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The Participation of the Nobility in the Reconquest and in the Military Orders

Description

Abstract:
Starting from the general framework of the Crusades and the Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula, together with the involvement of the nobility in these two processes, the author seeks to clarify to what extent the participation of the Portuguese nobility—exalted by some chroniclers and literary sources—in both the Reconquest and the military orders was effectively materialized through diplomatic and genealogical sources from the 13th and 14th centuries. Earlier studies have made it possible to conclude that, despite its adoption of the lineage system, the Portuguese nobility did not promote the exclusion of the second-born sons from the paternal inheritance. This weakens the idea that a substantial proportion of them joined the ranks of the military orders, so that it is possible that the same orders also incorporated villein-knights and members of the urban aristocracies.
A partir do contexto geral das Cruzadas e da Reconquista da Península Ibérica, junto ao envolvimento da nobreza em ambos os processos, o autor pretende esclarecer até que ponto se materializou a participação da nobreza portuguesa – exaltada por vários cronistas e fontes literárias – na Reconquista e nas ordens militares, mediante fontes diplomáticas e genealógicas a partir dos séculos XIII e XIV. Estudos anteriores permitiram concluir que, apesar da adoção de um sistema de linhagem, a nobreza portuguesa não promoveu a exclusão dos segundos filhos da herança paterna. Isto debilita a ideia de uma proporção substancial deles ter-se juntado às ordens militares, o que possibilita que as mesmas ordens também tenham incorporado cavaleiros-servos e membros das aristocracias urbanas.

Citation

Sottomayor-Pizarro, José Augusto de, "The Participation of the Nobility in the Reconquest and in the Military Orders" (2006). e-Journal of Portuguese History. Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library. https://doi.org/10.26300/hmx0-gp95

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Collection:

  • e-Journal of Portuguese History

    The e-Journal of Portuguese History (e-JPH) (ISSN: 1645-6432) is an international peer-reviewed scholarly journal with the objective of providing publication of work on historical subjects, especially those concerning themes and topics of Portuguese history analyzed in a comparative perspective. It …

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