THE KINGDOM OF PORTUGAL.

They improperly call Portugal "Lusitania," since on the one hand, not all of Portugal is circumscribed by the borders of Lusitania, nor does it encompass all of Lusitania; however, it cannot be denied that the better part of Lusitania is subject to the King of Portugal. Portugal is divided into Transtagana, Cistagana, and Interamnia. Transtagana takes a part of Baetica, specifically that which extends from the River Ana to the borders of the Kingdom. I call "Interamnia" that Portugal which is between the Douro and Minho rivers, a region no less pleasant than fertile. And what need is there to speak of its pleasantness, when more than twenty-five thousand perennial springs have been counted in it? There are nearly two hundred springs most elegantly constructed of square stone; there are six sea ports. I have thought that this should not be passed over in silence, because the goodness and dignity of this province is almost unknown. Attached to this province is that which they call "Transmontana," a region of excellent wheat, and productive of generous wine, in which is Bragança, the head of a very ample Duchy. This is from Vasco.

At this time, the Kingdom of the Algarve (which is its maritime part toward the South) belongs under Portugal. For its King writes himself King of Portugal, the Algarve, Guinea, Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, and India. This Kingdom first had its beginning around the year 1100. For up to those times, it was reckoned under the name of Spain (as it was in ancient times). Marinius writes thus about it: A certain Henry, Count of Lorraine, a man most brave in war, coming from Gaul, performed great deeds against the Moors. For which Alfonso VI, King of Castile, moved by gratitude, gave his illegitimate daughter named Theresa to him in marriage. And he assigned a part of Galicia, which is contained within the Kingdom of Portugal, as a dowry. From that marriage was later born Alfonso, who was the first to be called King of Portugal. He was the first to take Lisbon from the Moors. Having overcome five of their kings in a single battle, he left to his descendants the insignia of five shields as a monument to the deed. Oliver de la Marche, in his Annals published in the French language, depicts the arms of this Kingdom a little more accurately. He says that at first it was a silver shield without any image; afterwards, from the five conquered kings, five blue shields were imposed; then to these individual shields, five silver bezants were added, in memory of the five wounds of our Lord Jesus Christ, which appeared to him divinely in the sky during the battle; or, as others report, because he had been wounded with five mortal wounds and, with God the Best and Greatest helping, he did not perish.

A detailed map of Portugal titled "PORTUGAL" contained within a rectangular frame. The map is oriented with West at the top and North to the right. Major geographical features include the Atlantic coastline, and the Douro, Tagus, Minho, and Guadiana rivers. Regional labels include: "Between the Tagus and the Guadiana," "Between the Douro and the Minho," "Algarve," "Part of Andalusia" (to the South/Left), and "Part of Leon" (to the North/Right). Key cities and landmarks marked: Lisbon, Porto, Evora, Braga, Bragança, Coimbra, Tavira, Cape St. Vincent, and Seville and Triana are shown to the south in Andalusia.