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Portugal Assertion of Royal Supremacy
When Afonso's son and heir, João II (r.1481-95),
assumed the
throne, the power of the Braganças and their supporters
had
reached its height. The new king, who was more resolute
than his
father, convoked a cortes at Évora, where he imposed a new
written oath by which nobles swore upon their knees to
give up to
the king any castle or town they held from the crown. At
Évora
commoners complained about the abuses of the nobility and
asked
for the abolition of private justice and the correction of
abuses
in the collection of taxes. The king ordered that all
nobles
present their titles of privilege and that his constables
be
admitted to their estates in order to investigate
complaints
concerning administration.
These measures provoked a reaction by the nobility led
by the
powerful Fernando, duke of Bragança, who conspired against
the
king with the help of the king of Castile. Upon learning
of the
intrigues of Fernando, the king accused the duke of
treason and
tried him at a special court in Évora. He was sentenced to
death
and beheaded in the main square on June 29, 1484. The king
confiscated his properties and those of his accomplices,
some of
whom were also killed, while others fled Portugal. A
second
conspiracy was hatched by the duke of Viseu, but it, too,
was
discovered, and the duke was killed, perhaps by the king
himself,
in Setúbal. These events established the supremacy of the
crown
over the nobility once and for all.
Data as of January 1993
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