Os Castelos e o Conselho Real: Patrocínio Político em Portugal (1495-1521)

Abstract

At the turn of the sixteenth century, the Portuguese royal court grew both spatially and in terms of its personnel as a result of greater wealth and an increased interest in diplomacy. This paper examines motivations behind the expansion of the Portuguese royal council during the reign of D. Manuel I (1495-1521), and posits that the king undertook this expansion in an attempt to create vertical ties connecting the royal court to castles along the Luso-Castilian frontier. The royal council operated as the nucleus of the political nation and the positions on the council conferred prestige, making appointments to the council an important vehicle of political patronage. Motivation to expand the size of the king's council, is contextualized amid tense relations between Portugal and Aragon-Castile after the union of the crowns in 1479.