đź“š Sources: The Gibraltar Crusade: Castile and the Battle for the Strait – Joseph F. O’Callaghan (2011) The Reconquista: The History and Legacy of the Conflicts Between the Moors and Christians on the Iberian Peninsula – Charles River Editors (2018) The Reconquest of Spain – Derek Lomax (1978) The Portuguese in the Age of Discovery 1340-1665 – David Nicolle (2012)
The Battle of Ourique is a defining moment in the history of Portugal, as it was here that Afonso Henriques was on July 25, 1139, proclaimed the first King of Portugal by his troops after defeating the Moorish army. The significance of the battle of Ourique cannot be overstated for it secured the founding of the Kingdom of Portugal.
The five blue shields at the very centre of the flag of Portugal represent the five Moorish kings that were defeated by Portugal’s first King Afonso Henriques in the battle of Ourique 1139. The white central shield is the personal armor of this same King and was said to have been given to him in a vision of the crucified Christ on the eve of battle.
📢 Narrated by David McCallion
🎼 Music: EpidemicSound Filmstro
đź“š Sources: The Reconquest Kings of Portugal: Political and Cultural Reorientation on the Medieval Frontier – Stephen Lay (2008) Between Silences: The Coronation of Portuguese Medieval Kings (12th–14th Centuries) – Carla Varela Fernandes (2020) The Teaching of military history at Portuguese universities: Pride and Prejudice – JoĂŁo Gouveia Monteiro (2021) The History of Medieval Portugal in the Deducao cronologica analitica – Filipe Alves Moreira (2022) The Kingdom of LeĂłn-Castilla under King Alfonso VII, 1126–1157 – Bernard F. Reilly (1998) Between God and the King: The world of military orders – Isabel Cristina Ferreira Fernandes (2018) A History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire, volume I, Cambridge University Press – Anthony Disney (2009) The Reconquista and Its Legacy, 1000-1348 – AntĂłnio Henriques (2017) Fantastic Stories of the History of Portugal – JoĂŁo Ferreira (2010)
Correction: 10:48 The location of the battle is heavily debated. Contemporary sources said that they do not know where the battle took place, only that it took place on “fields near Ourique”. But today many historians argue that Alfonso couldn’t lead a full military campaign in Alentejo with his limited resources, so deep in Muslim territory (he was only a count with a small realm). A more plausible location is suggested near Vila ChĂŁ de Ourique, which was closer to Portugal’s traditional lands. Nevertheless, historians are divided between Ourique in Alentejo and Vila ChĂŁ de Ourique further north – my opinion is that Vila ChĂŁ de Ourique is much more plausible.
đź“š Sources Joseph F. O’Callaghan – A History of Medieval Spain Joseph F. O’Callaghan – Reconquest and Crusade in Medieval Spain George F. Nafziger, Mark W. Walton – Islam at War: A History Kenneth M. Setton et. al. – A History of the Crusades Vol. II: The Later Crusades
📚 Sources: A.R. Disney – A History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire: From Beginnings to 1807 (Volume 1) Luis Adao De Fonseca et. al. – The Aljubarrota Battle and its Contemporary Heritage Jean Froissart – Froissart’s Tales Ian Heath – Armies of the Middle Ages, Vol. 1 Afonso De Paca – The Battle of Aljubarrota (Journal of Antiquity, 37) John M.D. Pohl – Armies of Castile and Aragorn 1370-1516 Edgar Vigario – The Revolution of 1383 and the Battle of Aljubarrota
đź“š Sources: Abd al-Wahid al Marrakushi – Account of the Battle of Zallaca, taken from “Christians and Moors in Spain” – Retrieved from https://deremilitari.org/2013/11/the-battle-of-zallaqa-1086/ David Nicholle & Angus McBride – El Sid and the Spanish Reconquista, 1050-1492 John France – Western Warfare in the Age of the Crusades, 1000-1300 Ian Heath – Armies of Feudal Europe, 1066-1300 Joseph F. O’Callaghan – Reconquest and Crusade in Medieval Spain Joseph F. O’Callaghan – The Latin Chronicle of the Kings of Castile Richard Fletcher – Moorish Spain
