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Portugal Intradynastic Struggle
The future of the House of Avis seemed assured by the
presence of João's five legitimate sons, but the king also
provided for his illegitimate children as he had been
provided
for by his father. João conferred on his bastard son
Afonso the
hereditary title of duke of Bragança and endowed him with
lands
and properties that amounted to the creation of a state
within a
state supported by a huge reserve of armed retainers. The
House
of Bragança accumulated wealth to rival that of the crown
and
eventually assumed the leadership of the old aristocracy
in
opposition to Avis.
When João I died in 1433, the crown was assumed by his
eldest
son, Duarte, who died five years later of the plague.
Before his
death, Duarte convoked a cortes in order to legitimate the
compilation of Portuguese royal law, but the work was not
completed until the reign of his son, Afonso, and is,
therefore,
named the Afonsine Ordinances. He also declared that the
grants
of land so lavishly awarded by his father to his
supporters would
have to be confirmed, as was the custom at the start of
each
reign.
Afonso was six years old when his father died and his
mother,
Queen Leonor of Aragon, assumed the regency. There was
opposition
to the assumption of all authority by a woman, and Leonor
agreed
that Duarte's brother, Pedro, should become regent. This
was
opposed by Afonso, duke of Bragança, the eldest
illegitimate son
of João I. Both men aspired to gain influence over the
young king
by marrying him to their daughters. The populace of Lisbon
strongly favored Pedro and acknowledged him as regent.
Pedro
received confirmation for his regency by summoning the
cortes at
Évora and paved the way for his continuance in power by
arranging
the marriage of his daughter Isabel to the young king,
who, when
he reached his majority in 1446, agreed to the match and
asked
his uncle to continue the regency.
The duke of Bragança reasserted his ambitions and was
able to
influence the young king to dismiss Pedro by convincing
him that
his uncle was plotting to seize the throne. Pedro was
banished to
his estates. When rumors of a plot against him surfaced,
he
decided to resist and marched on Lisbon, where he had the
support
of the populace. Pedro was met by the troops of the king
and the
duke of Bragança at the Battle of Alfarrobeira on May 24,
1449,
where he was killed and his army defeated. This battle
resulted
in the enlargement of the property and wealth of the
illegitimate
line of the House of Avis, which allowed it to enjoy
enormous
influence over the pliable Afonso V until his death in
1481.
Data as of January 1993
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