Treaty of Zamora

The Treaty of Zamora (5 October 1143) recognized Portuguese independence from the Kingdom of León. Based on the terms of the accord, King Alfonso VII of León recognized the Kingdom of Portugal in the presence of his cousin King Afonso I of Portugal, witnessed by the papal representative, Cardinal Guido de Vico, at the Cathedral of Zamora. Both kings promised durable peace between their kingdoms. By this treaty Afonso I of Portugal also recognized the suzerainty of the pope.

This treaty came as of a result of the Battle of Valdevez.

Background
Victorious in the Battle of Ourique, in 1139, Afonso Henriques benefited from the developed action by the archbishop of Braga, D. João Peculiar, in favor of the constitution of the new Kingdom of Portugal. To reconcile Afonso Henriques and his cousin Alfonso VII of León, the archbishop made arrangements for them to meet in Zamora in 4 and 5 of October 1143 in the presence of the cardinal Guido de Vico.

Result
By the terms of the treaty, Afonso VII agreed that the County of Portugal became kingdom, having D. Afonso Henriques as its rex (king).

The Portuguese sovereignty, recognized by Afonso VII in Zamora, was only confirmed by the Pope Alexander III in 1179, but the title of rex, which D. Afonso Henriques used since 1140, was confirmed in Zamora, when the Portuguese monarch committed, before the cardinal, to considering himself a vassal of the Holy See, being then obliged, by himself and his descendants, to pay an annual census.

From 1143, D. Afonso Henriques would send repentance letters to the Pope declaring himself his lord vassal and committing himself to sending a determined amount of gold every year. The negotiations would last several years, from 1143 to 1179. In 1179, Pope Alexander III would send D. Afonso Henriques the "Bula Manifestis probatum", in which the Pope accepted that D. Afonso Henriques would pay him direct vassalage, acknowledging definitely the independence of the Kingdom of Portugal without vassalage to Afonso VII (because a vassal couldn't have two direct lords) and D. Afonso Henriques as first king of Portugal, Afonso I of Portugal.