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Oncenupon a time, Portugal was an independent, powerful nation with anmajor navy and a global empire. But…then the young Portuguese king,nSebastian, died without an heir. (An heir is a child—usually anson—who can inherit the crown.) n
Oncenupon a time, Portugal was an independent, powerful nation with anmajor navy and a global empire. But…then the young Portuguese king,nSebastian, died without an heir. (An heir is a child—usually anson—who can inherit the crown.) nn
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nOkay,nno prince to take the crown—but there must be some relative ofnSebastian who could rule! The Portuguese awarded the crown to thenonly royal relative: Sebastian’s great-uncle, who became King Henry.
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nThennhe died, too. Without annheir. n
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nThisnwasn’t a democracy. The people of Portugal didn’t get to vote to seenwho would rule the nation. With the entire royal house having diednout, what would happen next?
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nWhatnhappened next was that the King of Spain stepped in and claimed thenthrone. He was King Philip II of Spain, and he alsonbecame Philip I of Portugal. Portugal sorta’ kinda’ remainednindependent, but…
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nButnbeing ruled by the Spanish king, Portugal was dragged into Spain’snwar Eighty Years’ War. Portugal lost a lot of its navy, its goodnrelationship with England, and its monopoly on the Indian Sea trade. n
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nSixtynyears after Philip took over in Portugal, some Portuguese noblesnstaged an uprising and declared their leader King John IV. It is thisn1640 revolt—the restoration of Portugal’s independence—that isncelebrated today.
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nLearnnmore about Portugal…
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nInn this earlier post, I explored some ways in which Portugal is then most-est of this and that.
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- Inn this earlier post, learn about Portugal’s most important poet andn Fado, a genre of music. There are also links to slide showsn and jigsaw puzzles.
- Inn this earlier post, there is a short quiz, links to Portuguesen recipes and Portuguese language, and a video of the beauties ofn Portugal.
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