Institute for Medieval Studies

Session	726
Title	An Ever-Growing Relationship: Diplomatic Practice, Increase of Circulation, and Fluidity of Borders - The Portuguese Medieval Example
Date/Time	Tuesday 5 July 2022: 14.15-15.45
Sponsor	Instituto de Estudos Medievais (IEM), Universidade Nova de Lisboa
Organiser	Paulo Esmeraldo Catarino Lopes, Instituto de Estudos Medievais (IEM), Universidade Nova de Lisboa
Moderator/Chair	Maria João Branco, Instituto de Estudos Medievais (IEM), Universidade Nova de Lisboa
Paper 726-a	Diplomatic Travel as a Decisive Instrument for Legitimising and Affirming the Second Portuguese Royal Dynasty (Avis): The Model Case of the Journey of the Count of Ourem to the Council of Basel (Language: English) Paulo Esmeraldo Catarino Lopes, Instituto de Estudos Medievais (IEM), Universidade Nova de Lisboa Index Terms: Mentalities; Politics and Diplomacy
Paper 726-b	Crossing the Borders of Negotiation: Diplomatic Travel between Portugal and Aragon, 1300-1304 (Language: English) Diana Martins, Instituto de Estudos Medievais (IEM), Universidade Nova de Lisboa Index Terms: Mentalities; Politics and Diplomacy
Paper 726-c	Teasing out the Fringes: Territory and Expansion in Late Medieval Portugal (Language: English) Tiago Viúla de Faria, Instituto de Estudos Medievais (IEM), Universidade Nova de Lisboa Index Terms: Mentalities; Politics and Diplomacy
Abstract	The relationship between border, diplomatic relations, and travel practice was close throughout the late Middle Ages. However, in the case of the kingdom of Portugal it gained exceptional contours as the medieval period drew to a close, contributing very positively to demonstrate that the society of that time was not stagnant or closed on itself. Rather, it witnessed the intense circulation of people, objects, models, and ideas, particularly at the level of the political framework and international relations, outside and within Christianity. Indeed, the 14th and 15th Centuries represented for this peripheral kingdom a new refocusing on the concept of the frontier, largely due to the role that diplomacy and travel enjoyed among rulers there since.