The King, the University and “the good governance of the kingdoms”

the moral regulation of the academic officials in the university statutes of king Manuel I (c. 1503)

Abstract

The concerns about moral conduct played a major role, directly and indirectly, in the legislative and bureaucratic production during the Middle Ages, often associated with the process of symbolic construction of an image of virtuosity and honor, areas in which the Catholic Church and the Crown sought to intervene. Consequently, within this relationship between powers, the Crown clearly took the lead in the task of moral guidance of the subjects of its kingdom. This essay, based on the Manueline statutes of the Studium, aims to study the royal intervention in the Portuguese university in the early 16^th century, in particular on the moral regulation of its elements. More specifically, based on the university regulations subscribed by king Manuel I in 1503, this article intends to identify the statutory production of moral normatives that regulated the work and action of men belonging to the group of officers of the University of Lisbon.