Abstract

HENRIQUES, António. Taming Leviathan. Constitution, Representation and Taxation in fifteenth-century Portugal. População e Sociedade [online]. 2019, n.31, pp.69-82.  Epub June 01, 2021. ISSN 0873-1861.

This article shows that theCortesof Coimbra/1385, in which João I was acclaimed king, stand for a major break in Portuguese Constitutional History. While twentieth-century historiography considered that the vision of a limited monarchy formulated by the representatives in 1385 essentially failed, fiscal history shows that theseCortesdid indeed leave a clear and lasting break with the reign of Fernando I: extraordinary taxes could not be justified by the claim of the ‘necessity’ of the king and had to be consented by the representatives of the taxpayers. This achievement stands for a marked contrast with the wilful rule of Fernando I, who imposed taxes and debased coinages with little regard for parliament or constitutional limits.

Keywords : Fiscal History; Constitutional History; parliaments; taxation; tax burden.

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