Vinhais was, originally, a castro with a Gallic settlement, transformed by the Romans into a Gallic-Roman castro, with its fortress (oxide). Certainly, the Suevi or Visigoths surrounded the locality of walls and, with the expulsion of the Muslims, Vinhais was devastated, having been repopulated during the domination of the kings of Castile and Leon (D. Sancho II and D. Afonso VI). This restocking was continued by the first Portuguese kings, namely with D. Afonso Henriques, D. Sancho I (O Povoador), D. Afonso II and D. Sancho II. Vinhais received a charter from D. Afonso III, on May 20, 1253, which was granted by the monarch D. Manuel I, on May 4, 1512. In the context of the 1383-1385 Crisis in Portugal, when João I de Castile invaded Portugal in 1384, the castle of Vinhais was one of many that raised the Castilian flag, thus refusing obedience to Mestre de Avis, future João I of Portugal.
