The relatively belated manifestation in Portugal of these chivalric values has already been underlined by both José Mattoso and Oliveira Marques (Mattoso, 1985: p. 116; 1993: pp. 152-154; 1995: pp. 117-125. Oliveira Marques, s/d: pp. 26-28).²  However, Portuguese historiography has never taken a particularly exhaustive look at the main stages in the spread of chivalric ideals, so that all that one really has are just a few works that have centered their attention on the last centuries of the medieval period.³  Consequently, no attempts have been made to explain the time lag that occurred in the manifestation of these phenomena in Portugal: either in relation to the territories lying beyond the Pyrenees or in comparison with the country’s Peninsular neighbors.

The purpose of this paper is therefore to explain this gap, seeking to understand how this ideology came to be established in the western strip of the Iberian Peninsula. In order to do this, an attempt will also be made to understand what, at some times, restricted the development of this ideology, and what, at other times, helped to guarantee its consolidation. The study is divided into two parts. In the first section, which covers the twelfth and the thirteenth centuries, the aim is to observe the role played by knights in the shaping of Portuguese society and the way in which the Peninsular knighthood, frequently centered upon towns and cities, came to adopt some of the typical features ofclassical chivalry, which had especially developed on the other side of the Pyrenees. In the second section, our analysis will focus on the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, seeking to discover how the chivalric spirit became established as a distinguishing mark of the identity of the kingdom’s socio-political elites, and under what particular circumstances this happened.

I. Twelfth to thirteenth centuries: the rise of the knighthood

In Portugal, it was only towards the end of the twelfth century, and above all in the following century, that the term miles began to take on a double meaning, being used simultaneously to designate a warrior who fought on horseback and an individual who belonged to the nobility (Mattoso, 1985b: pp. 171-178; 1995: pp. 117-125; 1997: pp. 149-150). Until then, the predominant acceptance of the first meaning had given the impression that the knight’s importance was due, most of all, to his military role, which was particularly crucial in a “society organized for war” (Lourie, 1966; Powers, 1987). The various municipal charters that were issued, especially in the townships bordering upon the Muslim territories and the kingdom of Leon, clearly highlighted the role that equestrian warriors played in the governance of communities, where they were considered to be equivalent in importance to the infanções.⁴  The attribution of a superior status was due to their possession of weapons and a horse to ride upon (Reis, 2002; Powers, 1987). Furthermore, the technique of fighting wars by making greater or lesser raids on horseback was already a widespread practice, and was, in fact, commonly performed even by noble troops (Barroca, 2003: pp. 148-150; García Fitz, 2005: pp. 59-170; Martins, 2014: pp. 338-360).

It can therefore be inferred that, in the society existing at the time of the Reconquest, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the functional dimension of chivalry was highly important. The apparent social fluidity in the border region, paving the way for the upward progression of those who devoted themselves to launching attacks in enemy territory, shows that the war had become a mechanism for personal enrichment and social promotion. In fact, both this martial role and the actual fighting on horseback were not the exclusive preserve of the nobility (Barroca, 2003: pp. 87-92). The territory of the kingdom of Portugal was mainly constructed through the alliance between the monarchy and the local urban militias and military orders, with the aristocracy having played a fairly minor role (Sottomayor-Pizarro, 2009: pp. 143-155).

By this time the aristocratic conception of the term miles had already begun to take root in other European regions (Barber, 1995: pp. 3-45; Duby, 1988: pp. 34-53 and 83-116; Flori, 1986: pp. 119-141 and pp. 223-248; Saul, 2012: pp. 7-20). In other words, one can see that the chronological gap between Portugal and other European regions, in terms of the theoretical understanding of the knights’ role, began at a very early stage, even though the role that such knights had played in the Hispania of that time had been highly significant. What may perhaps be considered different, however, is the way in which an apparently similar phenomenon was perceived. The greater social fluidity made possible by the Reconquest may have prevented such a rapid crystallization of the knight’s noble status, since not all of them hailed from the environment of a socially superior family. It is even logical to admit that this dynamic of social ascension through war continued to prevail in the border regions until the conquest of the Algarve was finally concluded, in 1249. The charters that were granted to townships would seem to confirm this, since they continued to give privileges to men who possessed their own horses and weapons, while also maintaining a permanent incentive for the warlike facet of these communities.

The relevance of the cavaleiros vilãos may have played a decisive role in shaping the global ideology of chivalry. Since such knights owed their whole status to the fact that they fought upon horseback, it would be natural for them to use this image to prove their superior condition. It is not surprising therefore that the nobles should resort to other symbols and arguments to establish their own identity, even if they fought in a similar way and had a similarly bellicose mentality. In this way, it can be understood why it took such a long time for chivalry to become established as a superior honor and ideal, materialized in the form of a culture that was endowed with its own concepts, practices and mythology.

Even though there exist some data for an earlier period that might lead us to believe the opposite, one should stress that these episodes need to be interpreted with some caution. I am referring here to the formal investitures of the emperor Alfonso VII (r. 1126-1157) and Afonso Henriques (r. 1128-1185), the sons of two Burgundian nobles—Raymond and Henry—married to the daughters of Alfonso VI of Leon and Castile (r. 1072-1109). In these cases, the blessing of their arms on the altar seems to have served the eminently practical purpose of promoting them to a specific political status (Palacios Martín, 1988: pp. 156-165; Mattoso, 2011: pp. 54-56).

Yet the thirteenth century was a period of great transformation in Portuguese society, permitting the slow rise of an ennobled vision of the knight. First of all, as the Reconquest neared completion, there was a progressive reduction in the importance attached to the functional dimension of ‘free’ chivalry, such as that which was found in the border regions, while at the same time hierarchies were established and the perhaps more open and dynamic spirit of earlier times began to fade. In many townships, the former knights began to be designated as homens-bons. However, and in particular in those municipalities that had for many decades found themselves at some remove from the southernmost limes, it is quite likely that the knights had become incorporated into the nobility, either through marriage (Mattoso, 1985: p. 133) or through their own definitive imposition within the local community (Ventura, 1985: pp. 31-71; Viana, 2012: pp. 61-81). Some twelfth-century charters were already beginning to draw a distinction between those who enjoyed this status per naturam and those who had been raised to knighthood in a new generation.

The thirteenth century should be considered as the period when knights definitively entered the ranks of the nobility.⁵  For the first half of the century, this interpretation is confirmed, above all, by the diplomatic sources. Having begun to make their first appearance in the twelfth century, yet only truly ‘exploding’ in the thirteenth century, the songs of the troubadours also bear witness to the ennoblement of knights, who were now considered to be members of the aristocracy with full entitlements (Miranda, 2004; Oliveira, 1994).

It is quite likely that this process began to accelerate around 1248, the first year in the reign of Afonso III (r. 1248-1279). When returning to Portugal after his long exile in France, where he had been made Count of Bolougne and also where he had been an assiduous member of the court of Louis IX (St. Louis), the new king and his peers played an important role in bringing Arthurian literature to Portugal (Castro, 1983: pp. 81-89; Miranda, 1996: pp. 93-99; 1998: pp. 1562-1564). Towards the middle of the thirteenth century, such conditions underpinned the triumph of the classical conception of chivalry: this was the thinking that had turned the knight into one of the essential symbols of feudal society, the bearer of a characteristic ideology and a warrior inspired by a particular mythology, althoughthis was not originally a specificity of the Peninsular territory.

Whatever the case, the reality is that this literary genre fitted the newly formed socio-political structure like a glove. In the fourteenth century, Nuno Álvares Pereira was a fan of the stories of Galahad and the Round Table (Estoria de Dom Nuno Alvrez Pereyra: Ch. III, p. 8), which it seems were greatly appreciated by the Hospitaller friars. In the fifteenth century, King Duarte had the books of Tristan, Merlin and Galahad in his library ( Livro dos conselhos de el-rei D. Duarte: p. 207).