Kingship and Masculinity in Renaissance Portugal (Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries)

Abstract

This chapter seeks to examine the relationship between gender – more specifically, masculinity – and the upholding of both the power of the king and the monarchy in Renaissance Portugal, more specifically during the last generations of the House of Avis. It will be argued that, along with other variables, gender seems to have been relevant to maintaining political stability and dynastic power, through a set of practices that may or may not have been in accordance with established models of expressing masculinity.

In order to debate this topic, the analysis - covering a period between the mid-fifteenth and the late-sixteenth centuries - will contrast the evolution of didactic literature (mirrors for princes) with a set of practices, in which court events and celebrations like weddings, jousts and tournaments can be included. By proceeding to this comparison, it will be verified if theory meets practice or if there are differences between what the models propose and that which royal persons – and, by extension, the court - perpetrated actions.