Alfonsine Ordinances

{{Infobox law

| image = File:Portugal (Ordeções Afonsinas).jpg

| territorial_extent = Portuguese Empire

| enacted_by = Afonso V of Portugal

| date_enacted = 1446 or 1447

| date_repealed = 1521

| repealed_by = Manueline Ordinances

| status = repealed

}}

The Alfonsine Ordinances{{Sfn|Campbell|2005}} ({{Langx|pt|Ordenações Afonsinas}}) were a complete restatement of Portuguese law, enacted in 1446 or 1447 during the reign of the Portuguese King Afonso V ({{Reign|1438|1477}}).

The five books of the Ordinances were the first codification of Portuguese law and established a legal hierarchy between Portuguese royal laws, Roman law and Canon law.

In 1521, they were succeeded by the Manueline Ordinances ({{Lang|pt|Ordenações Manuelinas}}) of Manuel I.

History

In the beginning of the 15th century, Portuguese law was in a state of confusion. Even the courts were unsure which royal laws were still valid and should be applied to a case. Furthermore, the legal hierarchy between these royal laws and Roman and Canon law was unclear.{{Sfn|Herzog|2014|p=256}} To rectify this confusion at least in part, John I of Portugal ({{Reign|1385|1433}}) decreed with a {{Ill|Carta régia|lt=carta régia|pt}}, dated 18 April 1426, that Roman law as stated in the {{Lang|la|Corpus Iuris Civilis}} should be applied and, when it contained no answer to the issue in question, its explanation by the {{Lang|la|glossa ordinaria}} of Accursius should be used. When even the {{Lang|la|glossa ordinaria}} was of no help, the commentary by Bartolus was to be given precedence.{{Sfn|Herzog|2014|p=256}} The King did not, however, restate the written royal laws of Portugal; he only clarified how the subsidiarily applicable Roman law was to be understood.{{Sfn|Herzog|2014|pp=256–257}}

The first systematic compilation, reformulation and updating{{Sfn|Schmidt|2009|p=5}} of the primarily applicable Portuguese law was therefore commissioned by John I. The commission was given to João Mendes (the {{Lang|pt|corregador da corte}}) and, after Mendes death, to {{Ill|Rui Fernandes of Almada|lt=Rui Fernandes|pt}}, who finished it on 28 July 1446.{{Sfn|Herzog|2014|pp=256–257}} After a revision of this compilation by a commission, the work was completed in July 1446 and given to King Afonso{{Nbsp}}V, who then had succeed John I.{{Sfn|Herzog|2014|p=257}} Despite its name, the King had little influence on the Ordinances as they were completed during his minority – he was born in 1432 – and the regency of his uncle Peter, the Duke of Coimbra.{{Sfn|Disney|2009|p=138}}

Due to a court document of August 1447, which references the Alfonsine Ordinances, it is assumed that they entered into force at the end of 1446 or the beginning of 1447.{{Sfn|Herzog|2014|p=257}} Their diffusion into Portugal proved, however, difficult, as they were completed before the invention of the printing press.{{Sfn|Disney|2009|p=138}}

In 1521, the Alfonsine Ordinances were succeeded by the Manueline Ordinances ({{Lang|pt|Ordenações Manuelinas}}).{{Sfn|Herzog|2014|p=6}}{{Sfn|Campbell|2005}}

Content

= General content and structure =

Legal scholars consider the Alfonsine Ordinances to be the first codification of Portuguese law and the foundation for its development for centuries afterward.{{Sfn|Herzog|2014|p=257}}{{Sfn|Schmidt|2009|p=6}} They were, however, far from being a complete system of law and it is assumed that only the {{Ill|Chancelaria Régia|pt}} had a complete set of all five books of the Ordinances.{{Sfn|Herzog|2014|p=258}} Its sources were the royal Portuguese laws, Canon law, the case law of the higher courts of Portugal, the {{Lang|es|Siete Partidas}}, Roman law and local customs.{{Sfn|Schmidt|2009|p=5}} The structuring of the Ordinances into five books might have been influenced by the 1234 Decretals of Gregory IX.{{Sfn|Schmidt|2009|p=5}}

The first book of the Alfonsine Ordinances considers the state and its administration. The second book deals with the rights of the Catholic Church, the King and the nobility. The third book contains the rules of civil procedure, while the fourth book states the substantive private law. The final fifth book considers criminal law and procedure.{{Sfn|Schmidt|2009|p=5}}

An important clarification of the Alfonsine Ordinances was the establishment of a clear legal hierarchy in Portuguese law: Firstly, the royal Portuguese laws were supreme. When they contained no answer, a distinction was made between temporal ({{Lang|pt|de ordem temporal}}) and spiritual questions ({{Lang|pt|de ordem espíritual}}). In case of the former, Roman law was to be applied, while in case of the later, Canon law was applicable.{{Sfn|Herzog|2014|p=258}} An exception was, however, stated in the case of "sinful results": If the application of Roman law resulted in {{Lang|pt|resultados pecados}} (sinful results) than Canon law was again applicable (book II, title 9).{{Sfn|Herzog|2014|p=258}} Roman law was to be applied according to the {{Lang|la|glossa ordinaria}} of Accursius and the opinion of Bartolus. If even these authorities did not help to solve the case than the King himself should decide it (book II, title 9).{{Sfn|Herzog|2014|p=258}}

= Restrictions on Jews and Muslims =

The Alfonsine Ordinances contained special restrictions for Jews and Muslims, for example forcing them to wear a distinctive symbol or badge on their clothing (for Jews: book II, title 86; for Muslims: book II, title 103).{{Sfn|Soyer|2007|pp=65–66}}{{Sfn|Castillejo|2024|pp=273–274}} Other examples were that Jews were generally not allowed inside the house of a Christian woman when her husband was absent (book II, title 67), and when Jews or Muslims disguised their identity "with the intention of sinning with Christian women" they would be punished by enslavement (book V, titles 25 and 26).{{Sfn|Soyer|2007|pp=61–62}}

= Printing =

The authoritative printed version of the Alfonsine Ordinances ({{Lang|pt|Ordenaçoens do Senhor Rey D. Affonso V.}}) was done by the University of Coimbra in 1792 with a facsimile edition printed by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in 1984.{{Sfn|Soyer|2007|p=xv}}

{{Cite book |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/15021906/ |title=Ordenaçoens do Senhor Rey D. Affonso V. |series=Collecçaõ de legislaçaõ antiga e moderna do reino de Portugal. Parte I. Da legislaçaõ antiga |publisher=University of Coimbra |year=1792 |location=Coimbra |language=pt |oclc=23368268}}
{{Cite book |date=1984 |url=https://purl.pt/37897/sc-92038-v_5_master/sc-92038-v/sc-92038-v_PDF/sc-92038-v_0000.pdf |title=Ordenações Afonsinas |publisher=Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation}}

References

= Citations =

= Sources =

{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Campbell |first=Gordon |doi=10.1093/acref/9780198601753.001.0001 |isbn=9780198601753 |year=2005 |title=Alfonsine ordinances or (Portuguese) Ordenações Afonsinas |encyclopedia=The Oxford Dictionary of the Renaissance |publisher=Oxford University Press}}
{{Cite thesis | date=2024 |last=Castillejo |first=Jean-Pierre |title=How did late Medieval Secular and Ecclesiastical Portuguese and Castillian Literature Project the Image towards the Jews? A Comparative Analysis of Sources from 1325 to 1412 |degree=PhD |publisher=Universidade Aberta |hdl=10400.2/16335 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/16335}}
{{Cite book |last=Disney |first=Anthony R. |title=A History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire |date=2009 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |volume=1 |doi=10.1017/CBO9781139175357|isbn=978-0-521-60397-3 }}
{{Cite book |last=Herzog |first=Benjamin |title=Anwendung und Auslegung von Recht in Portugal und Brasilien |publisher=Mohr Siebeck |year=2014 |series=Rechtsvergleichung und Rechtsvereinheitlichung |volume=26 |language=de |trans-title=Application and Interpretation of the Law in Portugal and Brazil. A Comparative Legal Examination from a Genetic, Functional and Post-modern Perspective |doi=10.1628/978-3-16-160932-9|isbn=978-3-16-160932-9 }}
{{Cite book |last=Schmidt |first=Jan Peter |title=Zivilrechtskodifikation in Brasilien: Zivilrechtskodifikation in Brasilien |date=2009 |publisher=Mohr Siebeck |series=Studien zum ausländischen und internationalen Privatrecht |volume=226 |language=de |trans-title=The Codification of Private Law in Brazil. Structural Issues and Regulatory Problems from a Historical and Comparative Perspective |doi=10.1628/978-3-16-151411-1|isbn=978-3-16-151411-1 }}
{{Cite book |last=Soyer |first=François |url=https://brill.com/view/title/14251 |title=The Persecution of the Jews and Muslims of Portugal: King Manuel I and the End of Religious Tolerance (1496-7) |date=2007 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-16262-4 |doi=10.1163/ej.9789004162624.i-330}}