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Crer e Querer para Vencer/Belief and the Will to Win
Movimento Patriótico
OLIVENÇA and JUROMENHA:
TERRITORIES JURIDICIALLY PORTUGUESE and ILLEGALLY OCCUPIED BY SPAIN
Olivença is a Portuguese Territory
Map depicts borders as defined in historic, de jure and administrative records since 1297,
published in the book: "Nos Caminhos de Olivença" 1994, by Carlos E. da Cruz Luna.How Olivença Came to be an Integral Part of Portugal
The First Conquest
During the reign of Afonso I, the first King of Portugal, the Portuguese progressed southwards, and conquered more lands 1164-1169, to the north, west and east of the Odiana (Guadiana) river and were involved in fighting the 'Moors' (Almoravids) as far as the outskirts of Seville. Gonçalo Viegas called a place just east of the Odiana (Guadiana) "Vila Real", named after his birthplace in Northern Portugal.
From 1169 to 1191, there was a massive surge northwards by the 'Moors' (Almohads). Afonso I broke a leg in the siege at Batalywas (Badajós), while attempting to dislodge the 'Moors' who had received assistance to fight the Portuguese from Alfonso IX, the King of León - a Christian, and Afonso's father-in-law! The Portuguese lost nearly all their conquests south of the Tejo (Tagus).
The Reconquest of Olivença
Starting in 1220, Portuguese Templars in the service of Afonso II and his son Sancho I, recaptured from the Moors many places in Es(x)tremadura and Alentejo. In 1228 they took a "hamlet" to the east of Vila Real and nearby they founded what they called Olivença. At this point, neither the Leonese nor the Castilians had ventured so far south in this area.
The Portuguese had been doing all the ("Christian") fighting here since 1164! They went on to capture all the lands from the Moors as far as the Algarve coast, the Odiel river and the Aracena mountains (in present day Andaluzia). Later the anxious Castilians were to warn the Portuguese not to go "beyond the Odiel"!
Castile enters the Scene
Alfonso IX of Castile had claimed and usurped the throne of Leon in 1230, and his forces entered the Odiana (Guadiana) region the same year. Then he decided to dispute many of the lands under Portuguese possession, and finally seized Olivença and the surrounding territory in 1258 from the Templars. Stubbornly until his death he tried to dominate and control the whole region and force the Portuguese to accept the west bank of the Odiana (Guadiana) as the border between the two kingdoms.
The Treaty of Alcanizes
Finally, in 1297, by the Treaty of Alcanizes, Castile* recognized Portugal's rights to Olivença and other territories on the east side of the (Odiana) Guadiana in "part exchange"(!) for Portugal giving up its rights to a large swathe of territory that covered an area (as far east as the Aracena Mountains and south along the Odiel river to the sea), including Aracena, Aroche, Almonaster and Aiamonte.
Spanish Usurp Portuguese Throne
Even so, between 1297 and 1580 Portugal suffered and repelled a number of invasions from its larger, and more powerful neighbour. But in 1580 disaster struck. King Sebastian of Portugal was killed in a great military debacle in North Africa. Philip II of Spain (of the 'Spanish Armada' fame) taking advantage of the death of Portugal's King invaded Portugal in 1581 after having bribed the majority of the Portuguese nobles and clergy and easily crushed the resistance by King Antonio I's forces. Philip usurped the Portuguese throne as Philip I in a loose Union of the two crowns. This "captivity" as the Portuguese still call it, was to last until 1640 when the Spaniards were thrown out. However, hostilities and a devasting war carried on for 28 more years.
Peace and Restoration
In the 1668 Peace Treaty of Lisbon , Spain recognized Portugal's restored monarchy and independence together with its territorial integrity as it was before the war. Even though in 1709, during the War of the Spanish Succession, the Spaniards partly destroyed the Portuguese manueline bridge over the Odiana (Guadiana) linking the Portuguese towns of Elvas and Olivença, Portugal's territorial integrity was generally respected - Salvaterra do Minho was not returned. In fact in all subsequent treaties between the two crowns, Spain never once disputed Portugal's sovereignty over Olivença and its territory.
Inglorious Godoy
It all changed when Spain's unscrupulous Army General, Manuel Godoy treacherously broke the Portuguese/Spanish Alliance of 1793. He had already entered into a secret treaty with France in 1796 to partition Portugal. This had the unexpected effect of leaving the Portuguese forces that were helping Spain (!), being left stranded in Roussillon, now with its ally (Spain) also as the enemy! As part of the deal with Napoleon, Godoy was promised the Alentejo and the Algarve.
In May 1801 with French troops on standby on the Portuguese frontier, Spanish forces under Godoy's leadership invaded Portugal through the Alentejo. Under the Madrid Treaty of June 6, by his own decision, he imposed the occupation of Portuguese territory.
Spain Breaks Treaties of 1801
In another invasion, in 1807, again supported by the French, Spain broke Articles III & IV of the 1801 Treaty of Madrid , and lost its rights to Olivença.
Portuguese troops regained Olivença from the French in April 1811 , who had taken it from the Spaniards the previous January, but the British inexplicably ordered the Portuguese out and the Spanish in!
Anexation and Defiance of International Agreements
This was followed later by a programme of ugly ethnic cleansing and the systematic colonisation of Olivença. Something which most Spaniards or the Portuguese, have ever heard about. The relative silence has been maintained all in the cause of the so-called "good relations" with Spain.
Portugal demands that Spain meet its International obligations and comply with the Treaty of Vienna, signed on 7 May 1817 and return, by conciliatory means, and not by war . Spain should end its defiance and delaying tactics before the International Community, particularly the signatories of the Treaty of Paris and Vienna, and enter into a process of discussions for the return of the Portuguese territories she still occupies.
"An open foe may prove a curse, but a pretended friend is worse".
True and friendly relations between people or nations can only be based on mutual respect and trust, not on abuse and deceit. Is Spain behaving like a "friend" or "foe"? I leave the reader to his/her own conclusions.
Important notes:
*Spain is derived from the word "Hispania", given by the Romans to the whole peninsula and which was then and afterwards occupied by different peoples from different parts of Europe. Afer the Moors' occupation of most of the peninsula for some 400 years, a number of Christian Kingdoms that had formed across the north came under the Navarese dynasty which then became the driving force. But with Alfonso IX's death Castile regained its power, annexed León (1230), united with Aragon (1469) and finally conquered Granada in 1492 (Navarre was annexed in 1515). That's when "Spain" was really born!
Portugal became an independent Kingdom in 1143 and recognized as such at the Treaty of Zamora.
Both Castile an Portugal broke away from the kingdom of León.
Other Related Articles:
Britain Gives Away Portuguese Territory
The Bully and the Fickle FriendEvery possible effort has been made to give an accurate account of the events to-date, and the situation as it presents itself. For this the current news media, books and articles hereto published have been used.
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