PORTUGAL
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PORTUGAL
The bellicose Bishop of Oporto, Martinho Rodrigues, bigamous union with Beatrice and their issue were
presented to the pope a long list of accusations against legitimated by Urban IV at the request of the
the monarch, in reply to which Cardinal John de bishops.
Abavila was dispatched to Portugal on a reforming So far there had been peace between king and
mission, but though he did much good he w;vs unable clergy, but the former did not intend to keep the prom-
to end the discords. Bishop Sueiro then put himself ises on the strength of which he had ascended the
at the head of the malcontents and painted in dark
colours the condition of the Church. The clergj'
were blackmailed and deprived of their property,
the king and nobles despised ecclesiastical censures,
public offices were given to Jews, and so on. Pope
throne, and the latter would not abate their claims.
In 1258 Alfonso sent a commission of inquirj' through
the kingdom to determine the royal rights and the
fiscal obligations of his subjects, and as a result he
revoked, in 1265, manj' of the crown grants of land.
Gregory thereupon sent a commission to require Seven of the bishops took up the challenge, and in
the king to correct abuses under threat of penalties, 1267 appealed to Clemerit IV. They alleged that the
but at first there were some difficulties in the way of king, besides seizing their possessions, deprived them
reform. The bishops too often abused their immuni- of their liberty of action, refused to pay tithes,
ties, they admitted men to orders who were only exacted forced loans, compelled ladies to marry men
anxious to evade military service, and sometimes to of no birth, and men of family to wed low women,
avoid answering to the secular courts for their crimes, or those of Moorish or Jewish race. The abuses
The pope remedied these evils, but the Government of civil administration were dealt with in five articles,
failed to repress those which were charged against ecclesiastical grievances occupied forty-three. The
it. Yet the Holy See was averse to extreme measures, charges were true in the main, but the king met them
because it appreciated Sancho's crusading energy — by presenting to the pope a petition signed by all
for, though a bad
man and an indo-
lent administrator,
he was a bold sol-
dier. An ancient
dispute between
bishop and citizens
as to jurisdiction
over the City of
Oporto revived
again, and bishop
and king were soon
at issue. Further-
more, the latter
roused strong oppo-
sition by refusing to
allow ecclesiastical
bodies or individ-
uals to accept gifts
of land, or to pur-
chase it, and, not
content with rob-
bing and profaning
churches, he slew
some priests. He
The Convent Chtjbch of Thom.^r, Portugal
the concelhos in fa-
vour of his rule, and,
to defeat the bishops
by a policy of delay,
he took the Cross for
a crusade led by St.
Louis, but never
went. Moreover,
the pope and some
of the protesting
bishops died, while
certain abuses were
remedied. Reljing
on his good fortune
he became more op-
pressive than ever,
usurping the reve-
nues of four sees, and
in 1273 Gregory' X
ordered the heads
of the Franciscan and
Dominican Orders in
Lisbon to remon-
strate with the king.
It was long before
brought matters to a climax when he intervened in a Alfonso would see them and then he assembled the
disputed succession to the bishopric of Lisbon and Cortes at Santarem and had a committee appointed
used the most brutal methods to enforce his will and to correct everything done "without reason". This
Gregory IX, who had previously threatened, now committee was composed of his friends so that the
confirmed a sentence of interdict. concession was illusory. On hearing of the king's
Sancho gave way for the moment, and peace was duplicity, the pope sent him a strongly- worded Bull,
made, the king turning his arms against the Moors, dated 4 Sept., 1275, reminding him of what he owed
but in an interval between his successful campaigns the Church and requiring him to keep the agree-
he became enamoured of a widow. Dona Mecia ment made in Paris under pain of censure and, in the
Lopes de Haro, whom he met during a visit to the last resort, of losing the realm.
Court of Castile, and under her influence his charac- Again, however, time favoured the king, for
ter deteriorated. The bishops renewed their com- Gregory and his two successors all died in 1276, and,
plaints of the disorders in Portugal, and in 1245, by though the Portuguese John XXI took the matter
the Bull "Grandi non immerito", Innocent IV com- up, the king would do nothing until the terms of
mitted the government to Sancho's brother .\lfonso Gregory's Bull, which he called ordinalio diaholica,
who was living in France. The latter undertook were .softened. An interdict was therefore pronounced
to remedy the ills of the kingdom and grievances of on the realm, and ."Ufonso's subjects were absolved
the Church, and on his arrival the greater part of the from their allegiance, but without efTect, for the king
countrj' accepted him for regent in accordance with had a stronger position than Sancho II. However,
the papal directions. Sancho, finding resistance hope- he relented when death approached; he promised
less, passed into Spain, where he died a year later. In restitution to the Church and made his heir swear
the reign of .\lfonso III (1248-79) Portugal attained to perform what he himself had promised. His
its farthest European limits bj' the conquest of the understanding with the municipalities enabled Al-
.\lgarve from the Moors, but Alfonso X of Ca.stile fonso III to consolidate the power of the Crown by
claimed the kingdom, and the Portuguese king was limiting that of the nobility, both lay and clerical,
forced to recognize Castilian suzerainty and, though and even to brave the censures of the Church, which
already married, to further purchase his possessions by constant repetition had lost some of their effect.
by agreeing to wed Beatrice, his brother monarch's Denis (1279-1325), a cultured man, abstained from
illegitimate daughter. Fortunately, the first wife foreign wars and devoted himself to developing the
of ,\lfonso III died shortly afterwards, and the king's resources of the country, his care of agriculture win-
