The governance of Loulé in the Late Middle Ages: municipal offices, elections and the men in power

Keywords: urban history, port towns, small towns, urban elites, medieval Portugal

Abstract

Some European historiographies, such as Spanish, Portuguese and Belgian, have made municipal power a privileged object of study. In Portugal, the municipal positions of small and medium- sized towns and the men who occupied them are still a promising field of analysis, but the documentary resources available do not always allow for their in-depth study, something that fortunately does not occur in the Algarve, especially in Loulé. Thus, I will study the organisational structure of this municipality, the elections and recruitment of municipal officers, the attempts of other powers to influence these practices and the sociological profile of the individuals who occupied these positions, in order to contribute to a better understanding of these realities in the small towns of medieval Portugal. Keywords: urban history; port towns; small towns; urban elites; medieval Portugal.

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Author Biography

Gonçalo Melo da Silva, Universidade Nova de Lisboa

Instituto de Estudos Medievais, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal.

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Published
2023-05-18
How to Cite
Melo da Silva G. . (2023). The governance of Loulé in the Late Middle Ages: municipal offices, elections and the men in power. En la España Medieval, 46, 13-43. https://doi.org/10.5209/elem.88036