From the Neolithic to the Christian Reconquest
Setúbal was born from the river and the sea. The records of human occupation in the territory of the county go back to the prehistory, having been collected, in several places, numerous remains since the Neolithic one. It was visited by Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians, who came to Iberia in search of salt and tin, namely Alcácer do Sal, and the river was then navigable to this village.

During the Roman occupation, Setúbal experienced a great development. The Romans installed fish salting factories and pottery kilns that they also developed in the village.

The fall of the Roman empire, the barbarian invasions, the constant piracy of cabotage caused a stagnation, if not disappearance of the settlement between the sixth and twelfth centuries. Namely in this last century, there are no records of the village, 'stuck' between the Christian Palmela and the Moorish Alcácer do Sal.

From the Christian Reconquest at the end of the 16th century
Alcácer do Sal was conquered by the Christians in 1217, and the town of Setúbal was incorporated and passed to benefit of the protection of the Order of Santiago, moment from which it returned to thrive.

In March 1249, Setúbal received an organizational charter, granted by the Order of Santiago, the lady of this region, and underwritten by D. Paio Peres Correia, Master of the Order of Santiago, and by Gonçalo Peres, commander of Mértola.

During the several centuries of extinction of the settlement of Setúbal, Palmela and Alcácer do Sal grew in inhabitants and military, economic and geographical importance, making successive incursions in the lands of Setúbal, occupying it. In the first half of the XIV, the settlement of Setúbal, with a relatively small territorial extension, had to assert itself, fighting with neighboring municipalities of Palmela and Alcácer do Sal, already constituted, beginning a dispute between neighbors that ends the agreement of demarcation of a proper term in 1343 (reign of D. Afonso IV), having been built a network of walls, which leave outside the suburbs of Troino and Palhais (old neighboorhoods).

In the century that followed, royalty and nobility then settled seasonally in Setubal. The time of the discoveries and conquests in Africa brought to Setúbal a great development, having D. Afonso V and his army, in 1458, left of the port of Setúbal to the conquest of Alcácer Ceguer. Throughout the fifteenth century, the town developed several economic activities, mainly linked to the naval industry and the maritime trade, taking high incomes with the rights charged by the entrance in the port.

It dates from the end of the 15th century, beginning of the 16th century, a period of national development, which dates from the construction of the Convent of Jesus and its Church, founded by Mrs. Justa Rodrigues Pereira to house the Franciscan Order of St. Clare. probably, architectonic work of the Master Diogo Boitaca, the same that occupied the Monastery of the Jerónimos.

It is also in the reign of D. João II (who had Setubal as a favorite city) that the construction of the Praça do Sapal (now Praça de Bocage, ex-libris of the city) begins, and the construction of an aqueduct in 1487, which led the water to the village, works that were later finished or enlarged by D. Manuel I. This monarch reformed the village charter in 1514, due to the progress and demographic increase that Setúbal had recorded over the last century.

The title of "remarkable villa" is granted, in 1525, by D. João III. It was this title that gave rise to the creation, in 1553, of a letter from the archbishop of Lisbon, D. Fernando, of two new parishes, that of São Sebastião and that of Anunciada, which joined the existing ones of São Julião and Santa Maria.

In 1580, the village took position by D. António Prior do Crato, against the eventual occupation of the Portuguese throne by Philip II of Spain. It is then surrounded by Spanish troops of the Duke of Alba, being this locality two years later visited by Filipe II, who gave order of construction of the Fort of San Felipe (a work of Filippo Terzi).

From the 17th century to the present
In the seventeenth century, Setúbal reached its peak of prosperity when salt assumed a preponderant role as a currency of exchange and retribution of military aid to the support provided by the European states to Portugal during and after the Restoration of Independence wars. In response to this increase, the new walls of Setúbal were built after 1640, which included new areas such as Troino and Palhais.

This prosperity was interrupted by the earthquake of 1755, to which they associated themselves with the fury of the sea and the fire. The parishes of São Julião and Anunciada were greatly affected.

Only in the nineteenth century did Setúbal know the increment he had lost. In 1860 the railroad arrived, also began the works of embankment on the river and the construction of the Avenue Luísa Todi. It is in this century that the first canning factories of olive sardines began to work and, in parallel, the oranges and muscatel of Setúbal are famous. Also on April 19, 1860, the city was elevated by D. Pedro V.

During the twentieth century, the flourishing of Setúbal is reflected in the creation of new urban spaces: growth of Luísa Todi Avenue, part of Avenida dos Combatentes and creation of Salgado, Monarquina, São Nicolau, Conceição, Carmona, Liceu and Montalvão and in the development of the industries of preserves, fertilizers, cements, pulp, naval and heavy metalworking.

Setúbal was elevated, in 1926, to a district and, in 1975, to a diocese.

 

Mestre Noé (27/11/2017)

https://www.facebook.com/isidro.sousa.92/posts/2055850807978075