How Portugal grew
From county to kingdom: two centuries of conquests, losses and treaties — and a map that wasn’t complete until 1297.
already Portuguese new at this date
How to read this map
Medieval frontiers were not lines: they were zones of castles, no man’s land and raids from both sides. So the borders we draw are approximate. The map underneath is today’s, made from real geographic data; only the colours change. Dates and places come from the sources below.
- Alexandre Herculano, História de Portugal, t. I–III — t. I, t. II, t. III
- Hermínia Vasconcelos Vilar, «Território e poder em espaços de fronteira» (2012) — PDF
- L. C. Amaral e J. C. Garcia, «O Tratado de Alcañices (1297): uma construção historiográfica» — Repositório Aberto U. Porto
- H. Baquero Moreno, «As relações de fronteira no século de Alcañices» — Repositório Aberto U. Porto
- M. J. Barroca, «De Miranda do Douro ao Sabugal» — Repositório Comum
- Geography: Natural Earth (public domain)