wills and testamentary executors in medieval portugal 286 42 This can be proved by the sociological analysis of testators from fourteenth and fifteenth century Avignon, in which predominated those who were rich by trade and handicrafts (Chiffoleau 1980, pp. 42–66). In Portugal, when the socio-professional characterisation of testators of the same centuries is expressed, clergymen are the most prominent (20.2%), followed by nobles (10.7%), then royal or local officials (7.5%), craftsmen (4.9%) and merchants (4.2%), as well as other less important categories (Vilar 1995, p. 61). 43 The executory sentences of wills are a source to be explored in this regard. On the execution of the will of Alphonse, Count of Poitiers and Toulouse, dead in 1271, see Chenard 2009, pp. 375–390; and on the conflicts arising from the execution of the notary João Lourenço’s will, which took from 1348 (the year of his death) until 1363, see Coelho 1980, pp. 319–320. 44 Morujão 2010, doc. 2.53. Original quotation: “plenam et liberam potestatem agendi, defendendi, jurandi, potendi, recuperandi, recipiendi, vendendi, defalcandi, addendi, quitandi et disponendi omnia et singula bona mea”. It is no wonder that attempts were made to guarantee the execution of wills by such means. In fact, much was required of the executors, especially in the case of testators of high social status or who possessed a large number of assets.42 The fulfilment of the testator’s legacy entailed a number of complex tasks. Movable or immovable property had to be sold in order to obtain liquidity to meet the bequests in cash stipulated by the testator. Property had to be adequately exploited to guarantee that the rents would meet the expenses to which they had been assigned (specially in the case of olive oil to light lamps). Any family issues hindering the fulfilment of the will had to be resolved and any relatives opposing the testator’s last wishes had to be attended to. If challenged, the deceased’s estate had to be legally defended; debts needed to be collected from the testator’s debtors, or paid to lenders, which meant having to convert several of the assets left by the deceased into cash.43 As a result, the executors – either multiply or singularly – had wideranging powers to act, which, from the end of the thirteenth century, were even enshrined in formulae, such as those specified in the 1322 will of Pedro Martins, cantor of Coimbra: all the executors had free power to act, defend, swear, recover, receive, sell, reduce, add, leave, and dispose of all his assets.44 Dated a little earlier (1296), another example is the will of Vicente Mendes, bishop of Porto, who went even further in exhaustively indicating all the powers conferred upon his five executors, adding 4
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