Castelo de Amieira do Tejo (Amieira do Tejo Castle)
History
In 1199 D. Sancho I donated the Herdade da Açafa to the Order of the Temple, this territory was delimited, in a very summary way, to the north by the Tagus River and to the south it held part of the territory of the current municipalities of Nisa, Castelo de Vide and part of the Spanish territory near the current border. These donations were aimed at settling residents in deserted and depopulated areas and consequently defending the territory. The Templars built a fortress that defended them from the infidels and signaled the ownership of these territories. At the same time, the monarch announced the arrival of French settlers, who arrived in stages, the last group destined to settle the territory of Açafa.
They settled next to the fortresses built by the warrior monks and built houses there, founded population clusters which they named after their lands of origin. It is in this sense that Nisa possibly arises, that is, being the first inhabitants from Nice, they built their “New Nice” here, or rather, Nisa a Nova, which we find in the documents, and when the term Nisa a Velha appears , this refers to their former homeland, French Nice.
The castle of Amieira is explained in this conjuncture that renewed the Order's role and action. Three years later, D. Pedro I visited the fortress, whose works must have been well advanced, despite having only been formally completed in 1362. Álvaro Gonçalves Pereira himself showed great care in the construction and evolution of this castle, dying here in 1375.
In the context of the struggles for the Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula and the formation of the kingdom of Portugal, King D. Sancho II (1223-1248) made a significant donation of land to the Order of Saint John of the Hospital of Jerusalem, including the villages of Amieira , Belver (Gavião) and Crato (1232).
Of the three, the last to be fortified was Amieira, about a century later, under the reign of Afonso IV of Portugal (1325-1357). The construction of the castle is attributed to Prior D. Friar Álvaro Gonçalves Pereira, bastard son of the Prior of the Order of the Hospital in Portugal, Bishop D. Gonçalo Pereira, and father of the future Constable, D. Nuno Álvares Pereira. Some works must have been supervised by another son, D. Pedro Pereira, and were not completed in 1359, as can be seen from a royal letter sent that year to D. Álvaro, having been completed in 1362.
During the Crisis of 1383-1385, the then Prior of the Hospital, D. Pedro Pereira, at the beginning of 1384 recognized the authority of D. Beatriz, daughter of D. Fernando, and, as such, legitimate heir to the Portuguese throne. Amieira Castle, along with others of the Order, rendered obedience to the Queen, a situation changed a few months later, under the influence of Constable D. Nuno Álvares Pereira, the Prior's brother, who left for Castile.
The only military episode in which the castle was involved occurred in 1440. As D. Leonor, princess of Aragão, fell out with the Infante D. Pedro, he withdrew, with the complicity of the prior, D. Nuno de Góis, to the Crato, having invoked to his aid the forces of Castile, which surrounded Amieira. Faced with this insubordination, D. Pedro ordered the occupation of the castles of the Hospital priory in this border region, ordering D. Álvaro Vaz de Almada (Count of Abranches), to attack the Castle of Amieira. Without offering any resistance, the castles surrendered, the Prior of Crato and D. Leonor fled to Castile and peace was restored. Amieira Castle passed into the hands of Pedro Rodrigues de Castro as mayor at the end of the conflict.
In the following centuries, minor modernization works were carried out under the reigns of D. João II (1481-1495) and D. Manuel I (1495-1521), during which time it would have served as a prison. The construction of a chapel dates back to the 16th century, under the invocation of Saint John the Baptist (1556).
At the time of the Restoration of Independence war, residential buildings were erected inside the castle enclosure which, shaken by the 1755 earthquake, were already in ruins in 1747, according to a contemporary report by Father Luís Cardoso. At that time, attempts were made to partially recover the keep.
In the middle of the 19th century, possibly due to the decree that prohibited burials within the precincts of churches in Portugal (1846), the castle's main square began to be used as a cemetery by the town's population.
In the 20th century, in the 1920s, the castle's premises became the responsibility of the Ministry of War, with whom the Parish Council signed a lease that allowed it to enjoy the monument. Classified as a National Monument by Decree No. 8,447, published on November 10, 1922, in the 1940s it was the subject of consolidation and restoration intervention by the Directorate-General for National Buildings and Monuments (DGEMN), remaining in good conditions until today.
https://www.castelosdeportugal.pt/castelos/Castelos%28pos%29SECXIII/amieira.html
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