the wills of the kings of portugal between the 12thand14thcenturies The oldest known Portuguese royal testament has been dated sometime between April 1, 1176, and February 1179 by Rui de Azevedo, its most recent and authoritative editor. It is a – tripartite act, with the three copies cut by the motto, in capital letters, et ivstificationes tvas –doceme, inspired by Psalm 118:8 (Iustificationes tuas custodiam non me derelinquas usquequaque). It does not include any dating or explicit validation clauses. It is a text, however, florid in the initial protocol it presents, with the Trinitarian invocatio (In nomine Sancte et Indiuidue Trinitatis Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti amen), the solemnintitulatio (Ego Alfonsus per uoluntatem Dei Portugalensium rex, magni imperatoris Alfonsi nepos et filius comitis domni Henrici et regine domne Tharasie), and the extensive harangue that follows: Moving to spiritual considerations, the text cites biblical verses from Matthew 25, Luke 16 and 11, and Ecclesiastes 14. After the exposition, King Afonso introduces the device:“Haec itaque omnia ego predictus rex Alfonsus diligenter considerans (…) in hac uita ob remissionem peccatorum meorum (…) ut illud a Domino centuplicatum recipiat in futuro”. The king goes on to list the gifts and alms that he intends to bequeath, leaving money for services for his soul, for the release of captives, and for the military order of Évora, to which he donates his horses and captive Moors from Santarém and Lisbon. He was also interested in supporting the works of the Lisbon Cathedral and the Alcobaça Monastery. He bequeathed very considerable amounts of money to the poor, widows, and orphans. He made some decisions regarding his burial in the Monastery of Santa Cruz de Coimbra, leaving to the canons the money he kept in this cloister, so that they could spend it as fairly and mercifully as possible. The monarch did not forget to donate some of his Moors to this monastery, namely a goldsmith, a carpenter, and a tailor.7 240 7 Azevedo 1958, doc. 330. Seppe recogitans in animo meo et intelligens quanta beneficia mihi prestiterit Dominus ab infantia mea, quomodo mihi regnum donauerit et insuper multo amplius dilatauerit et quomodo me sempre adiuuerit contra aduersarios meos et inimicis christianitatis et uere fidei…
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