Denis of Portugal - Reign

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.

His main concern was the redevelopment and promotion of rural infrastructure, hence the nickname of "the Farmer". Denis redistributed the land, promoted agriculture, organized communities of farmers and took personal interest in the development of exports. He instituted regular markets in a number of towns and regulated their activities. One of his main achievements was the protection of agricultural lands from advancing coastal sands, by ordering the planting of a pine forest near Leiria. This forest still exists as one of the most important of Portugal and is known as the Pinhal de Leiria (Leiria Pinewood).

Culture was another interest of King Denis. He had a fondness for literature and wrote several books himself, with topics ranging from administration to hunting, science and poetry. In his day, Lisbon was one of Europe's centers of culture and knowledge. The University of Lisbon (today's University of Coimbra) was founded by his decree Magna Charta Priveligiorum. He was also a troubadour. All told, 137 of his songs (more than any other poet), in the three principal genres of Galician-Portuguese lyric, are preserved in the two early 16th century manuscripts, the Cancioneiro da Biblioteca Nacional, the Cancioneiro da Vaticana. A spectacular find in 1990 by American scholar Harvey Sharrer brought to light the Pergaminho Sharrer, which contains, albeit in fragmentary form, seven cantigas d'amor by King Denis with musical notation. The same poems are found in the same order in the two previously known codices.

The later part of his peaceful reign was nevertheless marked by internal conflicts. The contenders were his two sons: Afonso the legitimate heir, and Afonso Sanches his natural son, who quarrelled frequently among themselves for royal favour. At the time of Denis' death in 1325 he had placed Portugal on an equal footing with the other Iberian Kingdoms.

Denis is buried in the Monastery of Saint Denis of Odivelas, a Cistercian monastery founded by him in 1295.