_
[195] Don Alonzo, king of Spain, apprehensive of the superior number of
the Moors, with whom he was at war, demanded assistance from Philip I.
[195] Don Alonzo, king of Spain, apprehensive of the superior number of
the Moors, with whom he was at war, demanded assistance from Philip I.
Camoes - Lusiades
--See Cory's _Ancient Fragments_.
[191] The river Guadalquivir; _i. e. _, in Arabic, _the great
river_. --_Ed. _
[192] Viriatus. --See the note on Book I. p. 9.
[193] The assassination of Viriatus. --See the note on Book I. p. 9.
[194] The name of _Saracen_ is derived from the Arabic _Es-shurk_, _the
East_, and designates the Arabs who followed the banner of
Mohammed. --_Ed.
_
[195] Don Alonzo, king of Spain, apprehensive of the superior number of
the Moors, with whom he was at war, demanded assistance from Philip I.
of France, and the Duke of Burgundy. According to the military spirit of
the nobility of that age, no sooner was his desire known than numerous
bodies of troops thronged to his standard. These, in the course of a few
years, having shown signal proofs of their courage, the king
distinguished the leaders with different marks of his regard. To Henry,
a younger son of the Duke of Burgundy, he gave his daughter Teresa in
marriage, with the sovereignty of the countries to the south of Galicia,
commissioning him to enlarge his boundaries by the expulsion of the
Moors. Under the government of this great man, who reigned by the title
of Count, his dominion was greatly enlarged, and became more rich and
populous than before. The two provinces of Entre Minho e Douro, and Tras
os Montes, were subdued, with that part of Beira which was held by the
Moorish king of Lamego, whom he constrained to pay tribute. Many
thousands of Christians, who had either lived in miserable subjection to
the Moors, or in desolate independency in the mountains, took shelter
under the protection of Count Henry. Great multitudes of the Moors also
chose rather to submit, than be exposed to the severities and the
continual feuds and seditions of their own governors. These advantages,
added to the great fertility of the soil of Henry's dominions, will
account for the numerous armies, and the frequent wars of the first
sovereigns of Portugal.
[196] Camoens, in making the founder of the Portuguese monarchy a
younger son of the King of Hungary, has followed the old chronologist
Galvan. The Spanish and Portuguese historians differ widely in their
accounts of the parentage of this gallant stranger. Some bring him from
Constantinople, and others from the house of Lorraine. But the clearest
and most probable account of him is in the chronicle of Fleury, wherein
is preserved a fragment of French history, written by a Benedictine monk
in the beginning of the twelfth century, and in the time of Count Henry.
By this it appears, that he was a younger son of Henry, the only son of
Robert, the first duke of Burgundy, who was a younger brother of Henry
I. of France.
[191] The river Guadalquivir; _i. e. _, in Arabic, _the great
river_. --_Ed. _
[192] Viriatus. --See the note on Book I. p. 9.
[193] The assassination of Viriatus. --See the note on Book I. p. 9.
[194] The name of _Saracen_ is derived from the Arabic _Es-shurk_, _the
East_, and designates the Arabs who followed the banner of
Mohammed. --_Ed.
_
[195] Don Alonzo, king of Spain, apprehensive of the superior number of
the Moors, with whom he was at war, demanded assistance from Philip I.
of France, and the Duke of Burgundy. According to the military spirit of
the nobility of that age, no sooner was his desire known than numerous
bodies of troops thronged to his standard. These, in the course of a few
years, having shown signal proofs of their courage, the king
distinguished the leaders with different marks of his regard. To Henry,
a younger son of the Duke of Burgundy, he gave his daughter Teresa in
marriage, with the sovereignty of the countries to the south of Galicia,
commissioning him to enlarge his boundaries by the expulsion of the
Moors. Under the government of this great man, who reigned by the title
of Count, his dominion was greatly enlarged, and became more rich and
populous than before. The two provinces of Entre Minho e Douro, and Tras
os Montes, were subdued, with that part of Beira which was held by the
Moorish king of Lamego, whom he constrained to pay tribute. Many
thousands of Christians, who had either lived in miserable subjection to
the Moors, or in desolate independency in the mountains, took shelter
under the protection of Count Henry. Great multitudes of the Moors also
chose rather to submit, than be exposed to the severities and the
continual feuds and seditions of their own governors. These advantages,
added to the great fertility of the soil of Henry's dominions, will
account for the numerous armies, and the frequent wars of the first
sovereigns of Portugal.
[196] Camoens, in making the founder of the Portuguese monarchy a
younger son of the King of Hungary, has followed the old chronologist
Galvan. The Spanish and Portuguese historians differ widely in their
accounts of the parentage of this gallant stranger. Some bring him from
Constantinople, and others from the house of Lorraine. But the clearest
and most probable account of him is in the chronicle of Fleury, wherein
is preserved a fragment of French history, written by a Benedictine monk
in the beginning of the twelfth century, and in the time of Count Henry.
By this it appears, that he was a younger son of Henry, the only son of
Robert, the first duke of Burgundy, who was a younger brother of Henry
I. of France.
