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.

King Don Afonso Henriques, first King of Portugal

It is an authentic document in which King Don Afonso himself swears on the Holy Gospels how he saw with his own eyes the Savior of the world in His great beauty, as we record in the account below. 

This document was found in the year 1506 in the archives of the Royal Monastery of Alcobaça by Dr. Fray Bernard of Brito, the principle chronicler of Portugal, to whom the Kingdom owes not only the glory it gained through his writings but also this valuable document he found. It is a parchment with ancient writing, already worn, with the seal of El Rey Don Afonso and another four of red wax, hanging from silk threads of the same color, verified and confirmed by persons of the greatest authority, the greatest experts on the value of historical documents. 

Dr. Fray Lawrence of the Holy Spirit, then Abbot of that general house of the Cistercian Order in this Kingdom, a person of great learning and much prudence, deemed it to be the will of God that this testimony be divulged to all. Thus he brought the parchment to Lisbon and showed it to the lords of the government, and afterward he journeyed to the court of Madrid and presented it to the Catholic King Phillip II. Many grandees at his court also saw it, and it was venerated and esteemed by all as a document of great worth. 

The content of the document is the following: 

I, Afonso, King of Portugal, son of Count Henrique [of Burgundy] and nephew of the great King Alfonso [of Castile and Leon], in the presence of you, Bishop of Braga and Bishop of Coimbra and Teotônio, and of all the many vassals of my Kingdom, swear on this metal Cross and this book of the Holy Gospels, upon which I place my hands, that I, a miserable sinner, saw with these unworthy eyes Our Lord Jesus Christ extended on the Cross in the following way:

The old hermit visits Don Afonso after his prophetic dream

I was with my army in the lands of Alentejo in the field of Ourique preparing to enter into battle with Ismael and four other Moorish kings who had put together thousands of men. And my people, fearful of their multitude, were excessively troubled and sad, so much so that some were saying publically that it was imprudent to continue this journey.

And I, concerned at what I heard, began to consider what I should do. As I was in my tent, I had with me a book in which the Old Testament and that of Jesus Christ were written. I opened it and I read in it the victory of Gideon. And I said to myself: “Thou dost know very well, Lord Jesus Christ, that it is for love of Thee that I took upon myself this war against Thy adversaries. Now, it is in Thy hands to give to me and to my men the strength to destroy in Thy Name these blasphemers.” 

Having said these words, I fell asleep over the book, and I began to dream that I saw an old man coming to my tent. He told me, “Afonso, have confidence, because you will conquer and destroy those infidel kings, you will smash their power and the Lord will appear to you.”

The miracle before the Battle of Orique by Domingos Sequeira (1793)

I was still having this vision when my chamberlain João Fernandes de Souza arrived, saying to me: “Wake up, my lord, because an old man is here who wants to speak to you.” 

I responded, “Let him enter if he is Catholic.” 

And as soon as he entered, I recognized him as the same one I had seen in my dream. 

He said to me: “Lord, have courage. You will conquer and not be conquered. You are beloved by Our Lord, because He has looked with mercy upon you and upon your progeny after your days will finish until the 16th generation. Then your succession will diminish, but even thus diminished, He will again turn His eyes on it and take care of it. He commands me to tell you that when on this night you will hear the bell of my hermitage, in which I have lived amid the infidels for 66 years guarded by the favor of the Most High, you should leave your camp alone – without any attendant – because He wants to show you His great paternal love. 

“Prostrating myself on the ground with great reverence, I venerated the ambassador sent to me and the One Who sent him. And remaining in prayer, I awaited the bell. At the hour of the second swatch of the night I heard the bell. Then, armed with my sword and shield, I went forth out of the camp. Suddenly I saw on the right side of the sky in the East a resplendent light, which became more and more defined and grew larger as each hour passed. 

And keeping my eyes fixed on it, I suddenly saw in that ray the sign of the Cross, more resplendent than the Sun, and a great group of resplendent young men, whom I believed to be the Holy Angels. Seeing this vision, I set aside my sword and shield and fell to my knees; in tears I began to beg strength for my vassals. Without any fear, I said:

Don Afonso destroyed the Moors at the Battle of Orique as Our Lord had promised

“Why dost Thou appear to me, o Lord? Dost Thou perchance desire to increase the faith of one who has so much? It would be better most certainly for the enemies to see Thee so that they might believe in Thee rather than I who, since baptism, have known Thee as the true God, Son of the Virgin and the Eternal Father, as I know Thee now.” 

The Cross was of marvelous grandeur, rising from the earth almost 10 yards. The Lord, with a most affable tone of voice which my unworthy ears heard, said to me: 

“I do not appear to you in this way to increase your faith, but to strengthen your heart for this conflict, and to establish the beginning of your Reign on a firm rock. Confide, Afonso, because not only will you win this battle, but all the others where you fight against the enemies of My Cross. You will find your people joyful and fortified for the combat, and they will ask you to enter into battle with the title of King. Raise no difficulties, but readily concede to all they ask of you. 

“I am the Founder and Destroyer of kingdoms and empires, and I desire – in you and in your descendents – to found for Myself an Empire, by which means My name will be known in far-off nations. And so that your descendents know Who gave them the Kingdom, you should place on your coat of arms the price with which I redeemed the human race [the Cross and the five wounds] as well as that by which I was sold by the Jews [the 30 coins], and it will be for Me a holy Kingdom, pure in faith and loved by Me.”

The five wounds of Christ are symbolized by the five shields on Portugal’s coat of arms

As I heard these things, I prostrated myself on the ground and adored Him, saying, “By what merit, O Lord, dost Thou show me such great mercy? Place Thy benign gaze, then, on the successors that Thou hast promised me and safeguard the Portuguese people. And if it happens that Thou hast planned to send them some chastisement, let if fall on me … and free this people whom I love like an only son. 

Consenting to this, the Lord told me: “My mercy will never leave either you or your people; for through you, I have prepared great crops, and I have chosen them for my harvesters in the most remote lands.” 

Having said these words, He disappeared and I, full of confidence and in high spirits, turned back to the camp. 

And so that this might be known as the truth, I, Don Alfonso, swear by the Holy Gospels of Jesus Christ, upon which I place my hand. And, therefore, I command my descendents who will ever succeed me, that in honor of the Cross and the five wounds of Jesus Christ, they place on their shield the five shields in the shape of the cross, and on them, the 30 coins. And that they take as their seal the serpent of Moses, which is the figure of Christ. This should be the trophy [the coat of arms] of our Kingdom. And if someone should intend the contrary, let him be cursed by the Lord and tormented in Hell with Judas, the traitor. 

This letter was written in Coimbra on the 29th of October in the year of 1152, [Signed] I, King Don Afonso. 

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.

The Order was established in Portugal for the first time in Tarouca in 1144, former Benedictine monastery.

All Cistercian monasteries of the twelfth century changed their observance, only Alcobaça was founded again. During the twelfth century the most important foundations and numerous are the nuns: Lorvão, Cells, Arouca and St. Benedict of Castris, protected by princesses queens Teresa, Sancha and Mafalda, and Odivelas all dependent on Alcobaça. During this period there was in Portugal more powerful order, mainly due to the wealth of Alcobaça who was also the intellectual and artistic center of the Order.
Alcobaça Monastery Source
The reform efforts renewed at the beginning of the sixteenth century, during which lived Fr. João Claro and founded the women’s monasteries of Tavira and Portalegre and the College of the Holy Spirit in Coimbra and called Benedictines of Montserrat to reform Alcobaça. The reform failed to promote the separation of Alcobaça, favored by Cardinal Alfonso and Cardinal Henry. The Cistercian then showed great vitality founding several monasteries for monks: the College of Conception, and the Monastery of Exile in Lisbon and nuns, Mocambo in Lisbon and Tabosa gave great emphasis to historical studies, which were notable all authors of Monarchia Lusitana . In the eighteenth century come into decay and are extinct in 1834, followed by subsequent extinction of women’s monasteries.

The thought of Joachim of Fiore, one Calabrian Cistercian and millenarian philosopher, had a profound impact in Portugal, being in the cult of origin to the Holy Spirit, still very present in the Azores and in areas of Azorean expansion in the Americas, and influencing the thinking of Father Antonio Vieira (the Fifth Empire) and giving a philosophical basis to Sebastianism.

The existence of a watercourse or lake is a prerequisite for the establishment of this order. So it is not surprising that many of the Cistercian convents have names associated with water, such as Fontaine-Guérard, Fontenay, Fontenelle in France or in England Fountain.

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!

Soon after, reproductions of these constructions were built in many different places, to remind people of these sacred monuments.

By reconstructing temples that reminded people of the sacred places of Jerusalem, the faithful did not have the need to make sacred journeys to the Holy Land once these were seen as the Holy Sepulchre itself, which made complete sense in a Europe “dominated by faith”.

Being considered the moiment of Jesus Christ, the Holy Sepulchre was many times seen as the centre of the world during the XII and XIII centuries and sometimes during the XIV century.

The city of Tomar and its Charola are considered to be a reflexion of all this.

The Charola was the private oratory of the Knights, inside the fortress. Their typology is common Byzantine churches, which returns to integrate the Romanesque with the movement of the Crusades.

This type temple is based on a plant develops around a central space which, in Templar roundabout has the shape of an octagonal prism, or drum, which divides into sixteen paramento faces on the ambulatory, thereby closing the measurements of the building. Completed in 1190, the Rotunda had to turn to the east entrance. Were the works of Manuel I that established the south, the ship that expanded the church, extramural castle.

Already with the castle headquarters of Christ’s knights, Prince Henry, governor and the Order of the mayor from 1420 to 1460, will make the first changes in Templar roundabout in order to provide it with the space requirements to then unfold the liturgical functions of the branch of contemplative monks however he introduced the Militia of Christ. To do this it will open two large windows in the regalia of the two spans of ambulatory facing west, and then install there, pendorado the masonry a chorus of wood. At the same time is open four chapels in the ambulatory walls oriented NE, NO, SE and SO. In the remaining spans install altars surrounding the ambulatory.

With the expansion of the liturgical space by King Manuel I, the woodwork of the Infante are removed and the legs of the big windows are definitely killed to make room for the will of the triumphal arch that articulates the Templar space with the Manueline nave. The Rotunda then will function as the main chapel of the new convent church. Will be enriched with work of sacred art that included sculpture, painting on wood and on leather, mural painting and stucco. Particularly important was the discovery, today, of Manueline paintings dome of ambulatory, and had been covered with lime at a later time the earthquake of 1755, whose effects were felt in the building. Its restoration took place between 1987 and 2014.

The capitals of the columns are still Romanesque (end of 12th century) and depict vegetal and animal motifs, as well as a Daniel in the Lions’ Den scene. The style of the capitals shows the influence of artists working on the Cathedral of Coimbra, which was being built at the same time as the round church.

The interior of the round church is magnificently decorated with late gothic/manueline sculpture and paintings, added during a renovation sponsored by King Manuel I starting in 1499. The pillars of the central octagon and the walls of the ambulatory have polychrome statues of saints and angels under exuberant Gothic canopies, while the walls and ceilings of the ambulatory are painted with Gothic patterns and panels depicting the life of Christ. The paintings are attributed to the workshop of the court painter of Manuel I, the Portuguese Jorge Afonso, while the sculptured decoration is attributed to Flemish sculptor Olivier de Gand and the Spaniard Hernán Muñoz. A magnificent panel depicting themartyrdom of Saint Sebastian, by Portuguese painter Gregório Lopes, was painted for the Round Church and now hangs in the National Museum of Ancient Art in Lisbon.

During the administration of Prince Henry the Navigator (first half of the 15th century), a gothic nave was added to the round church of the Convent, thus turning the round church into a church apse. From 1510 onwards, King Manuel I ordered the rebuilding of the nave in the style of the time, a mix of late gothic and renaissance that would be called Manueline style by art historians. The architects involved were the Portuguese Diogo de Arruda and the Spaniard João de Castilho.

From the outside, the rectangular nave is covered by abundant Manueline motifs, including gargoyles, gothic pinnacles, statues and “ropes” that remind the ones used in the ships during the Age of Discovery, as well as the Cross of the Order of Christ and the emblem of King Manuel I, the armillary sphere. The so-called Window of the Chapter House (Janela do Capítulo), a huge window visible from the Saint Barbara Cloister in the Western façade of the nave, carries most of the typical Manueline motifs: the symbols of the Order of Christ and of Manuel I, and fantastic and unprecedented elaborations of ropes, corals and vegetal motifs. A human figure in the bottom of the window probably represents the designer, Diogo de Arruda. This window of the Convent constitutes one of the masterworks of Manueline decoration. Above is a smaller circular window and a balustrade. The façade is divided by two string courses of knotted ropes. The round angle buttresses are decorated with gigantic garters (alluding to investiture of Manuel I by the Order of the Garter by the English king Henry VII).

The entrance of the church is done through a magnificent lateral portal, also decorated with abundant Manueline motifs and statues of the Virgin with the Child as well as the Prophets of the Old Testament. This portal was designed by João de Castilho around 1530.

In the interior, the Manueline nave is connected to the Romanesque round church by a large arch. The nave is covered by beautiful ribbed vaulting and has a high choir that used to have Manueline choir stalls, unfortunately destroyed by invading Napoleonic troops in the early 19th century. Under the high choir there is a room that used to be the sacristy of the church.

Its window is the famous Chapter House Window already mentioned.

1320 Prince Pedro I is born

1325 King Dinis dies. King Afonso IV comes to the throne.

1336 Prince Pedro marries Constança, forced by his father

1336/55 Pedro and Inês love story and tragedy.

1357 King Afonso IV dies. Pedro I becomes King of Portugal. John, illegitimate son of King Pedro I, is born and taken under the care of the Order of Christ. The Order of Christ returns to Tomar and takes the former Templar castle and convent as its seat. This concludes the passage from the Templars to the Order of Christ, both in temporal and spiritual terms. Its now time to strengthen the Order of Aviz.

1364 When D. Martin de Avelar, Master of Aviz, dies, D. Nuno Frey de Andrade, Master of the Order of Christ and tutor of the young illegitimate Prince John, travels to Chamusca to meet King Pedro and request from him that he appoints his own son Master of Aviz. So, by appointment of King Pedro I, and the intervention of the Master of the Order of Christ, Prince John (of only 7 years of age) is designated Master of the Order of Aviz. This act consummates the move to take power on the part of the survivals of the Templars. Prince John’s tutorship is still held by the Master of Christ until he becomes of age, although the education in arms was undertaken in Aviz.

1367 King Pedro I dies. His son D. Fernando comes to the throne.

1383 King Fernando dies, leaving no male heir to the throne. For two years Portugal is in turmoil as the menace of losing independence is imminent with the King of Castille plotting to acquire the throne by marriage. A growing wave of support claims that John, Master of Aviz, should become the new King. This movement is supported and encouraged by the Order of Christ.

1385 John, son of Peter I, Master of the Order of Aviz, becomes king by popular acclamation, supported by the majority of the Portuguese noble houses and foreign kings, such as Richard II from England. This inaugurated the Dynasty called of Aviz. Under the leadership of Nuno Álvares Pereira, with the Order of Aviz and the Order of Christ on each side, the Portuguese King John I, Master of Aviz, defeats a far stronger army sent by King John I of Castille in a deadly battle in Aljubarrota, just a few miles off Alcobaça. In effect the Order of Aviz takes the throne.

1387 Forging an even stronger relationship with England, King John I of Portugal marries Filipa of Lancaster, sister of the soon to be King Henry the IV of England.

Part III – The Outcome

1400’s Led by Henry the Navigator, first from Sagres and then from the Convent of Christ in Tomar, the Portuguese start the great era of Discoveries.

This has been a short account of the influence of the Order of Christ and the Order of Aviz during the preparatory post-Templar 14th century in Portugal.

Both orders, Templars / Aviz, were the true backbone of the nation in Medieval times. That work was reinforced, as we have seen, after the Templars gave way to the Order of Christ. The fact that John, long before he would be in a position to be acclaimed as king, was placed under the care of the Order of Christ and later appointed Master of Aviz, openly protected by the Master of Christ and by another Order of Aviz hero, Nuno Alvares Pereira, clearly shows the importance of both Orders in Portuguese historical events. The protection of both Orders given to the rise of a new dynasty, the Dynasty of Aviz with King John I, is in many ways similar to the protection given by the Templars at least after 1126 to the first dynasty, the Dynasty of Bourgogne with Afonso Henriques. Different players, but the same pattern altogether.

Nuno Alvares Pereira, companion of John I, with the Cross of the Order of Aviz

However, there are reasons to believe that deeper secrets are hidden under the political relevance of the Order of Aviz and the Order of Christ / Templars along Portuguese and hidden European history. In an article published in 1982 Portuguese researcher and author Olimpio Gonçalves, a leading authority on this subject, makes a few valuable points. Those who look deeper into history and look for the signs of what lies beneath – the reasons for the apparent reason – understand that the Soul of the Lusitan nation, later embodied in Portugal, is “tutored” – so to speak – by 3 Orders, of which the red cross of the Order of the Temple (reformed by King Dinis into Order of Christ, maintaining the distinctive red colour and initiatic mandate…) and the green cross of the Order of Aviz, form the two visible pillars that stand vigilant guard to the orb inside, so beautifully expressed in the national flag adopted in 1910.

The cross of Saint Andrew ( X ), patron of Scotland, is a particularly important symbol to meditate upon here, since in the Templar context it is indissolubly connected with the greek cross of Christ ( + ), both valuable keys to understand the octagon and the eight sided Templar buildings (Tomar, Segovia, London, Paris, etc. – Mosque of Omar) and the so called occult Orders (such as the Priory of Sion or whatever real Order could have existed instead, playing the real role supposed for this 20th century fabrication). In this context, studying the Scottish survival of the Temple – with Skye, Rosslyn and Henry Sinclair, and ignoring Portugal with Sintra, Tomar and Henry the Navigator, is to simply look at the reflex of a broader light. Both lines are complementary and one would not survive without the other. I hope to be able to elaborate a bit more on this later.

The period between 1307 and 1385 is then characterized by preparatory work by the Order of Aviz and the Order of Christ which would both take centre stage in the political and scientific events that would follow soon. This preparatory work was undertaken in total discretion and very few documents prepare us for the flourishing years to come. The total eclipse of the Templar fleet and maps would give way to the Portuguese Discoveries, started early in the 1400’s, with vessels carrying the Cross of Christ to far away lands.

By 1307 Portugal – with extensive help of the Templars – had already a stable territory, most of which conquered to the Moors in the course of the Iberian Crusades. The south and west were nothing but a great opening to the vast and unknown Atlantic Ocean, full of legends and promises of hidden treasures. To the north it was divided from Galicia (a province of the Kingdom of Leon) by the Minho river and the border with the kings of Castille to the east was well defined since the times of the first Portuguese kings down to the south, where in the Algarve the fortress of Castro Marim (first seat of the Order of Christ) on the west bank of the Guadiana river, guarded the country from any foolish attempts that could have been made by the taifas (kingdoms) of the Moors of the Al-Andaluz. It would take the united Spanish kingdoms, under Isabel la Católica, almost 200 years more to conquer Granada in 1492 and close their side of the story as far as war with the Arabs was concerned.

Marriage between heirs to the throne of Aragon, Castille, Leon and Portugal were a common way to forge alliances and keep peace between Christian kings. However, there was always the danger that a king might die without male descent and another nation, by marriage, unite under a foreign country two territories. That had been the primary source of concern for the Portuguese crown since the early days. Falling under the crown of Castille would bring open war with the Moors again to a country that had been in relative peace for decades, in a favourable environment to see the flourishing of sciences, teaching, arts and commerce. Even Rome was far away on the horizon, many times neglecting this remote kingdom. The Portuguese kings had helped Castille in some battles against the Moors, especially when national borders might be at peril (Badajoz, Seville, Salado, etc.), but for the most part the time of the Reconquista was a thing from the past and smaller scale military warfare was only used in squabbles against neighbouring Christian Kingdoms. There were Arabs, Christians and Jews living side by side in the major Portuguese cities. Indeed some of the funding for the early Discoveries came from Jewish hands, showing how close the Order of Christ had come to that community. Unity with Castille would shake the Lusitan project from top to bottom and would throw a blanket of darkness and inquisitorial perusal into the practices, livelihood and teachings of a vast segment of the population. That “catastrophe” (interpreted by philosophers and poets as “catharsis”) only befell the nation centuries later, within a set of circumstances that are also of great interest for the students of Templar/Order of Christ history.

King Afonso IV

Amidst this prevailing fear, it was King Afonso IV’s primary concern to find a suitable bride for Prince Pedro I, future king. The choice fell on Princess D. Branca, granddaughter of King Sancho IV of Castille. However, by the age of 14 the Princess was very feeble and Prince Pedro absolutely refused to go ahead with this political marriage. His father then selected another suitable bride, D. Constança Manoel, daughter of one of the most noble lords of Castille, Leon and Aragon. However, Pedro rejected the bride as well, furious for not having been consulted on such a personal matter and not happy that she had already been rejected by King Alfonso XI of Castille before him. This choice wasn’t approved by Alfonso XI either. The intervention of the Master of the Order of Aviz was fundamental and, although Alfonso eventually accepted to have his former bride marry the Portuguese prince by means of a power of delegation, he held her prisoner in a tower in the city of Toro, preventing her from attending her own wedding. After a couple of years of active animosity, peace was finally signed in Seville and Constança travelled to join her husband in Coimbra. However Pedro was full of energy and passion for life, a great lover of hunting and not a very devoted husband. For a long time he didn’t pay attention to his duties as heir to the throne and led a life of pleasure, neglecting his wife that his heart never accepted.

One day his attention was captured by the fairest of the maids of his wife Constança. The ravishing beautiful Inês de Castro became the centre of his obsessive attention, causing scandal in the kingdom and severe misunderstandings with his father, King Afonso IV. It became such an important problem that Afonso IV was forced to retire Inês de Castro to a lonely and distant castle in the far away inaccessible lands of the Portuguese border. But if he thought that this would be enough to turn off his son’s love flame, he was in for a surprise. Pedro and Inês started to correspond with the help of intermediaries that would bring back and forth their love pledges and passionate writings. Pedro, like his grandfather King Dinis was a bit of a poet himself. It became a case of an impossible love. And the more impossible and distant, the more maddening and absorbing it got to restless Pedro. His duty to the nation – to have offspring – was being fulfilled with Constança, but his heart was fully united with Inês and the physical separation was unbearable.

In 1354 Constança died after having given birth to Prince Fernando (later to become King after his father, closing the Bourgogne Dynasty with his early death with no male heir). To great astonishment of the nation and repudiation of King Afonso IV, Pedro sees himself as a free man now and releases Inês from her exile, bringing her to openly live with him in an adulterous relationship, without marriage, establishing themselves first away from the agitated life of the court, but shortly after in the very city of Coimbra.

Pedro and Inês de Castro

The majority of Portuguese lords are not happy with the situation. Inês has two Spanish brothers that Pedro, to spite his enemies and his father, supports and advances politically. One of them even makes it as Constable of the Kingdom and Alcaide-Mor of Lisbon. As their love develops and the influence of the Spanish entourage of Inês grows, so their enemies become more and more suspicious and decide to warn King Afonso IV that the independence of the nation is at peril if nothing is done, since being followed in throne by his son Pedro, he could marry Inês, have offspring and then there would be little to prevent a full scale invasion from the Spanish kingdoms. To complicate matters even further, the Black Plague enters in Portugal and causes a wave of death of an unprecedented scale, causing famine and economical and political crisis. Many rush to condemn adulterous Inês as the cause of such misfortune and see the stubbornness of the Prince that didn’t want to lead the life of a heir to the throne with the nation’s best interests in mind, following instead his foolish passion, punished by Providence with the Plague.

Early in 1355 King Afonso IV is a divided man. He’s torn between reasons of state and his love as a father. Pedro declines all of his father’s suggestions of suitable brides to marry. Advisers of the King say that the reason might be that Pedro married Inês in secret. The only way out of the problem, they say, is to suppress Inês de Castro. His advisers eventually win and the King gives permission that the crime be carried out. Taking advantage of the fact that Pedro was an avid hunter, they prepare a trap to kill Inês while Pedro is away. It is said that the day Pedro was leaving for his hunting trip a great black dog leapt from amidst his dog pack and viciously run to attack Inês with fearful eyes of fire. The prince’s men were petrified and could not react, but Pedro, with one stroke of his sword decapitated the horrible dog whose blood stained fair Inês’s dress. Everyone became gloomy and the sense that grave things were close by was unmistakable. However Pedro decided to hold his departure no longer and bids a last goodbye to Inês.

Soon after Pedro leaves, King Afonso’s arrives with his men. Inês feels the danger and gathers her daughter and two sons and runs to the gardens. It’s in front of the Fonte das Lágrimas (Teardrop Fountain) that Inês pleads for the life of her children and says in her defence that her only sin is the undying love for Pedro. The King is inclined to use clemency, but three lords that were with him persuade the monarch that they should not back away from the mission. Shaken in his heart, Afonso spares the children, but allows for the lords to mercilessly behead Inês de Castro. To this day the Fountain spring is tainted in red.

Pedro was far away, hunting in the woods, in blissful ignorance of the tragedy.

Fernão Lopes, royal registrar, says about D. Pedro: “The hand of one that harms writes in sand, but the one who is harmed carves in marble and such was the case with D. Pedro.”

In Templar Chronicles IV – Alcobaça Part 3 we will finish the Pedro and Inês tragedy, we will understand why Pedro was known as “The Justice Bearer”, we will tell you about his relentless revenge and will look closely to their tombs since then in the Monastery of Alcobaça, face to face, each in one arm of the transept of the beautiful Cistercian church, so that when the Final Judgement comes and they are resurrected, each other will be the first person that each lover will see. To the end of the world…

To finalize for today, here is a chart detailing how the Order of the Temple survived as Order of Christ in Portugal under the protection of the Royal House and of the Order of Aviz, and how both Orders stood as two of the three secret pillars acting behind the courtains of history that lead to the Age of Discoveries with Prince Henry the Navigator, stepping in, in key moments.

Bibliography
Gonçalves, Olímpio, Revista Graal, Comunidade Portuguesa de Eubiose, 1982
Lopes, Fernão, “Chronica Delrey Dom Pedro deste nome o primeiro e dos Reys de Portugal o oytavo”, edição do Padre José Pereira Bayam, Lisboa 1735
Monteverde, Amilio Achiles, “Resumo da Historia de Portugal”, Lisbo

a 1844
Pina, Ruy de; “Chronica de Elrey Dom Afonso o Quarto”, Lisbon 1653

Copywrite Luis de Matos 2007: Text and Photos by Luís de Matos 2007. Chart by Luis de Matos 2007

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. “