Pacos medievais portugueses. Caracterizacao e evolucao da habitacao nobre (seculos XII a XVI)

This reserah lies within the field of the erudite Civil Architecture (12th to 16th centuries) in Portugal. Its aim is to describe the model of the palace and the fortress - both understood as the mein forms of habitation of the nobility in Portugal throught the Middle Ages - and also to define its evolution. As there aren't any preserved samples of palaces previous to the 15th century the reconstitution and definition is supported by written document analysis, etymological analysis and the semantic evolution of the words paco (palace), sala (room) and sobrado (floor or house of two or more stories which define, par excellence, that material reality). Similarly the phenomenon fortis domus underwent and identical characterization and definition, although the existence of samples - the torres (towers) of Penegate, Refoios, etc. - allowed in this case a direct analysis of those buildings. The definite understanding of these architectonic structures was based on a reflection on the functions and meanings of the palace, deeply related to the exercise of political and social power comprising the military power -in the case of the fortress- and the explicit symbology of the lord and its manor as well as of the extended understanding of the living conditions in that age, which were responsible for teh disappearance of all palaces between the 12th and 15th centuries. From the 15th century forward it is possible to recognize the existence of a whole number of palaces which, despite the poor maintenance status in many cases, allowed the direct investigation of the architectonic structures. Thus and taking into account the precise description of the organization and functions of the interior of a noble house written by King Duarte it is possible to characterize in a difinite way the architectonic model of a medieval palace. The analysis of the new living conditions which characterized the late Middle Ages, also permitted a widen integration of this type of dwelling. The study of the patronage of both the House of Avis and the House of Braganca was greatly stressed, since the number and quality of their palaces turn them into a paradigm of the new situation. The monographic analysis of three examples (Paco de Sintra, Paco da Sempre Noiva and Paco do Castelo de Alvito), selected due to the singularity of each model (the first for being the sole preserved medieval royal palace, the second for being a rural - representative of the new mentality - and the third a castle of a newly ennobled family), concludes this essay, allowing the full understanding of a medieval palace, not only in its specifically architectonical view but also in the profound relation and interwining with HistoryAvailable from Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia, Servico de Informacao e Documentacao, Av. D. Carlos I, 126, 1200 Lisboa / FCT - Fundação para o Ciência e a TecnologiaSIGLEPTPortuga