This article focuses on the traditions of the nobility in Portugal during the rule of the Bragança-dynasty (1640 to 1910). In particular, the article investigates to what extent these traditions have survived since Portugal became a republic in 1910.
The Headship of the House of Bragança is claimed by the Duke of Bragança and the Duke of Loulé, who share a common ancestor: king John VI of Portugal (1767-1826). This issue is addressed in my article Lines of succession to the former Portuguese throne. The current article only addresses the honours that are issued by the Duke of Bragança.
Fidalguia
The upper social class in fifteenth-century Portugal was the fidalguia (nobility), corresponding perhaps to one percent of the population. The ancient Portuguese nobility was defined by the medieval lineages of noblemen (fidalgos or in Spanish: hidalgos). An early definition of this term can be found in the Book of Laws that was issued by King Alfonso X of Leon and Castile in the mid-thirteenth century (Ley 3ª, Título XXI, Partida 2ª de las Siete Partidas del Rey Alfonso X el Sabio). Hidalguía (Portuguese: fidalguia) is the nobility that comes to men through their lineage:
…es nobleza que viene a los hombres por linaje, y por ello deben mucho guardar los que tienen derecho en ella, que no la dañen ni la mengüen, y pues que el linaje hace que la tengan los hombres así como herencia, no debe querer el hidalgo que él haya de ser de tan mala ventura que lo que en los otros se comenzó y heredaron, mengüe o se acabe en él, y esto sería cuando él menguase en lo que los otros acrecentaron, casando con villana o el villano con hijodalgo. Pero la mayor parte de la hidalguía ganan los hombres por la honra de los padres, pues cuando la madre sea villana y el padre hijodalgo, hijodalgo es el hijo que de ellos naciere, y por hidalgo se puede contar, mas no por noble, mas si naciere de hijadalga y de villano, no tuvieron por derecho que fuese contado por hijodalgo.
…it is nobility what comes to men by lineage, and for this reason those who have a right to it should be very careful not to damage or diminish it, and since lineage causes men to have it as an inheritance, the nobleman should not wish that he should be so unfortunate that what was begun and inherited in others should diminish or end in him, and this would be when he diminishes in what others have increased, by marrying a woman-villain or a villain despite a nobleman. But the greater part of nobility is gained by men through the honour of their parents, for when the mother is a villain and the father is a nobleman (Fidalgo), nobleman (Fidalgo) is the son born from them, and he can be counted as fidalgo but not as noble, but if he is born of a son of a noblewoman (Fidalga) and of a villain, he has no right to be counted as nobleman (hijodalgo).
Libro de las Siete Partidas (Book of Laws), P. II, Tít. XXI, l. III (modernized spelling).
The lineages of the ancient Portuguese nobility are recorded in the unique work of Pedro Alfonso de Portugal, 3º Conde de Barcelos (before 1289 – 1350), an illegitimate son of King Denis of Portugal and Grácia Frois: Livro de Linhagens do Conde D. Pedro; Quintilhas aos brasões de armas das famílias de Portugal / João Rodrigues de Sá e Meneses [1601-1700]. The original nobility was supplemented by persons who were elevated to the noble status by the monarch, based on their personal achievements and their services rendered to the House of Bragança. The structure of the Portuguese nobility is complex. Luiz da Silva Pereira Oliveira distinguishes eight different qualities of noblemen: (i) noblemen of a well-known manor; (ii) noblemen by lineage; (iii) noblemen listed in the Livros d’El Rei (the King’s Books); (iv) noblemen created by the special grace of the King, which are different from those listed in the Livros d’El Rei; (v) notable noblemen; (vi) noblemen with great estates, or of great quality; (vii) principle noblemen; (viii) noblemen entitled to coats of arms (see: Luiz da Silva Pereira. Privilégios da Nobreza, e Fidalguia de Portugal. Lisboa – Na oficina de João Rodrigues Neves, 1806, p. 224.). However, there were many more kinds of nobility at the time of the monarchy and one person could have several qualities.
Rule of the House of Bragança
During the turbulent years between 1640 and 1910, the House of Bragança ruled as kings and queens over Portugal. The family played a key role in establishing Portuguese independence from its powerful Spanish neighbors and saved Portugal from total destruction by the vast armies of Napoleon. The Braganças also ruled over the huge empire of Brazil from 1822 to 1889 and created a unified nation, thus preventing the country from splitting into small warring states (see: Professor Malyn Newitt: 2019).
When Portugal abolished the monarchy in 1910, it also abolished the nations’s prosperity. As a monarchist, I agree with Dom Duarte Pio, Duke of Bragança, when he states:
Kings are always better heads of state than presidents. We rule for life and don’t represent particular interest groups. Our influence as kings is evident. People normally don’t know who the president of Italy is but everyone knows the name of the princes of Monaco and Liechtenstein, two of Europe’s smallest nations.
Reuters Lifestyle, 9 July 2007.
Dom Duarte has proven the correctness of his statements. In 1997, he suggested to the Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Habibie to hold a referendum on the independence of East Timor. After Habibie became president of Indonesia in 1999, a referendum was held that resulted in the independence of East Timor. As a token of gratitude, president Ramos-Horta conferred the Timorese citizenship upon Duarte Pio and awarded him the Grand Collar of the Order of Timor-Leste.
Traditions at the Bragança-court
The Bragança-court was a closed institution with a very stable inner circle. At the Court, the family traditions and values of the Portuguese aristocracy played a crucial role in keeping up its cultural identity. Not living in accordance with these traditions and values, lead to revoking of an individual’s status and that of his descendants:
(…) the central core of family values, expressed in the discipline of the aristocratic house, an essential secular aspect of the fidalgo “ethos”, was maintained until the end of the eighteenth century. This last aspect cannot be dissociated from the spread of culture or the forms used for the construction of nobiliary identities in Portugal in the period of the dynasty of Bragança, which began with the rebellion of 1640. Contrary to the well-known models based on Norbert Elias and the French case, but which has been questioned by the historiography (cf. especially Duindam 1995, Adamson 1999), the extremely closed society of the court of the new Portuguese dynasty only promoted the spread of a cosmopolitan culture within its circles in a very limited fashion. Even in this select and restricted universe, it was the traditional standards of family behaviour, linked to the institution of entailed estates, which continued to prevail.
Monteiro, Nuno Gonçalo – 17th and 18th century Portuguese Nobilities in the european context: a historiographical overview. E-journal of Portuguese History. Vol. 1, Nº 1 (2003), pp. 12.
Nobility at the Court
In ancient times, Portugal had no tradition of titled nobility. The nobility consisted mainly of ricos homens (rich men), infanções (infants) and cavaleiros (horsemen). Between the 13th and 15th centuries, the ricos homens formed the highest category within the Portuguese nobility. In former Portuguese colonies, like the Moluccan Islands, the Malay translation, Orang Kaya (=rich man), of Rico homem is still used to designate members of the regional nobility (see: Ellen, 1986). The next category was formed by the Infanções, and finally the Cavaleiros. From the 14th century onward, the different categories of nobility and the equivalent titles began to formalize under royal authority (António Manuel Hespanha, A Nobreza nos Tratados Jurídicos dos Séculos XVI a XVIII; Vol. Nobreza e Aristocracia, Edição Cosmos, Lisboa). The 1806 monumental work Privilegios da nobreza, e fidalguia de Portugal, by magistrate (Almanach do anno de 1805, Lisboa, Impressão Regia, 1805, p. 414) Dr. Luiz da Silva Pereira Oliveira, analyzes and explains the system of the Portuguese nobility. His work shows how complex the Portuguese system is.
In 1572, King Sebastião (1554 – disappeared in 1578) ordered the reform of the status of the noblemen who resided at his Court. Since 1572, the hierarchical foro (=privilege)-system listed 12 degrees of distinction (Olival 2002, p. 80). Only the first three were associated with noble birth (fidalguia): noble knight (fidalgo cavaleiro); noble squire (fidalgo escudeiro) and page (moço fidalgo):
(…) deu ele regimento ao mordomo mor, datado de três de Janeiro de 1572, e nele ordenou que os Cavaleiros Fidalgos fossem em diante nomeados Fidalgos Cavaleiros, e que os escudeiros Fidalgos passassem à denominação de Fidalgos escudeiros; e não havendo nisto mais diferença que a de antepor o vocábulo Fidalgo ao de Cavaleiro, ou de escudeiro, há contudo hoje uma notável distinção e desigualdade entre uns e outros, e vem a ser: que o Fidalgo Escudeiro, ou Cavaleiro, é verdadeiro Fidalgo, e o Escudeiro, ou Cavaleiro Fidalgo não o é ell e fica diferindo tanto um do outro, como o ouro do dourado.
(… ) he gave a regulation to the chief steward [of the royal house], dated three January 1572, and in it he ordered that the Knights Nobleman were henceforth called Noble Knights, and that the Squires Nobleman passed to the denomination of Noble Squires; and there is no more difference than putting the word Noble before the word Knight, or Squire, there is however today a notable distinction and inequality between one and the other, which is: that the Noble Squire, or Knight, is a true Nobleman, and the Squire, or Knight Nobleman is not and is different so much one from the other, as gold from golden.
Luís da Silva Pereira Oliveira, Privilégios da nobreza e idalguia de Portugal (1806), pp. 221-222.
After the abolition of ricos homens, the King introduced the titles of infanções, cavaleiros and escudeiros. The grandees (Grand noble) were (among others) the hereditary dukes and counts. Bishops and Cardinal-abbots were also given the status of grandee by elevation or inheritance. Other titles did not include the dignity of grandee. Titles were created “de juro e herdade” (forever), for two or even three generations, through the male or female line, or “em sua vida” (for life). Extinguished titles reverted to the Crown. Fidalgos da Casa Real were created by the House of Bragança (Fidalgo da Casa de Bragança) already before the family became the rulers of Portugal. Subsequently, these titles were created by the Crown. Transmission was only possible through the male line.
The rare titles of Senhor (=Lord, for example Senhor do Caniço in the Ornelas family), Dom, or lesser titles as Cidadão do Porto, were granted by royal warrant. In modern times, the Conselheiro de Sua Magestade Fidelíssima (king’s counsel) was a title granted for life. Other titles, such as Fidalgo de cota de armas por sucessão (armigerous nobleman) or mercê nova (newly created nobleman) were granted by the King. The recipient of such titles became a nobleman. During the monarchical period, it was forbidden to carry a coat of arms without authorisation. The Instituto da Nobreza de Portugal still registers coats of arms, which are inherited through male or female succession, according to the rules in force at the time of Dom Manuel II, the last king of Portugal (source: Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. António da Costa de Albuquerque de Sousa Lara). The website of the Instituto da Nobreza de Portugal provides a good an complete overview of the structure of the complex Portuguese nobiliary system.
Fidalgo was a right that was inherited through birth. The Kings had no power over this dignity. The king could neither abolish nor create a Fidalgo. Therefore, it is said: the King can create a noble person but not create a Fidalgo (source: Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. António da Costa de Albuquerque de Sousa Lara).
The aforementioned renewed structure of the Fidalgos da Casa Real was the inspiration for establishing the institution of the Hereditary Dames and Knights of the Royal House of Portugal by the Duke de Bragança.
Legal aspects
The current Portuguese government correctly states that monarchs in exile do not lose their dynastic rights:
Mesmo em exílio, a sucessão real mantém-se, com todos os privilégios, estilos e honras que cabem ao chefe da Casa Real não reinante.
Even in exile, the royal succession is maintained, with all the privileges, styles and honours befitting the Head of the non-reigning Royal House.
Legal Assessment of the Department of Legal Affairs of the Portuguese Foreign Office, dated 17 April 2006.
The government has stated that Dom Duarte is the legal successor to the Headship of the Royal House of Portugal, although a second line of succession exists:
De acordo com aquele direito costumeiro, a sucessão na chefia da Casa Real Portuguesa deu-se do seguinte modo:
• D. Pedro IV de Portugal, I do Brasil, irmão de D. Miguel, abdicou do Trono Português.
• D. Maria II, seguinte na linha de sucessão, assumiu o trono.
• A descendência de D. Maria II manteve o Trono até 1910, aquando da Implantação da República.
• D. Manuel II, último Rei de Portugal, morreu no exílio, sem descendentes, nem irmãos legítimos.• A linha colateral mais próxima, mantendo a nacionalidade portuguesa, de acordo com as normas sucessórias era a linha que advinha de D. Miguel, irmão de D. Pedro IV. Desse modo, o filho de D. Miguel, Miguel Maria de Assis Januário tornou-se legitimamente o novo chefe da Casa Real de Bragança por sucessão mortis causa de D. Manuel II.
• Ainda no exílio, sucedeu a D. Miguel [agora, de Bragança], seu único filho varão D. Duarte Nuno de Bragança e a este o actual chefe da Casa Real, D.Duarte Pio de Bragança.
• Em 1950, por Lei da Assembleia Nacional, a Família Real portuguesa foi autorizada a retornar.
According to that customary law, the succession to the Head of the Portuguese Royal House took place as follows:
• Dom Pedro IV of Portugal, I of Brazil, brother of Dom Miguel, abdicated the Portuguese Throne.
• Maria II, the next in line, assumed the throne.
• The descendants of Maria II retained the throne until 1910, when the Republic was established.
• Manuel II, the last King of Portugal, died in exile, without descendants or legitimate brothers.
• The closest collateral line, maintaining Portuguese nationality, according to the rules of succession was the line that came from Miguel, brother of Pedro IV. Miguel’s son Miguel Maria de Assis Januário legitimately became the new Head of the Royal House of Braganza by succession upon the death of Manuel II.
• Miguel was succeeded in exile by his only son, Duarte Nuno de Bragança, and by the current Head of the Royal House, Duarte Pio de Bragança.
• In 1950, by Law of the National Assembly, the Portuguese Royal Family was allowed to return home.
Legal Assessment of the Department of Legal Affairs of the Portuguese Foreign Office, dated 17 April 2006.
The government also confirmed that, based on consuetude, Dom Duarte has the prerogative to bestow titles and honours, although these are not recognised by the Portuguese state:
Do mesmo modo, a mestria das ordens nobiliárquicas e honoríficas monárquicas compete ao legítimo sucessor dos Reis de Portugal, o Duque de Bragança. Apenas a ele compete conferir foros de nobreza e títulos honoríficos. Deve, porém, ressalvar-se que, para efeitos de documentação oficial, apenas são reconhecidos pelo Estado os foros e títulos conferidos antes de 5 de Outubro de 1910 e desde que o direito ao seu uso seja devidamente provado, nos termos do Decreto n.º 10537, de 12 de Fevereiro de 1925.
In the same way, the Duke of Bragança, the legitimate successor to the kings of Portugal, has the authority to confer noble ranks and honorary titles. He alone has the authority to confer nobility and honorary titles. It should, however, be noted that, for the purposes of official documentation, only those conferred prior to 5th October 1910 and provided that the right to use them is duly proven, under the terms of Decree no. 10537 of 12th February 1925, are recognised by the State.
Legal Assessment of the Department of Legal Affairs of the Portuguese Foreign Office, dated 17 April 2006.
Only the titles of nobility granted by a reigning monarch before 5 October 1910 are given legal recognition and protection by public law, because they are part of a person’s name:
33. Salienta Menezes Cordeiro que ” o nome ou nome civil serve a individualização das pessoas mas, além dele, a sociedade reconhece fórmulas complementares de designação, que completam essa individualização” (“Títulos Nobiliárquicos e Registo Civil: a Inconstitucionalidade da Reforma de 2007″,R.O.A., Ano 69, 2009, pág. 19-57). Assim, a lei concede proteção ao pseudónimo ( artigo 74.º do Código Civil) e, se assim sucede, por maioria de razão há de ser concedida proteção ao título nobiliárquico a que a pessoa legitimamente tenha direito, tratado como complemento do nome que pode anteceder o nome do comerciante individual (artigo 38.º/3 do Regime do Registo Nacional das Pessoas Coletivas aprovado pelo Decreto-Lei n.º 129/98, de 13 de maio). No entender do mencionado Professor os títulos nobiliárquicos constituem figuras equiparadas ao nome – ou, no dizer de Carvalho Fernandes, ” figuras afins do nome civil” (Teoria Geral do Direito Civil, Lex, 1995, Vol I, 2.ª edição, pág. 156) – que ” de acordo com a posição hoje pacífica […] é apresentado como um direito de personalidade” (loc. cit., pág. 54).
Menezes Cordeiro points out that “the name or civil name serves to individualise persons but, in addition to this, society recognises complementary designation forms, which complete this individualisation” (“Titles of Property and Civil Registration: the Unconstitutionality of the 2007 Reform”, R.O.A., Year 69, 2009, pp. 19-57). Thus, the law grants protection to the pseudonym (article 74 of the Civil Code) and, if this is the case, there is even more reason to grant protection to the title of nobility to which the person is legitimately entitled, treated as a complement to the name that may precede the name of the individual trader (article 38/3 of the Regime of the National Register of Companies approved by Decree-Law no. 129/98 of 13 May). According to the referred Professor the titles of nobility are equivalent to the name – or, in the words of Carvalho Fernandes, “figures similar to the civil name” (General Theory of Civil Law, Lex, 1995, Vol I, 2nd edition, page 156) – which “according to the current position of undisturbed us […] is presented as a personality right” (loc. cit., page 54).
Supremo Tribunal de Justiça, judgment of 15 May 2014, no. 150/13.3YHLSB.L1.S1.
Therefore, the fons honorum of Dom Duarte is embedded in the Portuguese legal system. This includes the right to bestow the honours of Hereditary Dames/Knights of the Royal House of Portugal.
The concept of Hereditary Dames/Knights of the Royal House of Portugal includes, among others, explanations, descriptions, medals, drawings, ceremonies and diplomas. It is protected by intellectual property law because it concerns an original work of literature and art, in accordance with the Berne Convention and the Portuguese Decreto-Lei n. 334/97, de 27 de Novembro de 1997. The latter is the implementation of the Council Directive 93/98/EEC of 29 October 1993 harmonising the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights.
Cultural preservation: the Hereditary Knight of the Royal House of Portugal
In monarchical Portugal, services rendered to the Crown were essential in ensuring social achievement (Olival 2002, p. 80). In line with this tradition, the Royal House of Portugal still bestows awards to loyal contributors to charitable activities of the Royal House.
Today such a privilege is usually only granted upon those in proven, continued, dedicated service to the Portuguese Royal House who normally have already been awarded the highest ranks of Knighthood in one of the Dynastic Orders or else as a gift granted directly from the Duke of Bragança Motu Proprio in recognition of extraordinary services rendered.
(…)
Donations received from the Knights and Dames of the Portuguese Royal House help the Royal Charities actively supporting organizations operating in impoverished locations in Portugal and also in the Diocesan Missions of former Portuguese Oversea Territories such as São Tomé e Príncipe, Angola, Mozambique and East Timor. They also help support various cultural and historic projects in Portugal.
Honorary consul of Brazil in Fatima Dr. phil. h.c. Carlos Evaristo, The fons honorum, prerogatives and privileges of the Portuguese House of Bragança (manuscript, s/d)
The designations of Hereditary Knight of the Royal House of Portugal and Hereditary Dame of the Royal House of Portugal, issued by the current Duke of Bragança, are part of the aforementioned Foros of the Royal House of Bragança. These honours do not fit into any of the categories of the post-1572 (after the reform) nobiliary classes, because the legal structures in which the privileges were embedded at the time have been abolished by the Republic of Portugal. However, they are modern versions of a much more ancient institution of the House of Braganca: Fidalgos da Casa de Bragança and Fidalgos da Casa Real. An example is Fernão de Souza, mayor of Montalegre, in Trás-os-Montes, born around 1421, who in 1451 was created nobleman of the House of the Duke of Bragança and in 1473 of the Royal House of Aviz (mentioned with other examples in: Manuel Abranches de Soveral, Machado de Vila Pouca de Aguiar. Ascendências e parentescos da Casa do Couto d’Além, em Soutelo de Aguiar, Porto 2000. Ed. MASmedia. ISNB 972-97430-2-9. DL 152876/00. 202 pp. Integra uma 2ª parte sobre os Borges da Mesquita, de Atei). Another example is D. Gomes de Melo (c. 1580-1645), who was a nobleman of the House of Bragança, Portuguese Ambassador in Holland and England, and Commander of the Order of Christ (mentioned with other examples in: Susana Varela Flow, D. Francisco de Melo Manuel da Câmara: biografia, património, estatuto social e fidelidades (1626-1678), Análise Social, 215, l (2.º), 2015 ISSN online 2182-2999).
This privileged class was created by the House of Bragança (Fidalgo da Casa de Bragança) already before the family became the rulers of Portugal (pre-1640). During the Bragança-monarchy, Fidalgos da Casa Real belonged to a more prominent form of nobility than the ‘normal’ nobility. They were registered in the “Livros d’el-Rei“, like, for example, Manoel Rodrigues da Costa, in the mid-seventeenth century one of the richest and most authoritative noblemen of the kingdom (Caso n.º 2 N R 67 – Manuel Rodrigues da Costa Pr. n.º 9948 L – 11/11/1658-27/6/1672 A d F de 21-6-1671; cited in: Saraiva, A. J., Salomon, H. P., & D., S. I. S. (2001). The Marrano factory. The Portuguese inquisition and its new Christians, 1536-1765. Brill, p. 66). As the principal nobility of the realm, Fidalgos da Casa Real also had the capacity to obtain charters of coats of arms:
Segundo o direito heráldico português, as cartas de brasão de armas não estavam ao alcance de todos os nobres. Somente mereciam a distinção os fidalgos hierarquicamente superiores ao fidalgo de cota de armas. Ou seja, somente poderiam pleitear a distinção os fidalgos de grande qualidade, fidalgos de solar, fidalgos de linhagem, fidalgos notáveis e fidalgos assentados nos livros d’El Rei, denominados “fidalgos principais” ou “nobreza principal do reino”. Nesse grupo seleto ainda estavam os fidalgos do conselho, fidalgos cavaleiros, fidalgos escudeiros, fidalgos capelães e moços fidalgos. Embora pudessem ter brasões, os fidalgos de cotas de armas se localizavam na segunda ordem, onde estavam os nobres de linhagem (com quatro avós nobres), os cavaleiros fidalgos, desembargadores de El Rei, os cavaleiros das Ordens Militares, as pessoas denominadas por dom. Por fim, a terceira ordem se compunha de “pessoas de nobreza ordinária”, como os simples letrados, pessoas de grau de letras, professores régios de gramática latina e grega, de retórica e os cavaleiros, escudeiros e homens bons.
According to Portuguese heraldic law, charters of coats of arms were not attainable by all nobles, rather those fidalgos who were hierarchically superior to the fidalgo of arms. In other words, only high status fidalgos could ask for the distinction, namely the fidalgos de solar (fidalgos who were the direct successor of an old noble house), fidalgos by lineage, ‘notable fidalgos,’ and fidalgos entered in the King’s Books, who were called the ‘principal fidalgos‘ or the ‘principal nobility of the kingdom.’ Also included in this select group were the fidalgos of the council, fidalgos cavaleiros, fidalgos escudeiros, fidalgos capelães (chaplains) and moço fidalgo. Although they could have coats of arms, the fidalgos of arms were of the second rank, along with nobles by lineage (with four grandparent nobles), cavaleiros fidalgos, the judges of the High Courts, the knights of the Military Orders, and those granted the title of Dom. Finally, the third order was composed of ‘people of ordinary nobility,’ such as those who were educated, people with degrees, royal professors of Latin and Greek grammar and rhetoric, squires, and ‘homens bons’ (city councilmen)
R. Raminelli, Justifing nobilities. Old and new colonial elites 1750-1807. In: História (São Paulo) v.35, e97, 2016 ISSN 1980-4369, p. 4; Marquês de São Payo. Do direito heráldico português. Lisboa: Centro Tip. Colonial, 1927, pp. 12-13.
In order to be registered in the Livros d’el-Rei, Fidalgos da Casa Real had to provide four documents: (i) their baptism certificate, (ii) their parents’ marriage certificate, (iii) a certificate proving that their father or grandfather already had this status and (iv) a sworn attestation by two nobles, proving the nobleman’s identity, birthplace and residence, his filiation and that of his parents and grandparents, and finally that his father or grandfather was already a Fidalgo da Casa Real (Luís da Silva PereiraOliveira, Privilegios da Nobreza, e Fidalguia de Portugal, Lisbon, 1806, pp. 229-230).
The designations of Hereditary Knight of the Royal House of Portugal and Hereditary Dame of the Royal House of Portugal do not enjoy state recognition and bestow no privileges as in ancient times, but nonetheless, remain monuments of Portugal’s monarchical history and part of its rich cultural heritage. The current Portuguese government confirmed that, based on custom and tradition, Dom Duarte still has the prerogative to bestow titles and honours, although these are not recognised by the Portuguese state. Therefore, the fons honorum that creates Hereditary Knights of the Royal House of Portugal, is recognized by the Portuguese government. This places the modern designation Hereditary Knight/Dame of the Royal House of Portugal in a unique position. Their character and legal status are more or less comparable to the Dutch orders awarded for services rendered to the Dutch Royal House. However, the Portuguese variant implies that the holder of the award also belongs to the traditional, hereditary nobility of the Royal House of Bragança.
Conclusions
Dom Duarte’s role in continuing the cultural and historical heritage, passed on to him by his ancestors, can be appreciated. One way of keeping these traditions alive is to bestow honours and titles upon worthy individuals. The institution of Hereditary Dames/Knights of the Royal House of Portugal is an exponent thereof. I have examined a diploma (diploma no. 7, issued on 8 May 2021) and noticed that it underlines the bond between the Royal House and the recipient of the honour.
I advise individuals who wish to publicly express their affiliation with the House of Bragança, to designate themselves as “Jane Smith, Dame of the Royal House of Portugal” or “John Smith, Knight of the Royal House of Portugal “. The fact that the title is hereditary is an internal (family) matter: “with the right of succession to his designated heir and his heirs, forever“, as the diploma stipulates. Post-nominals are not advised, since it would be hard to find the exact meaning of the letters for persons not familiar with the designation.
Recommendations
In my opinion, it is necessary to draw up statutes for the Dames and Knights of the Royal House of Portugal. It should be perfectly clear what the rights and obligations are of both the issuer and the recipient. Some essential articles could include for example:
I. The Institution of Dames and Knights of the Royal House of Portugal is a knightly order of the House of Bragança.
II. The Dames and Knights of the Royal House of Portugal are under the jurisdiction of Dom Duarte Pio, duke of Bragança and count of Ourém.
III. Membership of the knightly order is based on proven, continued and dedicated service to the House of Bragança.
IV. The degrees are divided as follows: Knight-Grand Collar, Knight-Grand Cross, Knight-Grand Officer, Knight-Commander, Knight-Officer, Knight.
V. The members of the Order belong to the nobility of the House of Bragança.
R.A.U. Juchter van Bergen Quast
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Humberto Nuno Lopes Mendes de Oliveira, Universidade Lusíada de Lisboa, as well as Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. António da Costa de Albuquerque de Sousa Lara, Academia de Letras e Artes de Portugal, for their insights and their editing work.
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Nobiliary law - Adelsrecht - Droit nobiliaire 