Denis of Portugal

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Denis of Portugal bigraphy, stories - King of Portugal

Denis of Portugal : biography

9 October 1261 – 7 January 1325

Denis ( ; Lisbon, 9 October 1261 – Santarém, 7 January 1325), called the Farmer King (Rei Lavrador) and the Poet King (Rei Poeta), was King of Portugal and the Algarve. The eldest son of Afonso III of Portugal by his second wife, Beatrice of Castile and grandson of king Alfonso X of Castile (known as the Wise), Denis succeeded his father in 1279.

Ancestry

Physical Description

King Dinis’s physical description is not that well known. The sources of the era, as well as later authors, fail to provide any physical description of the monarch. The information we have today comes from an accidental opening of the tomb of King Dinis during a restoration process in 1938. We learned that the historical figure of the towering D. Dinis height was not accurate as he was only about 1.65 meters tall (5 feet, 4 inches). The monarch died at the ripe age of 63, a remarkable achievement for the time and apparently enjoyed excellent health throughout his life: He made his will at 61 years of age, always traveled, he was involved in wars from an early age and at age 60 still hunted. He died with complete dentition, a rarity for the time, something that even today continues to be extraordinary. A distinctive feature of the physiognomy of the tomb opening has been that his hair and beard were auburn. A curious fact as he was the first of the Portuguese royal family up to that time to have the hair color. One can speculate that the origin of this genetic trait could come from the maternal side because his uncle Ferdinand de la Cerda had red hair (his uncle also had the epithet "La Cerda", or bristly). He may have also inherited the trait from Henry II of England who is his ancestor on both his paternal and maternal side. Or, from his maternal great grandmother Elisabeth of Hohenstaufen, granddaughter of the famous Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa (Red Beard).

Reign

As heir-apparent to the throne, Infante (Prince) Denis was summoned by his father (Afonso III) to share governmental responsibilities. At the time of his accession to the throne, Portugal was again in diplomatic conflict with the Catholic Church. Denis signed a favouring agreement with the pope and swore to protect the Church’s interests in Portugal. He granted asylum to Templar knights persecuted in France and created the Order of Christ, designed to be a continuation of the Order of the Temple.

With the Reconquista completed and the Portuguese territory freed from Moorish occupation, Denis was essentially an administrative king, not a military one. However, a short war between Castile and Portugal broke out during his reign, for the possession of the towns of Serpa and Moura. After this, Denis avoided war: he was a notably peace-loving monarch during a tempestuous time in European history. With Portugal finally recognized as an independent country by his neighbours, Denis signed a border pact with Ferdinand IV of Castile (1297) which has endured to the present day.

Denis’ main priority of government was the organization of the country. He pursued his father’s policies on legislation and centralization of power. Denis promulgated the nucleus of a Portuguese civil and criminal law code, protecting the lower classes from abuse and extortion. As king, he travelled around the country to resolve various problems. He ordered the construction of numerous castles, created new towns, and granted privileges due cities to several others. He declared in 1290 that ‘the language of the people’ was to become the language of the state, and officially known as Portuguese. Denis also made Portuguese the language of the law courts in his kingdom. With his wife, Elizabeth of Aragon (future saint), Denis worked to improve the life of the poor and founded several social institutions.

Always concerned with the country’s infrastructure, Denis ordered the exploration of mines of copper, silver, tin and iron and organized the export of excess production to other European countries. The first Portuguese commercial agreement was signed with England in 1308. Denis effectively founded the Portuguese navy under command of a Genoese admiral, Manuel Pessanha (Portuguese form of the Italian "Pezagno"] and ordered the construction of several docks.