The early location of the graves was side by side (while Inês on the right side of Pedro, what should happen between husband and wife) in the southern transept Alcobaça Monastery Church. It went to the room of the Tombs. In the twentieth century were again placed in the transept of the church, which currently: face to face, with the tomb of D. Inês in the north arm of the transept and the tomb of King Pedro I in the south arm, so that when they rise to stand up and see each other.

In prostrate both figures are crowned, peaceful expression and surrounded by six angels to them settle down and raise the garments their heads (as that elevate them to Heaven). The faces of the sarcophagi are decorated with heraldic theme (representations of coats of arms of their families), biblical, vegetal and geometric. In sculptural terms, the tomb of King Pedro I is considered a better work, reaching the reliefs reaching 15 cm depth, while at the grave of Dona Ines reach 10 cm.

Tomb of Inês de Castro

Tomb of Inês de Castro – Last Judgment (Alcobaça Monastery)Inês de Castro is represented with a clear expression, surrounded by angels and crowned Queen. The right hand touches the tip of the collar that fits him the chest and the left hand, gloved, holding the other glove.

The themes represented in the tomb are on the front, the Childhood of Christ and the Passion of Christ and the facial, Calvary and the Last Judgment.

In this tomb stresses yourself a facial, which is the Last Judgment. It is thought that Pedro, with the representation of this dramatic scene of the Christian religion, wanted to show everyone (including his father and killers) that he and Agnes had a place in Paradise and who made them suffer so much could be sure would enter the maw of levitation represented in the lower right corner of the face. We can also see the figure of Christ enthroned, and the Virgin and the Apostles to pray on your right. Below are represented the dead who rise from their graves to be judged.

Tomb of King Pedro I

D. Pedro I is also represented with a clear expression, crowned and surrounded by angels. Hold the handle of the sword in his right hand while the left grabs the hem.

In the tombs of faces are represented: in front, the Childhood of St. Bartholomew and the Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew and the facial, the Wheel of Life and the Wheel of Fortune and also the Good Death of Pedro.

Tomb of King Peter I – Wheel of Life and Wheel of Fortune (Alcobaça Monastery)
In this tomb stands out facial bedside where represented the Wheel of Life and the Wheel of Fortune. Image: The Wheel of Life has 12 aedicules with moments of love and tragic life of Pedro and Inês. In reading the aedicules (made upwards and from left to right), we can see:

1 Inês caresses one of the children;
2 The couple lives with their three children;
3 D. Inês and Pedro play chess;
4 The two lovers are shown in suit life;
5 Inês subdues one prostrate figure on the floor;
6 Pedro sitting in a grand throne;
7 D. Inês taken aback by assassins sent by King Afonso IV;
8 Inês debunking one of his murderers;
9 Sticking Inês;
10 Inês dead;
11 Punishment of Agnes of murderers;
12 D. Pedro I wrapped in a shroud.

In the interior aedicules – Wheel of Fortune – we can see (in the same sense the Wheel of Life):

I Inês sitting to the left of D. Pedro (for not being married);
II The couple exchange position (Inês sitting to the right of D. Pedro, which indicates that they are already married);
III Pedro and Inês sitting side by side like an official portrait;
IV D. Afonso IV to expel (by finger pointing) Ines of the kingdom;
V Inês repels a man who seems to be again D. Afonso IV;
VI Pedro and Inês lying on the floor overwhelmed by the hybrid figure of Fortuna holding hands the wheel.

Inês came to Portugal in 1340 as a maid of Constance of Castile, recently married to Peter, the heir apparent to the Portuguese throne. The prince fell in love with her and started to neglect his lawful wife, endangering the already feeble relations with Castile. Moreover, Peter’s love for Inês brought the exiled Castilian nobility very close to power, with Inês’s brothers becoming the prince’s friends and trusted advisors. King Afonso IV of Portugal, Peter’s father, disliked Inês’s influence on his son and waited for their mutual infatuation to wear off, but it did not.

Constance of Castile died in 1345. Afonso IV tried several times to arrange for his son to be remarried, but Pedro refused to take a wife other than Inês, who was not deemed eligible to be queen. Peter’s legitimate son, future King Ferdinand I of Portugal, was a frail child, whereas Peter and Inês’s illegitimate children were thriving; this created even more discomfort among the Portuguese nobles, who feared the increasing Castilian influence over Peter. Afonso IV banished Inês from the court after Constance’s death, but Peter remained with her declaring her as his true love. After several attempts to keep the lovers apart, Afonso IV ordered Inês’s death. Pêro Coelho, Álvaro Gonçalves, and Diogo Lopes Pacheco went to the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha in Coimbra, where Inês was detained, and killed her, decapitating her in front of her small child. When Peter heard of this he sought out the killers and managed to capture two of them in 1361. He executed them publicly, ripping their hearts out claiming they didn’t have one having pulverized his own heart.

Peter became King of Portugal in 1357. He then stated that he had secretly married Inês, who was consequently the lawful queen, although his word was, and still is, the only proof of the marriage. Legend has it that he had Inês’s body exhumed from her grave and forced the entire court to swear allegiance to their new queen by kissing the corpse’s hand. She was later buried at the Monastery of Alcobaça where her coffin can still be seen, opposite Peter’s so that, according to the legend, at the Last Judgment Peter and Inês can look at each other as they rise from their graves. Both marble coffins are exquisitely sculpted with scenes from their lives and a promise by Peter that they would be together até ao fim do mundo (until the end of the world).

Inês de Castro and Peter I had the following children:

• Afonso (1346), died young shortly after birth.
• Beatrice, Countess of Alburquerque (c. 1347–1381), married Sancho Alfonso, 1st Count of Alburquerque and was thereby the great-grandmother of Ferdinand II of Aragon.^[4]
• John, Duke of Valencia de Campos (1349–1397), claimant to the throne during the 1383–85 Crisis.
• Denis, Lord of Cifuentes (1354–1397), claimant to the throne during the 1383–1385 Crisis.

Its origin dates back to the founding of the Cistercian Abbey (in Latin, Cistercium; in French, Citeaux), in the commune of Saint-Nicolas-les-Citeaux, Burgundy, in 1098, by Roberto de Champagne, abbot of Molesme. This, along with some fellow monks had left the monastic congregation of Cluny to resume the observance of the ancient Benedictine rule, in response to the relaxation of Cluny Order.

Through the “Charta Charitatis” in addition to the rule of Order of St. Benedict, Stephen – third abbot of the Cistercian – established the Order of the supreme authority is exercised by an annual meeting of all the abbots. The monasteries were supervised by the monastery headquarters in Citeaux, and the four oldest monasteries of the Order.

The order will play an important role in the religious history of the twelfth century, come to be imposed throughout the West for its organization and authority. One of his most important works was the colonization of the region east of the Elbe, which simultaneously promoted Christianity, Western civilization and the appreciation of land 1.

Restoration of the Benedictine rule inspired by the Gregorian reform, the Cistercian order promoted asceticism, liturgical rigor and erect, to some extent, the work as a fundamental value, as evidenced by its technical, artistic and architectural heritage.

In addition to the social role until the French Revolution, the order has great influence on the intellectual and economic level, as well as in the arts and spirituality, should its considerable development Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), exceptional charisma man . His influence and his personal prestige made him the most celebrated of the Cistercians. Although not the founder of the order, remains their spiritual mentor 2.

Currently, the Cistercian order is actually made up of two religious orders and various congregations. The order of “Common Observance had in 1988 with more than 1,300 monks nuns in 1500, over 62 monasteries and 64, respectively. The Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance (also called OCSO) currently comprises nearly 3,000 monks and nuns in 1875, over one hundred and two male monasteries and seventy-two female monasteries in the world. Are commonly called “Trappist” since the creation of the order resulted from the reform of the Trappist Abbey (in Soligny-la-Trappe, Lower Normandy, France) .

Even separated, the two orders have friendship links and collaborative relationships. The habit is also similar. The Cistercian monks are known as white because of the color of their habit.

Whilst following the Benedictine Rule, the Cistercian monks are not properly considered Benedictines. It was the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) that the word “Benedictine” came to designate the monks who did not belong to any centralized order, as opposed to Cistercians.

Date back long before that, however, the initiatives of King Afonso Henriques, to promote the defense of the realm, especially when it came to Lisbon and strangely, or not so much, to Santarém. We know the dedication of Afonso Gualdim Pais, Grand Master Templar, who tried to “push” the king in that direction as well as in building fortifications and defensive consequent consolidation of the Portuguese territory. Gualdim Parents have been since very young, educated and knighted by the king himself.

Coming from a family belonging to the nobility, born in Braga, immediately after the conquest of Lisbon with only 22 part to the Holy Land, to fight for the Faith.
Already in 1156/57 if signals its presence back to Portugal, in the giving that makes you the King of several houses and farms located in Sintra, and the time already a Templar master.

This Order was a key to the nation’s founding. Fought alongside Afonso Henriques, leaving impressive marks on the secret history of Portugal, which would not have been what it was without the Templar presence.
In winter 1159 Afonso makes donation to the temple of Ceres Castle, as compensation for the rights granted to Lisbon Cathedral, the church income that the Templars, had obtained by real donation when the conquest of Santarem in 1147.

This change meant, not the reconstruction of Ceres Castle, but before building another further south, the Tomar, which becomes then the order center in Portugal.

The Cistercians settled in Alcobaça and played an important role in the history of our country, whether the level material and spiritual level. Unlike own image of what transpires Bernardo, were not passive and contemplative; action were monks who turned mentalities, lent new techniques in agriculture, architecture, sciences, in addition to providing a powerful mystique that intrigued almost as much as the very Templar mystique. It is this mystique that enontra after the foundations of the great Lusitanian maritime project. The Portuguese Discoveries.

As we know, after the fateful 13 October 1307, there was an “exodus” of the Order to the country where he found support in D. Dinis, that to avoid a direct conflict with the Pope, changed the Order name to Order Christ. Had to leave Tomar and went to Castro Marim from which they returned to the parent still in the fourteenth century. From here begins the scientific preparation and mission of discovery.

The Portuguese maritime epic had, contrary to what most think (profession of sailors minor interest in the arts to discover lands beyond the sea) a different nature than any other European people. The Portuguese captains were elite people highly prepared scientific and military level and with a huge moral and spiritual strength … many of the top elements were the Order of Christ.

As soon as can be seen in the behavior of these and assuming as compared our Spanish neighbors, who to send the Pizarro adventurer to America, rather than well prepared admirals gave the massacre of the Incas, and subsequent loss of much of their culture and traditions … as has also made Cortez with the Aztecs in Mexico.

But we entered the founding of the nation and the relationship between D. Afonso Henriques and the Templar order …. until the first royal seal of Dom Afonso Henriques seems to hide a message to this Order. Indeed, we can see in the accompanying drawings, the arrangement of the letters forming the word “Portugal” can be decomposed into “Por Tu Gral.”

Another best known seal, takes the same decomposition of the word Portugal in the same three shares, divided again by Patea cross. This same stamp shows today some of the currencies of 1, 2 and 5 cents of our country.

Knowing the interest of the Templars by the coded messages, and being himself a member of the Order, it is possible that D. Afonso Henriques has used this medium to transform the name of his kingdom in a currency that was obviously dear to him: “Why Tuo Gral”: for your Grail!

Tarouca and Lafões are among the first Cistercian monasteries in Portugal. Followed them Santa Maria de Alcobaça, which soon became the most important Cistercian monastery in our territory and one of the greatest in Europe.

Then the monks held a most important work, without which the Templars would not have the necessary backing for the performance of its task of warrior-monks in the service of a nation and a global project: the union of East and West around a spiritual empire.

In Alcobaça, in addition to its important library, there was, in fact, which, appropriately, we can call the first center of higher education in Portugal, namely Alcobaça was the legitimate precursor of the Portuguese University. In addition to prayer and study, the Cistercian monks extraordinarily developed agriculture, within the perfect monastic spirit of Ora et Labora, prayer and work, contemplation and action. “