Under the modern city lies the
Roman city of
Sellium. After the conquest of the region from the
Moors in the Portuguese
Reconquista, the land was granted in 1159 as a
fief to the
Order of the Knights Templar. In 1160,
Gualdim Pais, the Order's
Grand master in Portugal and Tomar's somewhat mythical founder, laid the first stone of the
Castle and Convent of the Knights Templar that would become the headquarters of the Order in Portugal. Local traditional legends preach that the choice was for mystical reasons and by divine inspiration, and from practices by the Grand Master of
geomancy, based on exercises taken from luck and predestination. Reinforcing this magical view is the setting of the site among a small chain of seven elevations (
lugar dos sete montes), which became known as the
city of seven hills, as the seven hills of
Jerusalem, the
seven hills of Rome or the seven columns of
Constantinople. The
foral or feudal contract was granted in 1162 by the Grand Master to the people. The Templars ruled from Tomar a vast region of central Portugal which they pledged to defend from Moorish attacks and raids. Like many lords of the unpopulated former frontier region of central Portugal, the villagers were given relatively liberal conditions in comparison with those of the northern regions of Portugal, in order to attract new immigrants. Those inhabitants who could sustain a horse were obliged to pay military service in return for privileges. They were not allowed the title of
Knight which was reserved to the
Templars. Women were also admitted to the Order, although they did not fight. In 1190
Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur, an
Almohad caliph, and his army
attacked Tomar. However the knights and their 72-year-old leader,
Gualdim Pais, kept them at bay. A plaque commemorates this bloody battle at the Porta do Sangue at the Castelo Templário (Castle of Tomar). In 1314, under pressure from the
Pope Clement V, the order was suppressed.
Philip IV of France, who owed the Templars huge debts, held the pope a virtual prisoner and coerced him to suppress the order on bases of false accusations and forced confessions. The Order was suppressed in most of Europe and its holdings were to be transferred to the
Knights Hospitaller. Instead, King
Dinis negotiated the transfer of the Order's possessions and personnel in Portugal to a newly created
Order of Christ. This Order moved in 1319 to
Castro Marim, but in 1356 it returned to Tomar. In the 15th century and thereafter, the (ordained) Grand Master of the Order was nominated by the Pope and the (lay) Master or Governor by the King, instead of being elected by the monks.
Henry the Navigator was made the Governor of the Order, and it is believed that he used the resources and knowledge of the Order to succeed in his enterprises in Africa and in the Atlantic. The
Order of Christ Cross was painted in the sails of the
caravels that crossed the seas, and the
Catholic missions in the new lands were under the authority of the Tomar clerics until 1514. Henry, enriched by his overseas enterprises, was the first ruler to improve the buildings of the
Convento de Cristo since their construction by Gualdim Pais. He also ordered dams to be built to control the
Nabão River and swamps to be drained. This allowed the burgeoning town to attract more settlers. Henry ordered the new streets to be designed in a rational, geometrical fashion, as they can still be seen today. , burial place for the Knights Templar of Tomar In 1438,
King Duarte, who had fled
Lisbon because of the
Black Death, died here. Just after 1492 with the
expulsion of Jews from Spain, the town increased further with Jewish refugee
artisans and traders. The very large Jewish minority dynamized the city with new trades and skills. Their experience was vital in the success of the new trade routes with Africa. The original synagogue, the
Synagogue of Tomar still stands. It is allegedly the best-preserved medieval synagogue in Portugal. The mikvah was discovered during excavations in 1985. In the reign of
Manuel I of Portugal the convent took its final form within the
Manueline renaissance style. With the growing importance of the town as master of Portugal's overseas empire, the leadership of the Order was granted to the King by the Pope. However, under pressure from the monarchs of Spain, the King soon proclaimed by
edict that all the Jews remaining within the territory of Portugal would be after a short period considered Christians, although simultaneously he forbade them to leave, fearing that the exodus of Jewish men of knowledge and capital would harm Portugal's burgeoning commercial empire. Jews were largely undisturbed as nominal Christians for several decades, until the establishment of a Tribunal of the
Portuguese Inquisition by the initiative of the clergy in the town. Under persecution, wealthier Jews fled, while most others were forced to convert. Hundreds of both Jews and
New Christians were arrested,
tortured and about 1,000 were executed in
autos da fé, in a frenzy of persecution that peaked around 1550. Many others (c. 38,000) were expropriated of their property or penance. Jewish ascendancy, more than Jewish religion, together with personal wealth determined who would be persecuted, since the expropriations reverted to the institution of the Inquisition itself. With the persecution of its merchants and professionals Tomar lost most of its relevance as a trading centre. New Christian names among the inhabitants are very common today. In 1581 the city was the seat of the
Portuguese Cortes (feudal parliament) which acclaimed the King of Spain
Felipe II as Portugal's Filipe I (see
Iberian Union). During the 18th century Tomar was one of the first regions of Portugal to develop industry. In the reign of
Maria I, with royal support, a textile factory of
Jácome Ratton was established against the opposition of the Order. The hydraulic resources of the river Nabão were used to supply energy to this and many other factories, namely paper factories, foundries, glassworks, silks and soaps. Tomar was occupied by the French during the
Peninsular War, against which it rebelled. The
Duke of Wellington, with his Portuguese and English troops, liberated the city afterwards. In 1834 all the religious orders, including the Order of Christ, were disbanded. ==International relations==