| |
| 1433–38 |
| |
| Edward (Duarte) I, a learned and intelligent prince, eldest son of John. His short reign was marked by a terrific epidemic of the plague and by the disaster at Tangier. | 1 |
| |
| 1437 |
| |
| In the disaster at Tangier, the Portuguese were overwhelmingly defeated. They were obliged to promise to return Ceuta, and to leave in Moorish hands the youngest brother of the king, Ferdinand (the Constant Prince), who died in captivity after five years of suffering. Ceuta was not returned. | 2 |
| |
| 1438–81 |
| |
| AFONSO V (the African), an attractive and chivalrous ruler, but lacking the hard-headed realism of his predecessors. The reign began with the regency of the king's mother, Eleonora, a Spanish princess, who again was confronted with Portuguese opposition to a Spanish connection. The nobility revolted, the regent fled, and the king's uncle, Peter, was made regent. His able and enlightened rule came to an end when the king, having reached his majority, allowed himself to be persuaded by favorites to make war on Peter. The latter and his son were defeated and killed in the Battle of Alfarrobeira (1449). | 3 |
| |
| 1446 |
| |
| The Ordenaçoes Affonsinas, the first great law code of the Portuguese, representing an amalgam of Roman, Visigothic, and customary law. | 4 |
| |
| 1463 |
| |
| Campaigns against the kingdom of Fez. The Portuguese captured Casablanca. | 5 |
| |
| 1471 |
| |
| The Portuguese captured Tangiers. | 6 |
| |
| 1476 |
| |
| Battle of Toro. Defeat of the Portuguese by the Castilians, after Afonso, who had married a sister of Isabella, attempted to dispute the latter's succession to the throne. | 7 |
| |
| 1481–95 |
| |
| JOHN (JOÃO) II, an energetic prince who at once undertook to restrict the property and power of the nobility, which had become very great during the preceding reign. This led to a revolt of the nobles, led by Ferdinand of Braganza and supported by the Catholic kings of Castile and Aragon. The revolt was suppressed in 1483; Braganza and many of his followers were executed. The royal power thenceforth was more firmly established than ever before. (See Portugal) | 8 |
| |
| |
