The Kingdom of Portugal and Navarre (1080-) was a union of the Iberian kingdoms of Portugal and Navarre that was first united by king Henrique I of Portugal. It later annexed Zaragoza to complete its dominance in northern Spain, before adding Bordeaux and Rennes in France to its empire. By 1150, it controlled Portugal, northern and southern Spain, western France, and Egypt.
History[]
The Kingdom of Portugal and Navarre was founded in 1080 by the 40-year-old Portuguese monarch King Henrique I of Portugal, who united the kingdoms of Portugal and Navarre to form a dynastic union between the courts of Lisbon and Pamplona. Henrique I was a Christian, and gained independence from the Moors when Christians liberated Portugal from Moorish rule.
In addition to being King of Portugal, Henrique was also King of Navarre, a northern Iberian kingdom with its capital at Pamplona. The two kingdoms were separated from each other by swathes of territory from the Kingdom of Leon and the Kingdom of Castile, but both were close together in their culture and religion.
In 1080, the Reconquista of Spain reached its height as Alfonso VI of Castile declared himself "Emperor of all Spain", which could possibly include claims to Portugal's lands. King Henrique married his son Affonso I of Portugal to Alfonso's daughter Teresa el Valiente in hopes of arranging a lasting pan-Iberian alliance, and he also married his daughter Maria of Portugal-Navarre to the dauphin of France Louis the Fat, securing an alliance with two of Europe's best powers.
Two years into the creation of the kingdom, Johao the Mean of Pamplona conquered Diego of Zaragoza's rebel stronghold of Zaragoza in the name of King Henrique, and in the coming years, Portugal-Navarre annexed Bordeaux and Rennes in western France from rebellious lords. At the same time, Portugal contributed to the Reconquista by conquering Granada and Cordoba from the Moors, ending Moorish resistance and making Portugal-Navarre a strong power. In the 1150s, the Portuguese conquered Egypt from the Fatimid Caliphate in a crusade, taking Cairo and Alexandria. In 1164, King Henrique died, leaving the reins of the kingdom to his son Affonso I of Portugal.