Domestic Animals of Portugal

Livestock of Portugal

While coastal harbors buzzed with trade, Portugal's interior has long been dedicated to farming and forestry. In central and northern areas, farmers raised sheep, pigs, goats, and cattle in forested pastures. These wood-pastures, or montados, make up 1.3 million hectares of land in Portugal today. They protect sensitive soils, allowing more stable long-term livestock farming.[1] In addition to larger animals, farmers kept chickens, rabbits, bees, ducks, pigeons, geese, and even peafowl.[2]

Like the people of Portugal, its animals have spread across the globe. During the Age of Discovery, Portuguese livestock traveled by ship to remote lands. When colonizers prepared to settle an island, they often released animals there a year or two before landing. The descendants of those pigs and cattle still run feral on Barbados and Nova Scotia's Sable Island, among others.[3][4]

Portuguese Horses

Since at least medieval times, the Portuguese have valued horseback riding as an elite pursuit. The upper classes were set apart from peasants by ownership of arms and horses. Like the Spanish, the Portuguese prized their sturdy warhorses. They practiced a riding style that allowed cavalry to maneuver their way through battle, the ancestor of modern dressage. In 1431, King Duarte I wrote a long book on the subject, The Book of Horsemanship. At feasts and festivals, young knights showed their skill in dangerous sports like jousting and racing.

Even by Duarte's time, however, the knightly arts were losing their place in society.[5] As the colonial era dawned, armored knights gave way to more efficient light cavalry and musketeers. The old riding traditions were preserved through dressage and cavaleiro bull-fighters. Unlike in Spain, the killing of bulls in the ring has been illegal in Portugal since 1799.[6]

Dogs and Cats in Portuguese Culture

By custom, the Portuguese kept dogs for hunting, herding, and home protection. One of the nation's oldest breeds, the Podengo, arrived on the boats of Phoenician traders in the 5th century. The sight-and-scent hounds developed into a range of sizes to hunt specific quarry. Later, pointers and retrievers like the Portuguese Water Dog grew popular as well. In the mountains, regional mastiff and herding breeds continue to fill their traditional roles. In cities like Lisbon, dogs are typically kept as pets.[7][8]

Cats, likely brought to Portugal from Egypt, have long been valued as companions. Numerous accounts from historic travelers mention the number of cats in Lisbon, as well as their friendly treatment by its citizens. This affection may stem from Berber and Arab influences, along with Portugal's history as a seafaring nation. Cats, both owned and feral, remain a common sight in cities today.[8][9]

Bibliography

1. Jules Pretty Obe, The Living Land Agriculture, Food and Community Regeneration in the 21st Century (London: Taylor and Francis, 2013), 92.

2. Anthonio H. R. de Oliveira Marques, Daily Life in Portugal in the Late Middle Ages (Ann Arbor, MI: Univ. Microfilms Internat., 1984), 16-32.

3. José-Juan López-Portillo, Spain, Portugal and the Atlantic Frontier of Medieval Europe (Farnham, Surrey, England: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2013).

4. A. J. R. Russell-Wood, The Portuguese Empire 1415-1808: A World on the Move (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998), 179-181.

5. Marques, 247-248.

6. Carlos A. Cunha and Rhonda Cunha, Culture and Customs of Portugal (Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2010), 51-52.

7. American Kennel. Club, ed., Meet the Breeds A Guide to More Than 200 AKC Breeds (Lumina Media, 2016).

8. Oswald Crawfurd, Round the Calendar in Portugal (London: Chapman and Hall, Limited, 1890), 108-122.

9. Eugene E. Street, A Philosopher in Portugal (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1903), 227-228.

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