Mortos – «tidos por vivos»: o tribunal régio e a capacidade sucessória das «almas em glória» (campanhas norte-africanas, 1472-c. 1542)

Abstract

The article studies the presence in Portugal, namely in the spheres of the nobility and mains courts, of Holy War ideals, during the XV century and the first half of the XVI century. The starting point is the analysis of four juridical affairs, judged in king’s courts between 1472 and 1542. In these cases, the heirs of warriors killed in specific situations, try to claim their right to inheritances legally liable to returning to the Crown, by invoking the condition of «eternal lives» of the victims’ souls. After reconstructing the circumstances of each death and each court process, in order to understand the different solutions adopted, we study the means of diffusion of the Holy War ideals, in three main areas: the chronicles, the religious processions held on the departure of expeditions to North Africa, and Gil Vicente’s theater.