The Treaty of Zamora (5 October 1143) recognized Portuguese independence from the

Kingdom of León The Kingdom of León; es, Reino de León; gl, Reino de León; pt, Reino de Leão; la, Regnum Legionense; mwl, Reino de Lhion was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in 910 when t ...

. Based on the terms of the accord, King Alfonso VII of León recognized the

Kingdom of Portugal The Kingdom of Portugal ( la, Regnum Portugalliae, pt, Reino de Portugal) was a monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and 1910, it was also kn ...

in the presence of his cousin King

Afonso I of Portugal Afonso I of PortugalOr also ''Affonso'' (Archaic Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonso'' (Portuguese-Galician) or ''Alphonsus'' ( Latin version), sometimes rendered in English as ''Alphonzo'' or ''Alphonse'', depending on the Spanish or French in ...

, witnessed by the

papal The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

representative, Cardinal Guido de Vico, at the

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

of Zamora. Both kings promised durable peace between their kingdoms. By this treaty Afonso I of Portugal also recognized the

suzerainty Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is ca ...

of the Pope. This treaty came as of a result of the Battle of Valdevez.

Background

Victorious in the Battle of Ourique, in 1139, Afonso Henriques benefited from the developed action by the archbishop of Braga, D. João Peculiar, in favor of the constitution of the new Kingdom of Portugal. To reconcile Afonso Henriques and his cousin Alfonso VII of León, the archbishop made arrangements for them to meet in Zamora in 4 and 5 of October 1143 in the presence of the cardinal Guido de Vico.

Result

By the terms of the treaty, Alfonso VII agreed that the

County of Portugal The County of Portugal ( pt, Condado de Portugal, Condado Portucalense, Condado de Portucale; in documents of the period the name used was Portugalia) refers to two successive medieval counties in the region around Braga and Porto, today corres ...

would become a kingdom, and that D. Afonso Henriques would be its king. The Portuguese sovereignty, recognized by Alfonso VII in Zamora, was only confirmed by

Pope Alexander III Pope Alexander III (c. 1100/1105 – 30 August 1181), born Roland ( it, Rolando), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 September 1159 until his death in 1181. A native of Siena, Alexander became pope after a con ...

in 1179, but the title of ''rex'', which D. Afonso Henriques used since 1140, was confirmed at Zamora, when the Portuguese monarch committed, before the cardinal, to consider himself a vassal of the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

, being then obliged, himself and his descendants, to pay an annual tithe to the Pope. From 1143, D. Afonso Henriques would send repentance letters to the Pope declaring himself his lord vassal and committing himself to sending a determined amount of gold every year. The negotiations would last several years, from 1143 to 1179. In 1179, Pope Alexander III would send D. Afonso Henriques the papal bull "

Manifestis probatum ''Manifestis Probatum'' is a papal bull dated 23 May 1179, in which Pope Alexander III officially recognised the ruler and self-proclaimed king Afonso Henriques as the first sovereign King of Portugal. The Papacy did not at first recognize the l ...

", in which the Pope accepted that D. Afonso Henriques would pay him direct vassalage, acknowledging definitely the independence of the Kingdom of Portugal without vassalage to Alfonso VII (because a vassal couldn't have two direct lords) and D. Afonso Henriques as first king of Portugal,

References

1143 in Europe 12th century in Portugal 12th-century treaties Treaties of the Kingdom of León Zamora 12th century in the Kingdom of León {{Spain-hist-stub

Background

Result

See also

References