Editing Lamego (section)

===Middle Ages===
Lamego became Catholic when the [[Visigoth]]ic king [[Rekared I]] converted to Catholicism. In 569, during the Council of Lugo, there appeared references to Sardinário the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lamego|Bishop of Lamego]].<ref name=CMHistoria/> During the reign of Sisebuto (612-621), the Visigothic monarch coined currency from Lamego, indicating the importance of the region to commerce and culture.

Just outside the city center is the tiny 7th century [[São Pedro de Balsemão]] Chapel, a [[Visigoths|Visigothic]] chapel believed to be the oldest in Portugal (and second oldest in Europe).<ref name=CMHistoria/>

The region alternated between Christian and Muslim hands during the early [[Reconquista]] Period. The city was first conquered by [[Alfonso I of Asturias]] in 741,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Menéndez Pidal |first1=Ramón |title=PRIMERA CRÓNICA GENERAL. ESTORIA DE ESPAÑA DE ALFONSO X|url=https://www.boe.es/biblioteca_juridica/abrir_pdf.php?id=PUB-LH-2022-258|date=1906 |publisher=Biblioteca Digital de Castilla y León |page=357 |edition=2022 |access-date=10 June 2023}}</ref> and repopulated in 868 by [[Alfonso III of Asturias|Alfonso III]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Menéndez Pidal |first1=Ramón |title=PRIMERA CRÓNICA GENERAL. ESTORIA DE ESPAÑA DE ALFONSO X|url=https://www.boe.es/biblioteca_juridica/abrir_pdf.php?id=PUB-LH-2022-258|date=1906 |publisher=Biblioteca Digital de Castilla y León |page=406 |edition=2022 |access-date=10 June 2023}}</ref> It fell into Islamic hands briefly again during the late 10th century, until [[Ferdinand I of León and Castile]] conquered the region definitively on 29 November 1057. As a consequence the bishopric was moved after these events (to later be restored in 1071).<ref name=CMHistoria/>

In 1128, the nascent national Egas Moniz, had his tenancy in Lamego while his residence was in [[Britiande]], as master of the Riba–Douro, between [[Vila Nova de Paiva|Paiva]] and [[Távora (Santa Maria e São Vicente)|Távora]] (in addition to the lands of Côa).<ref name=CMHistoria/>
[[File:Lamego, Sé-PM 33447.jpg|thumb|left|The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, built in 1129.]] 
The most significant moment in the town's history was in 1139, when nobles declared [[Afonso Henriques]] to be Portugal's first king. The town's Gothic cathedral was built by him, although only the [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] tower is left from the original building, with its carved Renaissance portal and fine cloister dating from the 16th and 18th centuries. The 12th-century castle preserves a fine keep and a very old and unusual [[cistern]] with [[monogram]]s of master masons.

King [[Sancho I of Portugal|Sancho I]] issued a charter of independence in 1191, as the local community grew around two poles: the ecclesiastical parishes of Sé and Castelo.<ref name=CMHistoria/> In 1290, King [[Denis of Portugal|Denis]] provided a market charter to the city, attracting merchants from [[Crown of Castile|Castile]] and [[Emirate of Granada|Granada]] with their oriental spices and textiles.<ref name=CMHistoria/>

Lamego had a privileged positioned on the routes from western Iberia, as a transit point within the settlements of the Além-Douro, [[Braga]] and [[Guimarães]], from [[Alcântara, Lisbon|Alcântara]] and [[Mérida, Spain|Mérida]] to [[Córdoba, Spain|Córdoba]] and [[Seville]].<ref name=CMHistoria/> It was also one of the preferred routes on the ''Saint James Way'' pilgrimage to [[Santiago de Compostela]]. But, two events changed the economic and social circumstances in the region: the conquest of Granada which drove the last of the Moors from the Peninsula; and the discovery of the maritime connection to India, which resulted in a slow decline for the region.<ref name=CMHistoria/>