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John I
Portrait of the King Dom John I; c. 1435
King of Portugal and the Algarve
Reign	6 April 1385 – 14 August 1433
Predecessor	Ferdinand I
Successor	Edward
Spouse	Philippa of Lancaster
Issue
Edward, King of Portugal Peter, Duke of Coimbra Henry the Navigator Infanta Isabella, Duchess of Burgundy John, Lord of Reguengos de Monsaraz Fernando, the Saint Prince Afonso, 1st Duke of Braganza (natural son) Beatrice, Countess of Arundel (natural daughter)
House	House of Aviz
Father	Peter I of Portugal
Mother	Teresa Lourenço
Born	11 April 1358 Lisbon, Kingdom of Portugal
Died	14 August 1433(1433-08-14) (aged 75) Lisbon, Kingdom of Portugal
Burial	Chapel of the Founder, Monastery of Batalha, Batalha, District of Leiria, Portugal
Religion	Roman Catholicism

John I KG (Portuguese: João I [ʒuˈɐ̃w̃]; 11 April 1358 – 14 August 1433) was King of Portugal and the Algarve in 1385–1433. He was called the Good (sometimes the Great) or of Happy Memory, more rarely and outside Portugal, in Spain, the Bastard, and was the first to use the title Lord of Ceuta.

Early life [edit]

John was born in Lisbon as the natural son of Peter I by a woman named Teresa, who, according to Fernão Lopes, was a noble Galician. In the eighteenth century, António Caetano de Sousa found a document on Torre do Tombo, of the sixteenth century, where she was named Teresa Lourenço. In 1364, by request of D. Nuno Freire de Andrade, a Galician Grand Master of the Order of Christ, he was created Grand Master of the Order of Aviz, by which title he was known. He became king in 1385, after the 1383–1385 Crisis.

On the death of his half-brother Ferdinand I without a male heir in October 1383, strenuous efforts were made to secure the succession for Princess Beatrice, Ferdinand's only daughter. As heiress presumptive, Beatrice had married king John I of Castile, but popular sentiment was against an arrangement in which Portugal would have become virtually annexed by Castile. The 1383–1385 Crisis followed, a period of political anarchy, when no monarch ruled the country.

Acclamation [edit]

On 6 April 1385, the Council of the Kingdom (the Portuguese Cortes) met in Coimbra and declared John, then Master of Aviz, King of Portugal. This was followed by the liberation of almost all of the Minho in only two months, on the war against Castile and its claims to the Portuguese throne. Soon after, the King of Castile again invaded Portugal with the purpose of conquering Lisbon and removing John I from the throne. John I of Castile was accompanied by French allied cavalry while English troops and generals took the side of John (see Hundred Years' War). John I and Nuno Álvares Pereira, his loyal Constable and talented supporter, repelled the attack on the decisive Battle of Aljubarrota (14 August 1385), where the Castilian army was virtually annihilated. John I of Castile then retreated. The Castilian forces abandoned Santarém, Torres Vedras, Torres Novas, many other towns were delivered to John I by Portuguese nobles from the Castilian side and the stability of the Portuguese throne was permanently secured.

On 11 February 1387, John I married Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt, who had proved to be a worthy ally, consolidating the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance that endures to the present day.

The wedding of João I of Portugal, 11 February 1387 with Philippa of Lancaster, by fifteenth century painter and manuscript illuminator Master of Wavrin, from around Lille, now in France.

Reign [edit]

After the death of John I of Castile in 1390, without leaving issue by Beatrice, John I of Portugal ruled in peace and pursued the economic development of the country. The only significant military action was the siege and conquest of the city of Ceuta in 1415. By this step he aimed to control navigation of the African coast. But in the broader perspective, this was the first step opening the Arabian world to medieval Europe, which in fact led to the Age of Discovery with Portuguese explorers sailing across the whole world.

Contemporaneous writers describe John as a man of wit, very keen on concentrating power on himself, but at the same time with a benevolent and kind personality. His youthful education as master of a religious order made him an unusually learned king for the Middle Ages. His love for knowledge and culture was passed to his sons, often collectively referred to by Portuguese historians as the "illustrious generation" (Ínclita Geração): Edward, the future king, was a poet and a writer; Peter, the Duke of Coimbra, was one of the most learned princes of his time; and Prince Henry the Navigator, the duke of Viseu, invested heavily in science and the development of nautical pursuits. In 1430, John's only surviving daughter, Isabella, married Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, and enjoyed an extremely refined court culture in his lands; she was the mother of Charles the Bold.

Marriages and descendants [edit]

John I married in Porto on 2 February 1387 Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and Blanche of Lancaster. From that marriage were born several famous princes and princesses of Portugal (infantes) that became known as the Illustrious Generation (Portuguese: Ínclita Geração).

Ancestry [edit]

v t e House of Aviz   João I of Portugal Spouse(s) Philippa of Lancaster Children Duarte I Peter, Duke of Coimbra Henry the Navigator Isabella, Duchess of Burgundy João, Lord of Reguengos de Monsaraz Ferdinand the Saint Prince   Duarte I of Portugal Spouse(s) Eleanor of Aragon, Queen of Portugal Children Afonso V Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu Eleanor, Holy Roman Empress Catherine Joan, Queen of Castile   Afonso V of Portugal Spouse(s) Isabella of Coimbra Joanna la Beltraneja Children João, Prince of Portugal Joan, Princess of Portugal João II   João II of Portugal Spouse(s) Eleanor of Viseu Children Prince Afonso Notes The House of Aviz is a cadet branch of the Portuguese House of Burgundy and was succeeded by the House of Aviz-Beja

References [edit]

• Williamson, D. 1988. ‘’Debrett’s Kings and Queens of Europe’’
• ANA ECHEVARRÍA ARSUAGA: "CATALINA DE LANCASTER", edit. Nerea, 2002. ISBN 84-89569-79-7). Graduated at the University of madrid and a dr. at the University of Edinburgh, England, she teaches med¡ieval history at the UNED University, Spain.

External links [edit]

v t e Monarchs of Portugal Portuguese House of Burgundy (1139–1383) Afonso I Sancho I Afonso II Sancho II Afonso III Dinis I Afonso IV Pedro I Fernando I House of Aviz (1385–1495) João I Duarte I Afonso V João II House of Aviz-Beja (1495–1580) Manuel I João III Sebastião I Henrique I Portuguese House of Habsburg (1581–1640) Filipe I Filipe II Filipe III House of Braganza (1640–1853) João IV Afonso VI Pedro II João V José I Maria I with Pedro III João VI Pedro IV Maria II Miguel I Maria II with Fernando II House of Braganza-Coburg (1853–1910) Pedro V Luís I Carlos I Manuel II

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

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