The reason
Why is Evoramonte a Place of Peace
In Evoramonte was signed on May 26, 1834 a Peace Treaty known as “Convention of Evoramonte” or “Concession of Evoramonte” which ended the only Portuguese civil war in almost 900 years of History.
In early 19th century, liberal ideas were spreading to most European Monarchies, and Portugal was no exception. The Civil War broke out in Portugal in 1831 after D. Miguel, an absolutist and traditional monarch, overwritten the Constitutional Charter, in 1828. His older brother, D. Pedro, a Constitutional Regime’s protector, that was occupying the throne in Brazil, came to Portugal and from the archipelago of Azores he formed an army of mercenaries and exiled.
D. Miguel’s absolutists were decisively defeated on May 16, 1834, in the Battle of Asseiceira, in the Country’s central area, obliging this same monarch to seek refuge, along his remaining army, in the city of Évora, located 25 Km’s away from Evoramonte. On the other hand, D. Pedro’s liberal troops were taking Estremoz. Both sides agreed to the signing of Peace in Evoramonte, in the residence of the then Mayor Mr. Joaquim António Saramago.
The Convention or Concession of Evoramonte, signed on May 26, 1834, by both army leaders, led D. Miguel to exile in Italy and to the giving of the Portuguese throne to his niece, D. Maria II, D. Pedro’s daughter who re-established the Constitutional Charter. From this point on, Portugal undertook the same destiny of other European nations.
Read more: The Convention of Evoramonte 1834 (pdf, 38kb)
