This study traces the literary tradition written in Portuguese from medieval lyric origins—both courtly and popular—through the rise of chronicles, epic fragments, and prose, into Renaissance and Baroque developments and the nineteenth- and early twentieth-century revival of criticism. It surveys principal manuscript sources and cancioneros, sketches major poets, dramatists, and chroniclers, and emphasizes the role of editorial recovery and bibliographical work in reshaping modern understanding. Arranged chronologically, it offers concise author accounts, textual history, and a critical overview of poetic, narrative, and popular genres.