Battle of Sao Mamede

June 24, 1128

Afonso Henriques, a young Portuguese count, defeated his own mother Teresa's forces outside Guimaraes and seized independent control of the county of Portugal. Within a few years he would be styling himself king of a new Iberian state that Rome would recognize by mid-century. The battle is commemorated in Portuguese tradition as the founding moment of the nation, marking the point where Portugal's destiny diverged from the rest of the peninsula.