Latest investigations into the founding of Vila de Nisa under the responsibility of Prof. Carlos Cebola, we can move forward with new facts that brought a new version of it, which greatly enriched our knowledge about the history of Nisa. In this sense, the facts presented are the result of this investigation.
In 1199 D. Sancho I donated Herdade da Açafa to the Order of the Temple, this territory was delimited, in a very summary way, to the north by the Tagus River, and to the south, it held part of the territory of the current municipalities of Nisa, Castelo de Vide and part of the territory Spanish along the current border. These donations aimed to settle residents in deserted and unpopulated areas and consequently defend the territory.
The Templars built a fortress that defended them from the infidels and signaled their possession of these territories. At the same time, the monarch announced the arrival of French settlers, who arrived in phases, with the last group destined for the settlement of the Açafa territory.
They settled next to the fortresses built by warrior monks and built homes there, founding settlements that they named after their homelands. It is in this sense that Nisa possibly arises, that is, as the first inhabitants of Nice came from Nice, they built their “New Nice” here, or better said, Nisa the New, which we find in the documents, and when the term Nisa the Old appears, this refers to its ancient land of origin, French Nice.
This is how Arêz (from Arles), Montalvão (from Montauban), Tolosa (from Toulouse), cities in the South of France, were born.
The first Charter letter was given to Vila de Nisa between 1229 and 1232, by Dom Frei Estêvão de Belmonte.
In 1512 D. Manuel I assigned a new Charter letter to the town, with the word Nisa written with two “ss”, that is, Nissa, probably under the influence of the word Nice.
In 1343, D Afonso IV was in open war with his son-in-law, Afonso XI of Castile, which put this entire border area at risk, hence the Master of the Order asked the King to build a wall to protect the population, a request this was accepted.
D João I attributes the title of “Notable” to the town of Nisa and D. João IV, by royal letter of October 13th, elevates Nisa to the Category of Marquesado (Marquee category), which he granted to D. Vasco Luís de Gama, 5th Count of Vidigueira.
Arêz and Montalvão were annexed to the Municipality of Nisa by decree of November 6, 1836 and Alpalhão and Tolosa by decree of August 3, 1853, having been detached in 1895 and annexed again in 1898.
The parish of Amieira do Tejo passed to the municipality of Gavião in 1836, but moved to Nisa through a decree of September 26, 1895.
