In the late 18th century, a French invasion force marched into Portugal. Napoleon was insisting that Portugal must close its ports to British shipping. When it failed to comply, the invading army was given orders to march on Lisbon and seize the royal family. The Queen and her family fled to Brazil, and by this time, Maria I of Portugal had been insane for more than fifteen years.
Jenifer Roberts recalls the impact of a tidal wave that brought chaos and disaster to Portugal.
The Portuguese ruler began to curb the most powerful arch-conservative force in the country on May 3rd, 1751
Today best known for its gambling industry, the rich cultural history of Europe’s last colonial toehold in China might be the key to its future.
Edward Norman on the Eastern promise of Western sainthood to be encountered in the Church of the Bom Jesus in Goa.
Kings knight knights, but who knights kings? Peter Linehan looks at how Alfonso XI got round the problem and in the process strengthened his hold on his kingdom.
Bartholomew Dias' voyage to the Cape of Good Hope in the late 15th century marked the apex of an extraordinary Portuguese expansion overseas and the start of a fateful European impact on South Africa.
Helen Wallis charts the Portugal's astonishing success in voyages of exploration between 1415 and 1520
World wars, dictatorship and the tensions of empire tested, but not to breaking point, the alliance in the twentieth century. Tom Gallagher outlines how economic and strategic considerations made Portugal a focus for Allied concern in the Second World War.
John of Gaunt's dynastic ambitions coincided with the urgent need of the Portuguese Crown for foreign support to secure its sovereign independence - the catalyst for a royal marriage and England's oldest alliance.
