Independence Restored

On December 1, 1640, forty Portuguese nobles stormed the Royal Palace at Terreiro do Paço, ending sixty years of Spanish control over Portugal in a single morning. The conspirators, led by Antão Vaz de Almada, Miguel de Almeida, and João Pinto Ribeiro, moved decisively. They killed Miguel de Vasconcelos, the Spanish Secretary of State, and threw his body from a palace window onto the square below.

Margaret of Savoy, the Spanish Vicereine who governed Portugal, was imprisoned. By that same afternoon, from the palace balcony overlooking this square, the Duke of Bragança was proclaimed King João IV. Spain refused to recognize this revolution. The Portuguese Restoration War followed, lasting 28 years with intense border fighting and five major battles. Portugal had to defend its newly reclaimed independence while Spanish forces tried to regain control.

The Treaty of Lisbon in 1668 finally brought Spanish recognition of Portuguese sovereignty. The coup at Terreiro do Paço had succeeded, establishing the House of Bragança as Portugal's ruling dynasty and securing the nation's freedom after six decades under foreign rule.