In the medieval Kingdom of Portugal, the Cortes was an assembly of representatives of the estates of the realm – the nobility, clergy and commoners. It was called and dismissed by the King of Portugal at will, at a place of his choosing.O'Callaghan, J.F. (2003) "Cortes, Leon, Castile and Portugal" in E.M. Gerli, editor, 2003, Medieval Iberia: an encyclopedia, London: Routledge Cortes which brought all three estates together are sometimes distinguished as Cortes-Gerais (General Courts), in contrast to smaller assemblies which brought only one or two estates, to negotiate a specific point relevant only to them.Coelho da Rocha, M.A. (1851) Ensaio sobre a historia do governo e da legislação de Portugal: para servir de introducção ao estudo do direito patrio Coimbra: Imprensa da Universidade, p.102-03.
Portuguese monarchs had always called intermittent "king's courts" (Curia Regis), consultative assemblies of feudal nobles and landed clerics (bishops, abbots and the masters of the Military Orders) to advise on major matters. This practice probably originated in the protofeudalism of the 6th-century Visigothic Kingdom. But, during the 13th century, with the growing power of municipalities, and kings increasingly reliant on urban militias, incorporated towns gained the right to participate in the king's court. The Cortes assembled at Leiria in 1254 by Afonso III of Portugal was the first known Portuguese Cortes to explicitly include representatives of the municipalities. In this, Portugal was accompanying the pattern in neighboring Iberian kingdoms (e.g. the Kings of León admitted town representatives to their Cortes in 1188).
Medieval Kings of Portugal continued to rely on small assemblies of notables, and only summoned the full Cortes on extraordinary occasions. A Cortes would be called if the king wanted to introduce new taxes, change some fundamental laws, announce significant shifts in foreign policy (e.g. ratify treaties), or settle matters of royal succession, issues where the cooperation and assent of the towns were necessary. Changing taxation (especially requesting war subsidies), was probably the most frequent reason for convening the Cortes. As the nobles and clergy were largely tax-exempt, setting taxation involved intensive negotiations between the royal council and the burgher delegates at the Cortes.
Delegates (procuradores) not only considered the king's proposals, but, in turn, also used the Cortes to submit petitions of their own to the royal council on a myriad of matters, e.g. extending and confirming town privileges, punishing abuses of officials, introducing new price controls, constraints on Jews, pledges on coinage, etc. The royal response to these petitions became enshrined as ordinances and statutes, thus giving the Cortes the aspect of a legislature. These petitions were originally referred to as aggravamentos (grievances) then artigos (articles) and eventually capitulos (chapters). In a Cortes-Gerais, petitions were discussed and voted upon separately by each estate and required the approval of at least two of the three estates before being passed up to the royal council. The proposal was then subject to royal veto (either accepted or rejected by the king in its entirety) before becoming law.
Nonetheless, the exact extent of Cortes power was ambiguous. Kings insisted on their ancient prerogative to promulgate laws independently of the Cortes. The compromise, in theory, was that ordinances enacted in Cortes could only be modified or repealed by Cortes. But even that principle was often circumvented or ignored in practice.
The Cortes probably had their heyday in the 14th and 15th centuries, reaching their apex when the usurping John I of Portugal relied almost wholly upon the commoners for his power. For a period after the 1383–1385 Crisis, the Cortes were convened almost annually. But as time went on, they became less important. Portuguese monarchs, tapping into the riches of the Portuguese Empire overseas, grew less dependent on Cortes subsidies and convened them less frequently. John II (r.1481-1495) used them to break the high nobility, but dispensed with them otherwise. Manuel I (r.1495-1521) convened them only four times in his long reign. By the time of Sebastian (r.1554–1578), the Cortes was practically an irrelevance.
The Cortes gained a new importance with the Iberian Union of 1581, finding a role as the representative of Portuguese interests to the new Habsburg monarch. The Cortes played a critical role in the 1640 Restoration, and enjoyed a brief period of resurgence during the reign of John IV (r.1640-1656). But by the end of the 17th century, it found itself sidelined once again.
It is essential, at this point, to remember the fact that there were only five occasions when the Cortes were of immense importance for the History of Portugal:
with the coronation of D. João I, in the Courts of Coimbra in 1385; with the appointment of D. Pedro, Duke of Coimbra, as regent of D. Afonso V, in the Cortes of Torres Novas of 1438; with the coronation of Philip II of Spain as Philip I of Portugal, in the Cortes of Tomar of 1581; with the acclamation of D. João IV, in the Cortes of Lisbon between 1645–1646; and, finally, with the appointment of Prince Peter as the regent to his brother Afonso VI, who was declared insane, in the Cortes of Lisbon of 1668.
In all of these occasions, the Cortes were used to essentially legitimize and confirm the changes in the reigning power. Two other occasions can also be underlined for their long-term importance namely the Cortes of Lisbon of 1289, where the concordat of the Forty Articles with Pope Nicholas V was ratified, and the Cortes of Elvas of 1361, where the beneplácito régio[pt] was first utilized.
The last Cortes met in 1698, for the mere formality of confirming the appointment of Infante John (future John V) as the successor of Peter II of Portugal. Thereafter, Portuguese kings ruled as absolute monarchs.J.H. Saraiva, (1993) Historia de Portugal p.231 No Cortes were assembled for over a century. This state of affairs came to an end with the Liberal Revolution of 1820, which set in motion the introduction of a new constitution, and a permanent and proper parliament, that however inherited the name of Cortes Gerais.
List of Portuguese Cortes
Afonso I (1139–1185)
1143 – Cortes of Lamego (legendary) – to confirm D. Afonso Henriques's title as the independent King of Portugal, and establish the rules of succession to the throne. Ostensibly, prevents succession by females if they are married to a foreigner. This has been since proven to be a purely legendary fabrication, invented at the time of the Restoration of 1640.
Sancho I (1185–1211)
Afonso II (1211–1223)
1211 – Cortes of Coimbra – first definitive Cortes – established the first general laws (Leis Gerais do Reino), protecting the king's property, stipulating measures of administering justice and the rights of his subjects to be protected from abuses by royal officials and confirming the clerical donations of his predecessor. Also, affirmed the validity of canon law for the Church in Portugal, but also introduces the prohibition of the purchase of lands by churches or monasteries (although they can be acquired by donations and legacies).
Sancho II (1223–1248)
Afonso III (1248–1279)
1254 – Cortes of Leiria – first to include burgher delegates from the incorporated municipalitiesLivermore (1966) p 81 Introduction of the , a fixed sum paid by the burghers to the Crown as a substitute for the septennium (the traditional revision of the face value of coinage by the Crown every seven years); also introduced staple laws on the Douro River, favoring the new royal city of Vila Nova de Gaia at the expense of the old episcopal city of Porto. 1256 – Cortes of Guimarães 1261 – Cortes of Guimarães – to discuss the recent debasement of the currency; allowed Afonso III's recent debasement, but extracted pledges forbidding future debasements. In return for a new property tax, the old "septennium" is replaced with a new rule allowing only one revision of coinage per reign.Livermore (1966) p 82 1273 – Cortes of Santarém – to consider Pope Gregory X's bull ordering the restoration of property and rights of Portuguese bishops (seven of the nine Portuguese bishops had formally protested to the pope about the heavy-handed Inquirições Afonsinas, the royal investigations, launched in 1258, into the titles of episcopal lands, ostensibly to "recover" alienated royal property.) The Cortes find the king has not violated anything.
Denis (1279–1325)
1282 – Cortes of Évora – to review a royal offer to Pope Martin V to resolve the episcopal quarrel (the terms are unacceptable to the pope and rejected; documents suggest the offer was originally crafted by the king in consultation with the clergy alone in Guarda, and so the Évora Cortes may have only been considering a reply to the papal rejection)Barros (1885) p 264 note)
1283 – Cortes of Coimbra 1285 – Cortes of Lisbon – to consider renewal of papal demand for restoration of episcopal rights again – papal position rejected again – Cortes approves a new round of Inquirições, and requests the investigations be extended to the nobility (i.e. review their titular claims to tax-exempt property). Also approves new law forbidding the sale of lands to religious corporations (and forcing them to sell all land acquired since the beginning of his reign). 1288 – Cortes of Guimarães – Cortes reiterates request for inquisitions into noble titles 1289 – Cortes of Lisbon – ratify concordat of the Forty Articles with Pope Nicholas V, settling the episcopal question 1323 – Cortes of Lisbon
Afonso IV (1325–1357)
1325 – Cortes of Évora – enacted sumptuary laws on Jews and MuslimsLindo (1848) p 305 1331 – Cortes of Santarém 1334 – Cortes of Santarém – approved marriage of heir Peter to Castilian noblewoman Constance of Peñafiel, clearing the way for an interventionist war on behalf of her father, Juan Manuel de Vilhena, against King Alfonso XI of Castile. 1335 – Cortes of Coimbra 1340 – Cortes of Santarém 1352 – Cortes of Lisbon – protest against the introduction of juízes de fora (external judges, nominated and paid for by the crown), as a violation of local charters and customary rights
Peter I (1357–1367)
1361 – Cortes of Elvas – negotiate concordata with the clergy; protest royal nomination of elective judges – first recorded use of beneplácito régio (requirement of royal review and assent before regulations issued by the Papal Curia could be applied to the clergy in Portugal)Almeida (1903) p 50
Ferdinand I (1367–1383)
1371 – Cortes of Lisbon 1372 – Cortes of Porto – protest against the Fernandine wars 1372 – Cortes of Leiria – Cortes rejects king Ferdinand's request for financing 1373 – Cortes of Santarém 1375 – Cortes of Atouguia 1376 – Cortes of Leiria – recognized Beatrice of Portugal as the heir of King Ferdinand 1380 – Cortes of Torres Novas 1383 – Cortes of Santarém
John I (1385–1433)
1385 – Cortes of Coimbra – to debate the pretenders to the throne, acclaim John, Master of Aviz, as King John I of Portugal; also imposed that the king must include burgher representatives in the royal council (from triple nomination lists supplied by the towns) and to impose no taxes or tributes, nor make war nor peace, without the consent of the Cortes; also the first Cortes to grant the king the sisas (excise taxes on transactions, existing locally since at least 1311, but only now definitively made a royal tax)Almeida (1903) p 99 1386 – Cortes of Braga – The sisas, were instituted throughout the kingdom to cover the costs of war against Castile and explicitly tells how to perform the payment of said tax 1387 – Cortes of Coimbra 1387 – Cortes of Braga 1389 – Cortes of Lisbon 1390 – Cortes of Coimbra 1391 – Cortes of Évora