The Portuguese medieval university and the problems of its funding [I]: the beginnings (13th -14th centuries)

Abstract

This paper aims to understand the funding of the Portuguese medieval university; I will explore the incomes from ecclesiastical benefices, not only required for the survival of the magistri but also for the maintenance of the studium generale itself. Although several monographs and articles about the medieval university have been published over the years, I argue that this subject – a key-point to understand the Portuguese university in the Middle Ages – has not yet been fully and accurately examined. Thus, I will analyse the context of the establishment of the studium and the first phase of its existence in Lisbon, between 1288 and 1308, as well as the incomes based on several churches of the Royal patronage whose revenues were used to fund both the magistri and the Portuguese studium.