The Middle Ages in the “histories of Portugal” during the democratic period

Abstract

Conceived as generalist works, the various “histories of Portugal” published after the Carnation Revolution of 1974 reflect some of the great changes in Portuguese historiography during the second half of the twentieth century. This article focuses on a set of themes related with the Portuguese Middle Ages and aims to examine the differences and similarities between the interpretations of the various authors of these “histories of Portugal” and to understand to which extent did these interpretations have represented a rupture regarding the ones vehiculated by the “histories of Portugal” published during the Estado Novo.