Brief History of Portugal

This is a comprehensive history of Portugal that covers the whole span, from the Stone Age to today. An introduction provides an understanding of geographical and climatic issues, before an examination of Portugal''s prehistory and classical Portugal, from the Stone Age to the end of the the Roman era. Portugal''s history from ad420 to the thirteenth century takes in the Suevi, Visigoths and Moors. Then, a look at medieval Portugal, covers the development of Christian Portugal culminating with the expulsion of the Moors, with a focus on key sites. A subsequent section on Spanish rule, between 1580 and 1640, explains why Spain took over and why Spanish rule collapsed. There is a significant focus on Portugal''s global role, particularly during the age of exploration, or expansion, in the fifteenth century to 1580: Manueline Portugal, Henry the Navigator, Vasco da Gama and Belém. Portugal was the first of the Atlantic empires, with territory in the Azores,