First French Invasion of Portugal

The First French Invasion of Portugal began in late 1807 when General Jean-Andoche Junot crossed Spain and occupied Lisbon under Napoleon’s Continental System. The Portuguese royal family escaped to Brazil shortly before the French entered the capital, transferring the centre of the Portuguese monarchy across the Atlantic.

A Portuguese revolt in 1808 coincided with the arrival of a British expedition under Arthur Wellesley. French defeats at Roliça and Vimeiro led to the Convention of Cintra, under which Junot’s army was evacuated by sea. The invasion opened the Portuguese phase of the wider Peninsular War.