Afonso Henriques won at São Mamede in 1128 and was acclaimed Portugal’s first king in 1139

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Key facts

• By 1100, most of the Iberian Peninsula was controlled by Christian kingdoms; Muslim al-Andalus did not hold more than half of Iberia.
• Tariq ibn Ziyad led the invasion of 711. The southern Visigothic kingdom collapsed that year, while northern Visigothic resistance continued until 718, so this was not a four-year conquest.
• Afonso Henriques was born around 1106–1108, the son of Henry of Burgundy and Teresa of León.
• Teresa was the illegitimate daughter of Alfonso VI, who was King of León and Castile and Emperor of all Spain.
• At São Mamede in 1128, Afonso defeated the forces of his mother Teresa and her husband, Count Gonzalo of Portugal. The medieval troop totals are not firmly established.
• Afonso’s traditional acclamation as king at Zamora followed the Battle of Ourique in 1139. It was not a coronation at age 13 in 1122.
• Afonso conquered Santarém in 1145 and Lisbon and Sintra in 1147, with crusader and Templar support in the latter campaign.
• The video presents the stories of Afonso’s lameness, Gualdim Pais curing him, Templar initiations, Sintra as a lost paradise, and a bloodless surrender as established facts. They come from later medieval legend or folklore.
• The five Moorish kings and 30,000 troops at Ourique are from a later chronicle’s legend. No contemporary evidence establishes a 40-pound sword, 120 pounds of armor, or a grant of one-third of all conquered land.
• Afonso’s 1179 will left one-third of his kingdom to the Templars, which is distinct from the claim about conquered land.
• The Gruta dos Mouros has roughly 2 km of tunnels, not six miles.

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