Palácio Nacional de Mafra - Guerra Peninsular - Mafra, Portugal - Field Hospitals on Waymarking.com

Mafra National Palace

«The Mafra National Palace is a monumental Baroque and Italianized Neoclassical palace-monastery located in Mafra, Portugal, some 28 kilometres from Lisbon. Its dimensions are so huge that it dwarfs the city. The palace, which also served as a Franciscan monastery, was built during the reign of King John V (1707–1750), in consequence of a vow made by the king in 1711, who promised to build a convent if his wife, the Queen Mary Anne of Austria, gave him descendants.»

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Peninsular War

«The Peninsular War, also known in Portugal as the French Invasions (Invasões Francesas) and in Spain as Spanish Independence War (Guerra de la Independencia Española), was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its ally, Spain. The war lasted until the Sixth Coalition defeated Napoleon in 1814.»

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The Palace during the War

During the first French invasion, Mafra became the military Headquarters, inaugurating a military use of the building where it remained until the present day. The December 8, 1807, settled in the Palace a French Army Division under the command of the fearedGeneral Loison.

The end of the first invasion was also marked in Mafra. On September 2, 1808, entered the British Army in Mafra, having been stationed in a village Infantry Brigade and a detachment of cavalry.

After 1809, Mafra continued to play an important role in the Napoleonic wars, particularly in the construction of the defensive works.

Shot time before the third invasion, in October 1810, the Palace of Mafra also became a Military Hospital, located in the Infirmary of the Convent of Mafra.

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