Chancelaria régia

Based on the presence of officials associated with writing at the court of count Henry and countess Teresa, specialists have surmised the existence of a chancery since at least that time¹Costa, 1975, p. 145-147., designated as “chancelaria régia” from the moment that King Afonso Henrique began to issue documents in his capacity as king in 1128²Costa, 1975, p. 147; Azevedo, 1940, p. 162. Formally, however, the documents issued by Afonso Henriques between 1128 and 1139 name him as “infans”..

The Chancelaria-Mor of the Court and Kingdom was abolished by decree on 19 August 1833³Ed. Chronica Constitucional, 1833, nº 29, p. 148-150, maxime p. 148, article 1º..

• The Ordenações Manuelinas, which contain specific references to the chanceler-mor and the escrivão da chancelaria (chancery scribe)⁴OM, bk. 1, tit. 2, prologue-§38 (concerning the chanceler-mor); tit. 13, prologue-§12 (concerning the escrivães da chancelaria).;
• Regimento da Chancelaria, dated 16 January 1589⁵Although unpublished, the sections of this regimento that refer to the chancellery of the Casa da Suplicação are published in Sousa, Systema, 1789, vol. 5, pp. 28-37. The original of this regimento can be found in the library of  Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Manuscritos da Série Azul, no. 273 and, in copy, in TT, Chancelaria-Mor da Corte e Reino, bk. 523 (1707-1768).;
• The Ordenações Filipinas, which contain specific references to the chanceler-mor and the escrivão da chancelaria (chancery scribe)⁶OF, bk. 1, tit. 2, prologue-§ 22 (concerning the chanceler-mor); tit. 19, prologue-§11 (concerning the escrivães da chancelaria).;
• Regimento da Chancelaria, dated 11 January 1661⁷Ed. Sousa, Systema, 1789, vol. 5, p. 47-62.;

General

The royal chancery was responsible for the preparation, validation, and expediting of the diplomas issued in the name of the king¹³Costa, 1996, p. 72.. In order to conserve these diplomas, this institution had kept record books¹⁴Avelino Jesus da Costa defines the term “registo ” used in medieval Portuguese chancery, as a “book (notebooks or rolls) of a different nature, with the following deserving particular reference: 1. a register or tombo of property with its value, nature and confrontations; 2. a list of institutions, people and land obliged to render services and pay taxes to the King or to the Crown; 3. an inventory of the ecclesiastical benefits of which the King was patron; 4. books of Inquests; 5. records proper” (Costa, 1996, p. 90). since the thirteenth century, which were deposited at the Torre do Tombo on the death of the monarch¹⁵Ribeiro, 2003, vol. 1, p. 65-66. The same author alludes to a letter from the Chanceler-mor in 1761, which found that there was a tradition that “(…) para a Torre do Tombo passão os Livros da chancelaria por falecimento dos Reis” (Ribeiro, 2003, vol. 1, p. 68, nt. 34). (see heading Torre do Tombo, subheading “Competences”).

On entails

Although there is no specific legislation explaining the reasons that would require, or at least advise, the recording of documentation on entails in chanceries between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries, the survey carried out within the project provides a first insight¹⁶Cf. attached table. The following notes, mainly of a quantitative nature, represent only a first approach, which will be completed during the course of the project..

In a collection of 2820 registers, with a very uneven distribution by reign, two main reasons for registration in the chancery books can be found: on the one hand, the registration of documents relating to the ownership of entails (administration letters and warrants of claim on the administration, with 908 and 450 registered documents, respectively); on the other hand, the registration of documents relating to the management of the entailed property (subrogation warrants, apostilles on padrão de juros, contracts of transfer, and padrão de juros—with 323, 284, 97, and 46 documents, respectively). A closer look enables us to see that the first group mainly concerns entails with pious obligations granted by the Crown after appropriation for various reasons (most commonly, the extinction of the founding line and crimes committed), while the second group is increasingly present in the seventeenth century, perhaps corresponding to an increase in the economic valuation of the linked assets.

The need for royal confirmation of their establishment, or, in general, of acts relating to the life of the entails other than those mentioned above, was not the norm, judging by the numbers: 171 letters of confirmation and 37 warrants (alvarás) of confirmation, but covering a very wide variety of subjects. While it is true that confirmations of the establishment of entails are more numerous (77 in total), the total number of foundations gathered renders this a merely relative figure. A factor not to be neglected would be the additional security that registration in chanceries could confer, as well as the amount to be paid for this administrative act. Registration in a notary’s office, or in the books of the provedorias (see the respective headings) would meet that need.

Qualifying the above conclusions, it is essential to bear in mind that registration in the chancery books represented the end point of administrative and/or judicial proceedings and was carried out at the behest of the institutions acting on their own behalf. As an example, by an order of the desembargadores do Paço, dated 2 November 1564, the royal chancery was obliged to publish the royal provisions authorising the exchange of assets bound to morgadios, chantries, hospitals, and hostels¹⁷Lião, 1569, part I, tit. 4, law 1, f. 17v.. The loss of the archives of many tribunals, or the lamentable state of the descriptive aids of the remaining archival collections—namely the Casa da Suplicação—is a hindrance to a correct analysis. It is also essential to take into account the loss of chancery registers, as well as a different number of years for each of the various kingdoms.

Institutional organisation

The King’s Chancery was headed by the chanceler-mor, who managed a body of officials composed mainly of scribes and a porter²⁴OF, bk. 1, tit. 30, §1-4Avelino Jesus da Costa studied the functions of chancellor and chancery clerks and their holders for the medieval period in Costa, 1996, p. 79-84, 85-87..

The roles of its agents

The Chancery regulations laid down specific provisions regarding the cost of the various documents issued by this institution, including the diplomas relating to entails.

The Regimento of 1589 expressly refers to the case of letters of claim (cartas de denuncia, demanda) on a morgado, or the administration of a chantry or hospital. The costs associated with issuing these documents were calculated in the following manner: in cases where the entail in question was granted during one’s lifetime, the regimento ordered that the income from the said administration for 10 years—discounting the expenses of the chantry and morgado—should be sought, so that the chancery rights relative to the issuing of the letter corresponded to a tithe of the income obtained during that period. If the administration was perpetual (“forever and ever”), the said royalties would be double the tithe calculated for a donation “in one lifetime”²⁵Ed. Sousa, Systema, 1789, vol. 5, p. 34, §7..

The regimento of 11 April 1661 refers to the fees to be paid for the issue of documents relating to entails²⁶Ed. Sousa, Systema, 1789, vol. 5, p. 47-62.;

• The cost of a letter of licence to sell chantry or morgado property, with the obligation to subrogate other property worth the same amount, was 1% of the income from the chantry²⁷Ed. Sousa, Systema, 1789, vol. 5, p. 54, §47.;
• The chancery rights payable on letters of “royal grants of chantries or crown assets to persons” correspond to half of the income of the said assets in a year, less any obligations associated with the chantry²⁸Ed. Sousa, Systema, 1789, vol. 5, p. 54, §49..
• The chancery rights payable on licences to create morgados and similar entails correspond to 1% of the value of the said morgados²⁹Ed. Sousa, Systema, 1789, vol. 5, p. 57, §77..

The royal chancery interacted with multiple institutions belonging to the royal administration, as the chancellor was responsible for handling the letters issued by these³⁰With the exception of the letters and sentences of the Casa da Suplicação (OF, bk. 1, tit. 2, §2) and of the institutions with their own chancelleries.. In the case of the Desembargo do Paço, it also fell to the royal chancery to publish the royal provisions authorising the exchange of assets bound to morgadios, chantries, hospitals, and hostels issued by the latter³¹Lião, 1569, part I, tit. 4, law 1, f. 17v..