1139–1185
Afonso I
Afonso Henriques
«the Conqueror»
The first king. Went to war against his mother, called himself king after Ourique, and took Lisbon in 1147.
The kings and queens of Portugal
From Afonso Henriques to Manuel II: 771 years, four dynasties, and a family tree with more crooked branches than you'd think.
A dynasty is a family on the throne. As long as the crown passes from father to son — or to a brother, a daughter, a cousin — the dynasty goes on. When the crown jumps to another family, a new one begins. Portugal had four.
For each monarch, the line linking them to the one before says how they were related. The dashed ones are disputed reigns: some people acclaimed them, but most historians don't count them.
Burgundy (or Afonsine)
1139 – 1383The descendants of Count Henry, a knight from Burgundy, and Teresa. They made the kingdom and completed its map.
- son of Count Henry and Teresa
- son of Afonso I
1185–1211
Sancho I
«the Populator»
Settled the interior: founded Guarda in 1199 and granted charters to many towns. Took Silves with crusaders in 1189.
- son of Sancho I
1211–1223
Afonso II
«the Fat (tradition)»
Made his will in Portuguese in 1214 — the oldest royal document in the language that has come down to us.
- son of Afonso II
1223–1248
Sancho II
«the Cowled»
King at about thirteen, he conquered half the Alentejo — and in 1245 the Pope handed the government to his brother.
- brother of Sancho II
1248–1279
Afonso III
Count of Boulogne
Pushed his brother aside, reached Faro in 1249 and completed the map: with him, "king of Portugal and of the Algarve" became a title that stuck.
- son of Afonso III
1279–1325
Dinis (Denis)
«the Farmer»
Founded the Estudo Geral in 1290, the seed of the university, and settled the border with Castile at Alcañices (1297).
- son of Dinis (Denis)
1325–1357
Afonso IV
«the Brave»
Fought at the battle of Salado (1340), reigned through the Black Death, and ordered the killing of Inês de Castro.
- son of Afonso IV
1357–1367
Pedro I
«the Just (or the Cruel)»
Of Inês de Castro fame: once king, he had two of her killers cruelly executed.
- son of Pedro I
1367–1383
Fernando I
«the Handsome»
Three wars with Castile, and laws to get the land farmed and ships to sea. Died leaving only a daughter, married to the king of Castile.
- daughter of Fernando I
1383–1385
Beatriz
Disputed reign: Portuguese historians don't count her among the monarchs.
Proclaimed queen on her father's death, with her mother as regent. The Lisbon revolt and Aljubarrota shut her out.
1383–1385: two years without an undisputed king. Lisbon rises, the Cortes of Coimbra choose the Master of Avis, and Aljubarrota settles the rest.
Avis
1385 – 1580It begins with an illegitimate son who was master of a military order and ends with a childless cardinal. In between: Ceuta, Tordesillas and the sea route to India.
- illegitimate son of Pedro I, half-brother of Fernando
1385–1433
João I
Master of Avis
«of Good Memory»
Won Aljubarrota with Nuno Álvares and English allies, then went off to take Ceuta (1415).
- son of João I
1433–1438
Duarte (Edward)
«the Eloquent»
The king who wrote books. The attack on Tangier failed and his brother, Prince Fernando, died a captive.
- son of Duarte (Edward)
1438–1481
Afonso V
«the African»
King at six. Took strongholds in North Africa and even tried to become king of Castile.
- son of Afonso V
1481–1495
João II
«the Perfect Prince»
Negotiated the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), which split the undiscovered world with Castile.
- cousin and brother-in-law of João II
1495–1521
Manuel I
«the Fortunate»
On his watch Vasco da Gama reached India by sea (1498).
- son of Manuel I
1521–1557
João III
«the Pious»
Let the Inquisition into Portugal (1536).
- grandson of João III
1557–1578
Sebastião
«the Desired»
King at three. Died — or vanished — at Alcácer Quibir, childless, leaving the country without an heir.
- great-uncle of Sebastião
1578–1580
Henrique
the Cardinal-King
A cardinal and inquisitor-general, he became king at 66 and died two years later without leaving a successor.
- nephew of the Cardinal-King (illegitimate grandson of Manuel I)
1580
António
Prior of Crato
Disputed: most historians don't count him as king.
Acclaimed king by his supporters in 1580, he lost at Alcântara and tried again in the Azores, where his fleet was destroyed in 1582.
1580: Philip II of Spain, a grandson of Manuel I through his mother, inherits the crown — and marches in with an army to hold it.
Philippine (Habsburg)
1580 – 1640Three kings of Spain who were also kings of Portugal. The kingdom stayed separate — that is what Philip I swore at Tomar — but the king lived in Spain.
- nephew of the Cardinal-King (his mother was a daughter of Manuel I)
1581–1598
Philip I
Philip II of Spain
«the Prudent»
Inherited through his Portuguese mother and, at the Cortes of Tomar (1581), swore to rule Portugal as a separate kingdom.
- son of Philip I
1598–1621
Philip II
Philip III of Spain
Left most of his power in the hands of his favourite, the Duke of Lerma.
- son of Philip II
1621–1640
Philip III
Philip IV of Spain
He was king when Portugal rebelled in 1640 and got its own king back. He lived until 1665 without accepting it.
1 December 1640: a group of nobles rises in Lisbon and acclaims the Duke of Braganza. Spain only recognises independence in 1668.
Braganza
1640 – 1910The Dukes of Braganza, descended from Manuel I. They restored independence, fled to Brazil, fought a civil war between brothers, and ended with a twenty-year-old king in exile.
- no close kinship; great-great-grandson of Manuel I
1640–1656
João IV
Duke of Braganza
«the Restorer»
The duke made king in 1640: with him Portugal had its own king again.
- son of João IV
1656–1683
Afonso VI
«the Victorious»
In his reign Spain recognised independence (1668) — but his brother took his power and married his wife.
- brother of Afonso VI
1683–1706
Pedro II
«the Peaceful»
Ruled as regent in his brother's place from 1668, married his ex-sister-in-law, and only became king when his brother died.
- son of Pedro II
1706–1750
João V
Brazilian gold filled his coffers, and he spent it lavishly — with the convent at Mafra top of the list.
- son of João V
1750–1777
José I
The king of the 1755 earthquake. Afterwards he refused to live within stone walls again.
- daughter of José I
1777–1816
Maria I
She reigned for almost forty years, but mental illness put her son in charge for her; she died in Rio de Janeiro.
- son of Maria I
1816–1826
João VI
Fled Napoleon in 1807 and took the court to Brazil: for years, Rio de Janeiro was in practice the capital.
- son of João VI
1826
Pedro IV
Pedro I of Brazil
King of Portugal for just two months: already Emperor of Brazil, he abdicated in favour of his seven-year-old daughter.
- daughter of Pedro IV
1826–1853
Maria II
Queen at seven, pushed aside by her uncle in 1828, back in 1834 after the civil war. Died in childbirth at 34.
- uncle of Maria II
1828–1834
Miguel I
Disputed: he reigned in fact from 1828 to 1834, but the liberals called him a usurper, and at Évora-Monte he had to renounce the throne and leave for exile.
Came as his niece's regent and made himself absolute king. It ended in civil war with his brother and 32 years of exile.
- son of Maria II
1853–1861
Pedro V
«the Hopeful»
King at 16, widowed soon after, dead at 24 in an epidemic — typhoid or cholera, the sources disagree.
- brother of Pedro V
1861–1889
Luís I
He was never meant to be king: he got the throne because his brother died young and childless.
- son of Luís I
1889–1908
Carlos I
Shot dead in Lisbon on 1 February 1908, in an open carriage, along with his eldest son.
- son of Carlos I
1908–1910
Manuel II
King at 18, after his father and brother were shot dead. Two years later, the Republic sent him into exile.
5 October 1910: the Republic. Manuel II died in exile in England in 1932. Portugal never had a king again.
Notes and sources
We only show the years of each reign: the exact days don't always match from one source to another. Be careful with the nicknames, too — not all of them date from the king's own time; Afonso II's, "the Fat", for instance, is tradition. We only show the ones we found in the sources below.
The portraits from Afonso Henriques to Philip II were engraved by Pedro Perret in 1603 — for almost all of them, centuries after they died, so they are imagined. Those from Philip III to Luís come from a 19th-century set of lithographs; those of Carlos and Manuel II are photographs. We turned them all into engravings so they would look like one family.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica (1911), «Portugal» (K. G. Jayne e E. Prestage), history section, and each king's own article (Alphonso, John I–VI, Emanuel I, Henry I, Sebastian, Antonio, Inez de Castro, Philip II–IV, Miguel, Carlos I) — text on Wikisource
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1911), «Portugal»
- Alexandre Herculano, História de Portugal (first dynasty) — archive.org, archive.org
- Chronicles: Duarte Galvão, D. Affonso Henriques; Rui de Pina, D. Affonso II, D. Sancho II, D. Affonso III, D. Diniz, D. Affonso V; Fernão Lopes, D. Pedro I (Project Gutenberg)
- Breve sumario del linaje y crónicas de los reyes de Portugal (16th c.; transcribed by T. Jamborova e L. Pons, Universidad de Sevilla)
- Manuel Pinheiro Chagas, História alegre de Portugal (1880) — nicknames
- Portuguese Royal Burial Sites (Unofficial Royalty) and its pages on the three Philips — dates, marriages, burials
- Tombs: Jerónimos Monastery, on Google Arts & Culture; interview with Joaquim Ruivo, director of Batalha Monastery, Diário de Notícias (2025); Museu Arqueológico do Carmo (tomb of Fernando I); Pedro IV's heart at Lapa, Diário de Notícias
- Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo, «11 de Novembro de 1861: Morte de D. Pedro V» (themed bibliography)
- This site's chapters on the first dynasty, each with its own sources
- Portraits: Pedro Perret (1603); «Colecção de Reis e Rainhas de Portugal» (19th c.); Nadar (1886) and Bain News Service (c. 1908–10), Library of Congress — all via Wikimedia Commons, public domain