Fontelo is a parish in the northern municipality of

Armamar Armamar () is a municipality in Viseu District The Districts of Portugal, District of Viseu ( ) is located in the Central Inland of Portugal, the District Capital is the city of Viseu. Municipalities The district is composed by 24 municipaliti ...

in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 641,Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE)
Census 2011 results according to the 2013 administrative division of Portugal in an area of 7.52 km².

History

There are a few elements that prove the antiquity of the settlement of Fontelo. The castro of ''São Domingos'', which was a Romanized rural ''villa'', marks the first referential indication of local settlement. The settlement's growth is intimately linked to the chapel that was constructed on Mount São Domingos, in place of a pagan shrine. In the second half of the 12th century, Fontelo was divided into three "honours": that of Egas Moniz, that of Pero Viegas, and a Crown bridge.Monteiro, J. Gonçalves Monteiro (1984) p. 244 Fontelo became a centre of the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...

by donation of Veraca Sanches, daughter of

Sancho I of Portugal Sancho I (born ; Coimbra, 11 November 115426 March 1211) also referred to as Sancho the Populator (), was King of Portugal from 1185 until his death in 1211. He was the second king of Portugal. Sancho was the second but only surviving legitimat ...

, which helped resettlement of the community. During the donatorio period, the primary benefactors were the Coutinho family, rich nobles who were alcaides of Lamego and Trancoso, and who later became Counts of Marialva.Monteiro, J. Gonçalves Monteiro (1984) p. 245 Later, it became a command of the

Sovereign Military Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic lay religious ...

, with a resident bishop, granted by the ''Casa dos Santos''. It was also the seat of a vicariate of the Bishopric of Lamego, later reduced to a rectorate. Legend recounts that King Afonso V visited the ancient chapel of São Domingos with Queen

Elizabeth of Portugal Elizabeth of Portugal (''Elisabet'' in Catalan, ''Isabel'' in Aragonese, Portuguese and Spanish; 1271 – 4 July 1336), also known as Elizabeth of Aragon, was Queen of Portugal from 1282 to 1325 as the wife of King Denis. She is venerated as ...

in 1454, on his journey to battle in Toro. Another visit was made a few years later by his son

John II John II may refer to: People * John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (1455–1499) * John II Casimir Vasa of Poland (1609–1672) * John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (died 1302) * John II Doukas of Thessaly (1303–1318) * John II Komnenos (1087–114 ...

and Queen Leonor, to request divine intervention in order for the couple to conceive an heir to the throne. They returned in 1483, with their son, the Infante Afonso (born on 18 May 1475) and thereafter couples that wished to conceive used to sleep on the ''pedra propiciatória'' (''favourable stone''), also the ''fraga da fertilidade'' (''boulder of fertility''), located outside the door leading to the sacristy of the chapel. The parish was established as a municipality on 17 May 1514 by the

Manueline The Manueline (, ), occasionally known as Portuguese late Gothic, is the sumptuous, composite Portuguese architectural style originating in the 16th century, during the Portuguese Renaissance and Age of Discoveries. Manueline architecture inco ...

foral 200px, Foral of Castro Verde - Portugal The ''Carta de Foral'', or simply ''Foral'', was a royal document in Portugal and its former empire, whose purpose was to establish a ''concelho'' (Council) and regulate its administration, borders and priv ...

, with its own magistrate, secretary, two councilmen, a prosecutor, jail, municipal salon and

pillory The pillory is a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, used during the medieval and renaissance periods for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse. ...

. The municipality was abolished in 1834-35, and the parish was integrated into the municipality of Armamar.

Geography

Fontelo is the second most populous parish in the municipality of Armamar, with approximately 816 habitantes and 262 families. In addition to Fontelo, the locality of Balteiro, is another locality within its territory, six kilometres from the municipal seat. Three other localities are Comenda, Serra and Tapada.

Economy

Agriculture, more specifically viniculture but also dairy and beef cattle, has been the most important part of the local economy. There is also civil construction and industry, primarily granite quarrying in the eastern part of Mount São Domingos.

References

;Notes * {{authority control Freguesias of Armamar Populated places in Viseu District