The Perfect Prince: a political analysis of the reign of João II of Portugal
João II of Portugal; Medieval Portugal; legal pluralism; corporative model
The reign of King João II of Portugal (1481-1495) is considered by historiography as responsible for political centralisation and the emergence of a bureaucratic and efficient state in Portugal, understood as a milestone of modernity. However, based on the available documentation - widely known to historians - this project aims to analyse the government of King John II through an interpretation that tries to move away from political conceptions of our contemporaneity, which tend to locate in the past the origins of a statist and monopolistic power. In order to understand how King John II governed, beyond the chronicles and court minutes, the documentary typology will be broadened to include the records of the Royal Chancellery, the Provimentos de Ofícios, letters of pardon and correspondence sent by the monarch to the city councils, with the aim of tracing a more complex panorama of the period and the logics that sustained the networks that supported or opposed the king's power.
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