Why did Portugal never join Spain?

1. Portugal was formed before Spain.

2. Portugal was recognised by the Roman Catholic Church 1179. The united Spain formed by merging the kingdoms of Castilla and Arag�n was established only in 1516, after they ousted the Muslim rulers in Granada in 1492.

3. Portugal did merge briefly with Spain in 1580 when the Portuguesse King Henrique died heirless. Philip I to Philip III of Habsburg (Spain) ruled both territories.

4. Philip IV lost Portugal to Duke of Braganza Jo�o IV in 1640. But the war lasted until 1668 before Spain admitted its formation. Peace treaty was signed between Portugal and Spain, mediated by Charles II of England. In between, Portugal signed on with several European rivals of Spain who preferred not to have Spain control the entire Iberian Peninsula.

5. Spain kissed Portugal bye bye, but still engaged in dispute with Portugal over Olivenza, a border area, until today.

Edited by snowybeagle

Originally posted by Landsknecht_Doppelsoldner Philip I? Portugal was annexed by Spain in 1580, during the reign of Philip II.

Sorry. My mistake.

He was Philip II of Spain but known as Philip I of Portugal, like James VI of Scotland was also James I of England.

Originally posted by snowybeagle 1. Portugal was formed before Spain. 2. Portugal was recognised by the Roman Catholic Church 1179. The united Spain formed by merging the kingdoms of Castilla and Arag󮠷as established only in 1516, after they ousted the Muslim rulers in Granada in 1492. 3. Portugal did merge briefly with Spain in 1580 when the Portuguesse King Henrique died heirless. Philip I to Philip III of Habsburg (Spain) ruled both territories. 4. Philip IV lost Portugal to Duke of Braganza Jo㯠IV in 1640. But the war lasted until 1668 before Spain admitted its formation. Peace treaty was signed between Portugal and Spain, mediated by Charles II of England. In between, Portugal signed on with several European rivals of Spain who preferred not to have Spain control the entire Iberian Peninsula. 5. Spain kissed Portugal bye bye, but still engaged in dispute with Portugal over Olivenza, a border area, until today.

You got it right on the nose. Thanks alot for stealing what I would have written.

 

 Now I'm thinking I don't know much about the Portuguese. Just wandering what is the origins of the Portuguese and how they differ from say the castillans (noting that spanish is hardly a race). 

Alfonso VI, King of Le�n, conquered the land as far as river Tajo and, in 1094 gave the "Terra Portucalense" as a county to Enrique de Borgo�a, married with his bastard daughter, Teresa.

When Alfonso died he declared Portugal independent. He acted as an independent during the crisis in the kingdom of Castilla-Le�n. When Enrique died his wife declared herself Queen and fought against Urraca, Queen of Castilla-Le�n. Portuguese nobility rebelled against  Teresa, supporting her son, Alfonso Enr�quez. He took the title of King as Alfonso I Enr�quez (1139) after defeating her mother in Sao Mamede (1128) and a muslim army in Ourique (1138), and was recognized as that by Alfonso VII of Castilla and Le�n in 1143.

Originally posted by faram Alfonso VI, King of Le�n, conquered the land as far as river Tajo and, in 1094 gave the "Terra Portucalense" as a county to Enrique de Borgo�a, married with his bastard daughter, Teresa. When Alfonso died he declared Portugal independent. He acted as an independent during the crisis in the kingdom of Castilla-Le�n. When Enrique died his wife declared herself Queen and fought against Urraca, Queen of Castilla-Le�n. Portuguese nobility rebelled against  Teresa, supporting her son, Alfonso Enr�quez. He took the title of King as Alfonso I Enr�quez (1139) after defeating her mother in Sao Mamede (1128) and a muslim army in Ourique (1138), and was recognized as that by Alfonso VII of Castilla and Le�n in 1143.

Cool, thanks for the info.

So what you are saying is that there was no real independence movement on the part of the Portugese, things just sort of fell into their lap and they took things from there....

Was the Portugese language already evolving as a distinct entity at this point?  Or was it still in a sort of a "dialect" stage when compared to the rest of Christian Spain?

Interesting - my next question is then how many differernt dialects/languages were there at this time?  And how do only Castillian and Catalan survive in big numbers today?

Originally posted by Jazz Interesting - my next question is then how many differernt dialects/languages were there at this time?  And how do only Castillian and Catalan survive in big numbers today?

Well, dialects derived from Latin were the Castillian, Catalan, Astur-leonese, Navarran-aragonese, Galaic-portuguese and Mozarab.

Mozarab was the romance language spoken by the Christians, and the low classes in the muslim lands, Galaic-portuguese has derivated in current Portuguese and Galician, Astur-leonese has became Bable (in Asturias) and Leones (spoken in some places in Le�n), Navarran-aragonese has derived in aragonese.

You forget one language: the Basque. Also, one hint about the founding of Portugal. The role played by count Vímara Peres and other nobles such the first count of Chaves as well the first count of Coimbra.Those lands were given to nobles from Asturias or Leon that leave is ancestral lands and with soldiers and colonist they come south fallowing the expansion of Reconquista. There mission is to colonize the land that is a"dead zone" (no population or castles and villages) and to form a "limes christianorum" and from there the Reconquista will continue to south. also these lands served as a defensive frontier to the christian kings. So Portugal was in reality to counties: Portucale and Coimbra. The first dinasty of Portuguese counts was a very important family in the kingdom of Leon. One member of that family was regent of the kingdom during the minority of king Alfonso V the Noble. The last count of that dinasty was killed in the batle of Pedroso (1071) by the forces of king Garcia of Galicia, after he enter in rebellion against the king. After that Garcia took the title of King of Portugal and Galicia. So Portugal since 868 when Vímara Peres took the northern regions become a force first inside the kingdom of Leon and afterwards under the rule of the House of Burgundy finally fullfil is destiny.

Spain itself may break up, as both the Basques and the Catalans have political parties which support independence.  Spain is somewhat a country created by royal marriages, not by lingering feelings of nationalism.