The Braga Cathedral is the burial site of the parents of D. Afonso Henriques, Count Henrique de Borgonha and D. Teresa de Leão, daughter of Alfonso VI of León and Castile. Alfonso VI had five wives and two noble concubines. Teresa’s mother was a concubine, Jimena Munoz, and Teresa is thought to have been a favorite child of Alfonso. Teresa was married to Henrique de Borgonha and the counties of Portucale and Coimbra constituted her wedding dowry. Henrique’s cousin, Raymond, was married to Teresa’s half-sister Urraca, whose dowry was Galicia, which originally included the counties of Portucale and Coimbra. The competing dowries were designed to create rivalry between the two families. This rivalry continued between their sons, Alfonso Raimundez, eventually Alfonso VII of Castile and León, and Afonso Henriques, the eventual first king of Portugal.
Teresa and Urraca long outlived their husbands and both reigned independently as queens, Teresa as queen of Portugal and Urraca as queen of León and Castile. They also engaged one another in several battles before eventually being forced to cede their authority to their sons. In Teresa’s case, she was defeated in battle by her son Afonso at the battle of São Mamede on June 24, 1128, after which she lived a few years more years in Galicia, in exile. The battle is still commemorated yearly in Guimarães, Portugal, at the Castelo de Guimarães, the birthplace of Afonso, celebrated today as the first king of Portugal. Their sons continued the rivalry through battles and ensuing treaties, just as their mothers had done, disputing the territories of Galicia and Portugal.
The Diocese of Braga dates from the 3rd century AD. It is one of the oldest in Iberia and the center for the Christianization of Northwestern Iberia, in Roman times Hispana Gallaecia. The bishopric of Braga was restored around 1071 once the city was returned to Christian rule. A new cathedral was consecrated in 1089. Subsequently Count Henrique de Borgonha and Bishop Geraldo de Moissac, the future saint and officiate at the baptism of Afonso Henriques, succeeded in having the Pope designate Braga an archbishopric in 1107.
In front of the Choir there are two gilt-wood organs, carved in the 1730s by renowned sculptor Marceliano de Araújo, a bracarense (native of Braga), and heavily decorated with baroque and fantastic motifs.
