearby. The following five scenes are from Google Earth and Street View. The first two are of Lisbon Cathedral.

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.7099798,-9.1312467,3a,75y,203.27h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s4YHOpc5Q_U8tJl6Vor4laA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D4YHOpc5Q_U8tJl6Vor4laA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D198.5542%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Here is some more of the old part of Lisbon, beginning in St. George's Castle. The first three images of St. George's Castle are from Google Earth.

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.7140662,-9.1334887,2a,75y,296.85h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sW4iM0DaGxadJQ05p5EITLg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DW4iM0DaGxadJQ05p5EITLg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D302.9801%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

The following scenes begin on Avenida de Liberdade. The nearby park is Eduardo VII Park. The first two images are from Google Earth. The monument is of the Marquis of Pombal, the prime minister who led the recovery from the 1755 earthquake.

Britain's King Edward VII visited Portugal in 1902. Did you know that the oldest military alliance that is still in force is that signed between England and Portugal in 1386? Of the four major colonial powers, England, France, Spain and, Portugal, England and Portugal are the only two that never fought each other. During imperial days, the two empires tacitly supported each other with the ships of one being able to find a friendly port in the other.