2. Invasion The first Roman invasion of the Iberian Peninsula occurred in 219 BC, within 200 years, almost the entire peninsula had been taken over by the Roman Empire. In the early 5th century Germanic Tribes like the Visigoths conquered all of the Iberian Peninsula. Near the spring of 711 A.D., the Islamic Moors invaded the Peninsula
3. Independence In 1095, Portugal separated almost completely from the Kingdom of Galicia. At the end of the 11th century, the Burgundian knight Henry fought for Portugal and declared its independence. After Henry died, his son, Afonso Henriques, took control of the country and in 1139 he pronounced himself Prince and then King of Portugal in 1143
4.
5. On August 21, 1415, Ceuta, the city on the coast of North Africa directly across from Gibraltar, was conquered by Portugal, and the long-lived Portuguese Empire was founded.
6.
7. Colonizing Brazil In 1534, promoting settlement to overcome the need to defend the territory, John III organized the colonization of Brazil through land grants. Of the fifteen original captaincies only two, Pernambuco and Sao Vicente, prospered. Both dedicated to the crop of sugar cane and the settlers manages to maintain alliances with Native Americans. In 1548 John III created the first General Government, sending in Tome de Sousa as first governor and rescuing the captaincy of the Bay of All Saints, making it a royal captaincy, seat of the Government.
8. Imperial Decline In 1661 the Portuguese offered Bombay and Tangier to England as part of a dowry, and over the next hundred years the English gradually became the dominant trader in India, gradually excluding the trade of other powers. At the end of confrontations with the Dutch, Portugal was able to cling onto Goa and several minor bases in India, and managed to regain territories in Brazil and Africa, but lose forever to prominence in Asia as trade was diverted through increasing numbers of English, Dutch and French trading posts.
