The most interesting family for me lived back in the beginning of the 1100's. The level of bravery, honor, compassion, love, secretism, and loyalty makes this fairy-tale story the foundation and becoming of Portugal. It all began with the beginning of the Islamic religion. Mohammed had began the Islamic religion, and with its strong supporters began the conquering of most of Europe. The Iberian Peninsula (Portugal and Spain) had been taken over by the Moors (the Islamic people). At the foot of the French border, the Pope entrusted 2 noble French Knights to hold back the Moors and beginning of the Crusades. In exchange for their loyalty, the French king, afraid of an invasion, promises land and his 2 daughters in exchange for their protection. To make an extremely long story shorter, when the Moors were pressed to owning only the bottom half of the Iberian Peninsula, the king kept his promise and handed his two daughters over to the 2 knights, along with the promised land.
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Teresa Ward
TeresaThe father of the first Portuguese king, Henriques, in which we in Portuguese call Dão Henriques ( his majesty Henriques), married Teresa, which in Portuguese we call dona Teresa (her lady Teresa). Dona Teresa's father, Dão Afonso VI, was as mentioned earlier the French king. Dão Henriques, "the Portuguese Grandfather", was given a piece of land he called Portucale. In 1109, his wife gave birth to their only son, and the father of Portugal, Dão Afonso Henriques. He took his fathers' and grandfathers' name. In 1128, the young prince was made a knight, dressing up like Napoleon Bonaparte who had already passed away a century before.
Dão Henriques was under a contract with his father-in-law. Dão Henriques had to rule his kingdom under the rules of Dão Afonso VI. His...