Everything about John I Of Portugal totally explained
Joao I (
Portugues:
João, ;
Lisbon,
11 April 1357 – Lisbon,
14 August 1433), called
the Good (sometimes
the Great) or
of Happy Memory, was the tenth
King of Portugal and the Algarve and the first to use the title
Lord of Ceuta. He was the natural son of
Pedro I by a noble
Galician woman named Teresa Lourenço, daughter of Lourenço Martins, o da Praça, and wife Sancha Martins. In
1364 he was created grand-master of the
Order of Aviz. He became king in
1385, after the
1383–1385 Crisis.
On the death of his lawful brother
Fernando I in October
1383, without a male heir, strenuous efforts were made to secure the succession for princess
Beatrice, his only daughter. As heiress-apparent Beatrice had been married to king
Juan I of Castile, but the popular voice declared against an arrangement by which Portugal would virtually have become united with Castile. The
1383–1385 Crisis followed as a period of political anarchy, when no king ruled the country.
On
April 6 1385, the council of the kingdom (
cortes in
Portuguese) met in
Coimbra and declared João, then Master of Aviz, king of Portugal. This was in effect a declaration of war against Castile and its claims to the Portuguese throne. Soon after, the king of Castile invaded Portugal, with the purpose of conquering Lisbon and removing João I from the throne.
Juan I was accompanied by
French allied cavalry as
English troops and generals took the side of João (see
Hundred years war). João I then named
Nuno Álvares Pereira, his loyal and talented supporter, general and protector of the Kingdom. The invasion was repelled during the Summer after the
Battle of Atoleiros, but especially after the decisive
battle of Aljubarrota (
August 14,
1385), where the Castilian army was virtually annihilated.
Juan I of Castile then retreated and the stability of João I's throne was permanently secured.
On
11 February,
1387, João I married
Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of
John of Gaunt who had proved to be a worthy ally, consolidating the union of the
Anglo-Portuguese Alliance that endures to the present day.
After the death of Juan of Castile in
1390, without leaving issue by Beatrice, João I ruled in peace and pursued the economic development of the country. The only significant military action was the siege and conquest of the city of
Ceuta in
1415. By this step he aimed to control navigation of the African coast. But in longer perspective, this was the first step opening the Arabian world to medieval Europe, which in fact led to the Age of Discovery with Portuguese explorers sailing across the whole world. It should be noted that the global Muslim population had climbed to about 8 per cent as against the Christian population of 14 per cent by 1400.
Contemporaneous writers describe him as a man of wit, very keen on concentrating the power on himself, but at the same time with a benevolent and kind personality. His youth education as master of a religious order made him an unusually learned king in the Middle Ages. His love for knowledge and culture was passed to his sons:
Duarte, the future king, was a poet and a writer,
Pedro, the duke of Coimbra, was one of the most learned princes of his time and Prince
Henry the Navigator, the duke of Viseu, started a school of navigation and invested heavily in science and development of nautical topics. In
1430, his only surviving daughter, Isabella, married
Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy and enjoyed an extremely refined court in his lands; she was the mother of
Charles the Bold.
Genealogical data
Ancestors
Marriages and descendants
João I married at Oporto on
February 2 1387 Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of
John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and
Blanche of Lancaster. From that marriage were born several famous princes and princesses of Portugal (
Infantes) that became known as the Illustrious Generation (
Portuguese:
Ínclita Geração).
|-
Sources:
Williamson, D. 1988. ‘’Debrett’s Kings and Queens of Europe’’
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