The establishment of the “parchment nobility”
Francisco de Vasconcelos
Instituto Português de Heráldica
The titles of the Portuguese gentry wich remained until the Republic (1910) – gentlemen
of the royal household, gentlemen of coat of arms and “dom” – were created and essencially
regulated during the great discoveries age, at the time of the establishment of the state
centralism.
Then started the dispute between the Time and the Blood as the origin of the nobility.
This dispute was overpowered by the Crown wich conquered the monopoly of the power to
ennoble new families.
Then, also, begun the grant of letters patents and royal warrants of ennoblement wich
originated the “parchment nobility” (named “briefadel” in Germany) and the invasion of the
aristocratic world by the state law and the central authorities.
Then were published the first nobility treaties. Lords and gentry, hereditary or lifelong
nobility – concepts outlined in the beginning of the Modern Age that remained actual until the
XX century.The Crown appropriated of the Heraldry and the monopoly of bestow coat of
arms.Then appeared the first state laws about heraldry, the first coat of armas charts, and the
first armorials.
Roger Machado, a Portuguese name on the lauching (1500) of the famous british College
of Arms.
In Portugal, the nobility official service was created then, and the use of the “brica”
(canton) expanded, becoming the most typical element of the Portuguese heraldry.
King Dom Manuel I ordered to paint the coat of arms of the main families in the ceiling
of the Sintra palace.
The Crown appropriated also the title of gentleman, namely by promoting the increasing
idea that the true gentleman were those who have the title of “gentleman of the royal
household”.
The nobility titles not acquired by letters patent or royal warrant become rare. The
complicated system of the “gentlemen of the royal household” in Portugal and its equivalents
abroad.
At the same time the Crwon also appropriated the title of “dom”, wich was rare in the
past but was regulated in the XV-XVI centurys.
The “dom” in Portugal, Spain and Italy. The “dona” (for women) in Portugal.
What was the nobility of the poet Luís de Camões (after one century of debate on the
subject).
A few significant cases of families of the peninsular gentry during the great navigations
epoch.
Keywords: gentleman; coat of arms; Camões and “brica” (canton).