page_title: Castle of Abrantes
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Castle of Abrantes / History
caption_attribution_description: Le château d'Abrantes, Portugal
context_page_description: The Castle of Abrantes overlooks the city of Abrantes, in the municipality of Abrantes in the district of Santarém, Ribatejo, divided between the two civil parishes of São João and São Vicente. It was part of the Reconquista fortifications that made up the Linha do Tejo, a line of castles and outposts during the Middle Ages, recently integrated into a tourist region called the Região de Turismo dos Templários.
context_section_description: The area of the Abrantes Castle was at one time occupied by a Lusitanian castro structure. It was conquered during the Roman invasion of the peninsula around 130 BC by Consul Decimus Junius Brutus, and occupied for a time by Roman legions after Brutus expanded and remodelled it. Successive invasions by Alans (411), Visigoths (492) and Moors (716) further indicated the strategic importance of this site, justifying the establishment of a permanent military garrison. However, the area and its river did not constitute an important link between the settlements of the Iberian Peninsula until the 12th century.
  During the Christian Reconquista (English: Re-conquest), the settlement in the area of Abrantes was taken from the Moors by forces in the service of Afonso Henriques (1112-1185), who restructured the defences of the site to attract settlers into the region. He granted the lands to the Order of Santiago (1172) so that they could watch over and assist pilgrims on the Way of Saint James. Later, it was incorporated into the Linha do Tejo (English: Tagus Line) that the Knights Templar established to control and maintain the lands reconquered from the Muslims. The castle outpost, as well as the castles of Almourol, Castelo Branco, Monsanto, Pombal, Tomar, Torres Novas and Zêzere formed a defensive barrier of garrisons along the middle course of the Tagus River.
  As part of this line, Abrantes was able to resist the forces of the Almohad Caliphate under the command of Moroccan Abem Jacob (1179), who retreated after suffering many deaths. Abrantes was rewarded for its heroic resistance by receiving a foral in 1179 and was rebuilt.  During the reign of Sancho I (1185-1211), a new attack from the Almoáda, under the command of Caliph Abu Yusuf Ya'qub al-Mansur, was successful in 1191 in retaking all the Christian conquests in the territories south of the Tagus, with the exception of Évora. In 1250, Afonso III (1248-1279) initiated a strengthening of the defences of the castle, including the construction of the prison block and an expansion of the walls, which was brought to completion between 1300 and 1303 in the reign of his successor Dinis. Afonso III donated the village of Abrantes to his wife, Queen Elizabeth of Portugal, beginning a tradition of royal patronage by the Queens of Portugal.
  During the Portuguese Interregnum Abrantes allied itself with the Master of Aviz, and fought the forces of Castile in the Battle of Aljubarrota.
  A new foral was conferred (1510) during the reign of Manuel I of Portugal (1495-1521). In 1531, the two top floors of the prison block were destroyed by the 1531 Lisbon earthquake.
  In the second half of the 16th century, the Abrantes Castle entered into decline, particularly during the 1580 Portuguese succession crisis. In the context of the Portuguese Restoration War, in the last quarter of the 17th century, Peter II determined that the castle and its settlement should be reconstructed into a medieval castle-keep, in the style of Vauban. To this end, the medieval walls were lowered and strengthened, and two secondary walls were constructed within the bastions in 1704. By this process of remodelling, which included the construction of the palace of the Marquess of Abrantes (by Rodrigo de Almeida e Meneses, 1st Marquess of Abrantes), making the fortress a key to the Province of Estremadura. Similar expansions were accomplished in 1731 by the military engineer Engeleer, with the construction of the bastions and renovation of the already existing walls.
  In the 18th century, the castle's installations were adapted for use as a garrison of a regiment of Royal Cavalry. Between 1792 and 1799, the same quarters were expanded and occupied by a legion commanded by the Marquess of Alorna. By the beginning of the 19th century, during the Peninsular War the castle and town underwent, on two occasions, the passage of Napoleonic troops into Portugal:
  on 22 November 1807, it was occupied by troops under the command of Jean-Andoche Junot, who took the title of Duke of Abrantes (March 1808);
  in October 1810 it was reoccu
caption: The walls of the Abrantes Castle looking down on the urban settlement of the town
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