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Reforms under Afonso II of Portugal
In 1211, the first year of Afonso II's ('the Fat') reign, Portugal began strengthening royal power and administration, convening the Cortes and audit…
Timeline
- 1211Coimbra · PortugalAfonso II, son of Sancho I, acceded after his father's death, inheriting a Portuguese kingdom still being consolidated. From the outset he faced the power structure left by Queen Mother Urraca's regency and the Church's vast estates.
- 1211Coimbra · PortugalThe king convened the Cortes (assembly), summoning representatives of nobles and clergy, and began auditing royal lands (terras vazias) controlled by the Church and Queen Mother Urraca, seeking to bring revenues under royal power and strengthen central administration.
- 1211Kingdom of Portugal · PortugalLand reform touched Church interests, and clergy such as the Archbishop of Braga appealed to the papal curia. Although Afonso II had not yet been excommunicated in 1211, tension between royal power and the Church was established, later developing into prolonged ecclesiastical sanctions and legislation of the Charter.
Sources
- História de Portugal — José Mattoso (1993)
- Portugaliae Monumenta Historica, Leges et Consuetudines (1868)