The House of Queens of Portugal (1640-1754)

Originating in medieval times, the House of Queens of Portugal reached its institutional fullness between 1640 and 1754, under the rule of the royal consorts who oversaw it during that chronological period. Considering this institution as a social configuration that distributed, legitimized and reproduced forms of political domination - powers and institutions -, in this work we reconstruct the networks of kinship, service and interdependence that were established between the court of the wives of the Portuguese kings, the central administrative institutions - the Council of Queens - and the local representatives of this manorial patrimony. From this interpenetration of converging but often competing powers, the Bragança dynasty was able to capitalize on human resources, political gains and social prestige. In this process, it counted on the support of the House of Queens, which was itself prodigious in protecting and defending goods, people and territories.