Is the Economy an Issue? Kings and Economic Legislation in Medieval Portugal

The thesis of this chapter sits somewhere between the interrogative stance of the first part of the title and the statement implied by its second, which implicitly acknowledges the existence of royal legislation dedicated to the economy, or rather to the economic sphere. But in fact, this statement implies a challenge in identifying what can be meant by economic legislation, within the relatively abundant universe of royal legislation in the Middle Ages. It also challenges us to accept that royal intervention in the economy assumed different characteristics and was felt at various levels. The discussion around the role played by institutions and by royalty in the economy and in the development of markets underlies this analysis. What is proposed is to understand how legislation proposed by the Portuguese Crown supported, or was intended to support, the formation of a single political territory and to undermine or reduce noble and urban privileges and freedoms. This will take a comparative view and, especially place Portugal within the broader Iberian perspective. The present chapter, however, is limited in its chronology and also in what sources make up its prime object of analysis. The chronological cut to be considered in this study defines the period from the beginning of Afonso II’s rule, where we can find the first laws, to the end of Afonso IV ’s reign, i.e. the years from 1211 to 1357. The analysis is based on the legislative output dating from those years.