CASTELO DE GUIMARÃES (Part 2)

Guimarães Castle

PART 2 - CONTINUED

D. Afonso Henriques and the siege

In 1127, already a knight in arms, D. Afonso Henriques and the castle of Guimarães suffered a great and powerful siege by the king of Castile, his cousin, Afonso VII. The latter wanted to remind Afonso Henriques that he was his king and that he owed him vassalage, or in other words, that he had to swear allegiance to him.
Neither party wanted to give in. It was Egas Moniz who resolved the impasse. Afonso Henriques' aide gave his word of honour to the Castilian king that the Infante would be loyal to him and the latter withdrew his troops. He would later have to pay back his promise, for Afonso Henriques never intended to be his cousin's vassal.

D. Afonso Henriques

D. Afonso Henriques (engraving from the Sociedade Martins Sarmento Collection)

History tells us that Egas Moniz dressed himself and his family in clothes generally worn by those condemned to death. And that is how, barefoot and with ropes tied around their necks, they presented themselves to the king of Leon: "Sir king, Egas Moniz never broke his word. I could not keep what I promised. I give you as ransom my life and the innocent life of my people".

The king moved by such a gesture of loyalty and courage forgave Egas Moniz and sent him away in peace saying, "Great shall be the prince that such a master had."

This episode is engraved on his stone tomb in the Monastery of Paço de Sousa.

Egas Moniz

Illustration by Roque Gameiro (Quadros da História de Portugal, 1917 edition)

The Battle of S. Mamede

On 24 June 1128, Alfonso Henriques and his mother, Teresa of León (who, in the meantime, had joined Fernão Peres de Trava, heir to the most powerful house in the kingdom of Galicia) confronted their armies and fought against each other. The battle took place on the nearby field of S. Mamede.
The young Afonso Henriques emerged victorious, supported by a group of illustrious Portuguese nobility and the way was paved for the creation of an independent kingdom: the Kingdom of Portugal.

This is the reason why they also called the Castelo de Guimarães, Castelo de S. Mamede or Castelo da Fundação (do Reino).
This phase shows us a fortified structure of similar construction to that found in many other Portuguese castles: the walls are thicker and there is the capacity to store water. The castles of this period were built mainly to resist long sieges, assuming a posture of passive defence. It is at this time that we can recognise its current shield shape.

Battle of S. Mamede

Battle of São Mamede - The First Portuguese Afternoon
(painting by Acácio Lino, 1922, Lisbon, Parliament)

Reigns of D. Afonso III and D. Dinis

These reigns - Alfonso III (1248-1279) and Denis (1279-1325) - were profound reforms in terms of Portuguese castle architecture. Dinis (1279-1325) - were profound reforms in terms of Portuguese castle architecture. Guimarães Castle became taller, more robust, more complete: the walls were raised, two more turrets were built next to the Entrance Gate, two more next to the Exit Gate, four more towers and the Keep. In this phase they start to have an attitude of "active-defence". The castles are increasingly associated with the art of attack, which uses war machines, and as such thought and prepared to resist sieges and to allow, also, the "counterattack".

Battle of S. Mamede

Aclamation of D. Afonso Henriques (engraving from the Sociedade Martins Sarmento Collection)

Fences during the XIV century

This century is marked by several sieges of Guimarães Castle:
- Siege of 1322 - when the Castle's Alcaide loyally defended the interests of D. Dinis during the revolt of his son and heir, D. Afonso, future D. Afonso IV.
- Siege of 1369 - during the reign of King D. Fernando I (1367-1383), by King Henry II of Castile, who invaded Portugal through Minho and had already conquered Braga, and was defeated.
- Siege of 1385 - during the succession crisis of 1383-1385, having its alcaide, taken the side of D. Beatriz of Portugal, the town was again besieged, now by forces loyal to John I of Portugal (1385-1433), which conquered it.

Alcalde's Palace (15th and 16th century)

With the evolution of military tactics and new war resources used in armed conflicts, the castles began to lose their importance in the defence of the Kingdom and started to perform other functions. In the case of Guimarães, a residential area was built on one of the walls of the castle: the Paço do Alcaide. It is important to note that the Alcaide was the King's representative and had the function and obligation to enforce everything that the King had decided or decreed. They were important people in the kingdom and usually came from the nobility.

Guimarães Castle

O Castelo de Guimarães, in Arquivo Pitoresco, vol. VI, 1863, Lisbon, 1863

Decadence phase (16th to 19th century)

Also in the 16th century, the city jail was installed here. In the following century, the enclosure accumulated the functions of royal haystack and quarry.
The nineteenth century was undoubtedly the most disastrous period for the monument. The state of ruin of the Castle increased every day and in 1836, one of the members of the Vimaranense Patriotic Society (an association created to promote local progressive interests) advocated the demolition of the Castle and the use of its stone to tile the streets of Guimarães, since the fortress had been used as a political prison in the time of D. Miguel. Such a proposal, fortunately, was never accepted. 45 years later (in 1881, by royal decree of D. Luis), the Castle of Guimarães was classified as the only first class historical monument in the whole Minho, thus beginning the recovery of its importance.

Guimarães Castle

Restoration of the Guimarães Castle (20th Century)

With the large-scale intervention carried out by the Direcção Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais (DGEMN) between 1936 and 1940, followed by others of lesser impact in the following decades, Guimarães Castle regains its symbolic value.
It reopens to the public (in 1940) on the occasion of the Commemoration of the VIII Centenary of the Foundation of Nationality.
It was elected in 2007, one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal.

castle of Guimarães

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