A dos Cunhados () is a civil parish in the municipality of Torres Vedras in the central Oeste subregion of Portugal. Covering an area of approximately , its population in 2016 was 8001 residents.
The name reflects the first inhabitants: three brothers-in-law () who lived on a large estate that was later divided among them and their descendants. However, writings by the bishop of Targa indicate that there were two brothers-in-law rather than three. Depending on the account, the estate was called either (Farm of the two brothers-in-law) or (Farm of the brothers-in-law). Local people sometimes refer to the original name as (hamlet) rather than .
History Before the creation of the parish
Settlement in the area dates to the Paleolithic, aided by fertile soils along the banks of the Alcabrichel River. The main Paleolithic sites are Lapa da Rainha 1 (shared with Maceira), Rossio do Cabo, and Ponta da Vigia. Neolithic settlements have been found at Pitagudo and Lapa da Rainha 2.
During the Roman period of the Iberian Peninsula, the area now known as A dos Cunhados lay mostly within the , a peripheral territory. During the Islamic period of the Iberian Peninsula, the area formed part of the . Most inhabitants appear to have been Mozarabs; this interpretation is supported by the Mozarabic origin of the name of the main river, the Alcabrichel. Otherwise, very little is known about this period in the region's history.
Torres Vedras was taken by the Portuguese in 1148. After the conquest, the surrounding territories were divided and granted to settlers to increase the population and secure control over the territory. The of Torres Vedras appears to have led this process.
In 1226, the of Torres Vedras donated two properties at (the origin of the name Penafirme) to an Italian hermit named Gaibetino and his companions, all Augustinians, so that they could establish a monastery there. This monastery was the origin of the . Although the original building has been lost, its successors survive: the 16th-century ruins known as the , and the 18th-century building that now houses the Seminary of Our Lady of Grace of Penafirme. In 1259, the church of Santa Maria da Lourinhã sold land that it owned in the area to the Alcobaça Monastery.
In 1309, João Martins de Soalhães, bishop of Lisbon, ordered an (census) of estates in Torres Vedras and its surroundings to divide the town's jurisdiction into four parishes (, , , and ). A dos Cunhados became part of . The census indicates that most properties in A dos Cunhados were allodial, meaning that their owners were free men who worked their own land. Most landowners were settlers from Galicia, northern Europe, and other parts of Portugal, mainly the north; only a minority of the land was owned by Mozarabs. Although the village of A dos Cunhados is not listed in the , the document refers to people who lived in "a dos cunhados" while owning property elsewhere.
Following a broader trend, allodial properties tended to be seized by lords, in this case, as in many other areas, by ecclesiastical institutions. These institutions were the Collegiate church of Saint Peter of Torres Vedras () and the previously mentioned Monastery of Penafirme and Monastery of Alcobaça. The collegiate church was the most significant landowner. It had received most of its properties through donations, and its holdings were concentrated in the inland part of the present-day civil parish. The Augustinians' properties lay mainly in the southwestern corner of the territory, while the Cistercians owned what is now the civil parish of Maceira, with little or no land in the present-day parish of A dos Cunhados. On a smaller scale, the size and importance of estates held by secular landlords also grew. The most prominent example was the , which included the casal dos Cunhados, the watermill, and several tracts of arable land. It was established in 1475 by Rui Gomes de Alvarenga, chief chancellor (keeper of the Royal Seal and head of the royal chancery) of King Afonso V, and passed to his descendants: the Soares de Alarcão e Melo family until 1642, and then the House of Avintes-Lavradio until 1872, when the properties were sold. This process continued through the 14th and 15th centuries. This phenomenon resulted from several factors, chiefly the Crisis of the late Middle Ages, which led many owners to donate their land to Church institutions.
By 1527 there were 28 in the area that would become the parish of A dos Cunhados. The area comprised and several smaller hamlets. The total population at the time is estimated to have been around 126 people.
In 1547, construction of a new convent for the Augustinian community of Penafirme began. The building, now in ruins, is known as the (Old Convent).
Of the parish In 1568, the inhabitants of A dos Cunhados, Sobreiro Curvo, and other hamlets asked Dom Jorge de Almeida, archbishop of Lisbon, for permission to build a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Light, where they could attend Mass when they were unable to go to the parish church in Torres Vedras. Construction began in 1570 and lasted 16 months. In January 1572, after construction was completed, the archbishop permitted Mass to be celebrated there.
The parish of was created in 1581 by Jorge de Almeida, archbishop of Lisbon, from territory separated from the parish of ; all of the new parish's territory had formerly belonged to São Miguel. Dom Sebastião Mendes da Fonseca, titular bishop of Targa and assistant to the archbishop, played an essential role in this process. Jorge de Almeida charged him with examining the region to determine whether it met the requirements to become a parish and with defining its boundaries. One of the main streets of A dos Cunhados, , was named in his honour.
During the early modern period (1527–1798), the area's population grew by about one person per year on average. The economy was dominated by primary activities, mainly agriculture.
In 1662, King Afonso VI ordered the construction of the fortress of , south of Porto Novo beach, to defend against incursions by Moorish pirates. These incursions had already prompted several petitions led by the Penafirme monks. An unguarded lookout post already existed near the convent. The 1755 earthquake destroyed much of the fortress and led to its abandonment, although the garrison remained near the fortress for some years afterward.
In 1672, a wayside cross was erected in the churchyard. This cross was later moved to the location that is now (Literally: "Square of the cross"), the center of the town where the 3 main streets converge (). The cross became one of the main symbols of the locality, being repaired and rebuilt whenever necessary. It even was the reason, in the 1950s, for a confrontation between the population and the municipal authorities, when the last ones decided to remove the cross to facilitate the passage of large vehicles, in response to that the population prevented them from proceeding, defending the monument with weapons and eventually forcing the municipality to stand down.
In contrast with Lisbon, A dos Cunhados was less affected by the 1755 earthquake. The destruction was limited to the fortress, some houses and the convent.
The Napoleonic Wars affected directly the parish, namely the French invasions. In late August 1808 the British forces, led by Lieutenant-General Arthur Wellesley, entered the parish after winning the battle of Roliça. Wellesley prepared for the landing of reinforcements to happen in Porto Novo. On August 21, the British forces faced the French forces led by general Junot, commander-in-chief of the French forces in Portugal. This battle took place mainly around the border between the parishes of A dos Cunhados and Vimeiro, last lending its name to the battle (See: Battle of Vimeiro). There are no other direct references to the territory after the battle, but it is likely that some inhabitants may have taken part in the construction of the Lines of Torres Vedras.
The of 1826 established the creation of "Parish Assemblies" composed of all citizens with the right to vote (active citizens) in order to elect the province electors that would elect the (members of the ). Due to the lack of active citizens, A dos Cunhados joined neighboring parishes Vimeiro and Miragaia in order to constitute an assembly.
With the victory of the Constitutionalists in the Liberal Wars came a series of deep reforms to several aspects of life, the most significant of which was the dissolution of the monasteries and convents. All of the estate held by the monks and nuns was nationalized and sold at public auction, meaning Penafirme, Alcobaça and ceased to exist and their estates were sold out, putting an end to the ecclesiastical landlords. One of the main buyers of Penafirme estate was George Sartorius, who became count of Penafirme in 1853. The (Civil Parish Council) was created around this time, but, due to the widespread poverty of the population, there were not enough voters to hold elections, and the municipality had to name the members of the until 1878, when the number of citizens with the right to vote was enough to hold the first elections and select its first civil president, Manuel Alexandre Ferreira de Carvalho. Until these elections, the president was always the parish priest.
The end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th were marked by the growth of the Republican Party due to the several political crises experienced by Portugal. In spite of this, A dos Cunhados appears to have been strongly monarchical, as shown during the passage of Manuel II through the village on his visit to Vimeiro to celebrate the centenary of the Battle of Vimeiro (1908). During the king's passage, "A dos Cunhados adorned itself to receive him [the king]: the houses were decorated, in the streets archs and flags were placed...". The king was gifted sonnets written by the school teacher and the great majority of the population came to the village to see the king and partake in the celebrations. Around this time, one of the worst religious crises in the parish's history also occurred. In 1894 the parish church was robbed twice. The parish priest was absent most of the time, and on 15 August 1900 the people expelled him, chasing the priest all the way to the border of the parish. The Patriarch punished the people by closing the church and forbidding the celebration of mass for months, allowing only some sacraments. The relations between the people and the Church only improved with Fr. José Jorge Fialho, who took office in 1906.
On 5 October 1910 Portugal became a Republic. The new republican regime was strongly anti-clerical. One of its first actions was to ban religious orders and regular clergy (who had returned in the eighty years following the Expulsion of 1834), and there were plans to arrest several priests, including Father José Fialho, parish priest of A dos Cunhados. During the First Republic, the people from this parish showed little interest in political participation and several times rebelled or plotted against the Republic. Fialho's influence is considered a major factor for this. It was known to his parishioners that Fialho opposed the new regime, a political position that earned him three imprisonments alongside other priests and citizens. Despite the appeasement attempts made by the republican governments following Pais's dictatorship, the tensions only calmed down with the coup of 28 May 1926. The coup established a conservative military dictatorship, more keen to restore good relationships with the Church. Monsignor José Fialho (1880-1957) is remembered by the people of A dos Cunhados as one of their greatest parish priests, having served the parish from 1906 to 1941, having written the history of the parish and promoted its institutions. One of A dos Cunhados main streets is named in his honour: .