Dom João I

(1357-1433)

D. João, known as the Master of Avis and nicknamed "the one of Good Memory", was king of Portugal from 1385 until his death, being the first Portuguese monarch of the House of Avis.

He was the illegitimate son of King Pedro I of Portugal with a common lady named Teresa Lourenço, being chosen and acclaimed like king during the Crisis of 1383-1385.

With the support of the constable of the kingdom, Nuno Álvares Pereira, and English allies fought the Battle of Aljubarrota against the Kingdom of Castile. that invaded the country. The victory is decisive resulting in the withdrawal of Castile that ends up officially recognizing D. João as king. To seal the Luso-British alliance, D. João marries Filipa de Lencastre, dedicating himself since then to the development of the kingdom.

In 1415, it conquered Ceuta, strategic place for the navigation in the north of Africa, and it begins the Portuguese expansion.

There his knights D. Duarte, D. Pedro, and D. Henrique, brothers of the so-called generation were assembled knights.

His interest in knowledge is also passed on to his children, called Luís Vaz de Camões, in the Lusíadas, by "Infinite generation"; King D. Duarte I of Portugal was a poet and writer, D. Pedro Duque de Coimbra the "Prince of the Seven Partidas", having been one of the most enlightened princes of his time and Henrique Duque de Viseu, "the navigator" who invested all his fortune in research related to navigation, nautical and cartography, beginning the epic of the Discoveries.

In the reign of D. João I the islands of Porto Santo (1418), the Island of Madeira (1419) and the Azores (1427) were discovered, as well as expeditions to the Canaries.

Also began the settlement of the archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira.

D. João died on August 14, 1433. He lies in the Chapel of the Founder, in the Monastery of Santa Maria da Vitoria, in Batalha.