Oznerol's Corner of Ideas

-Above: The panels of Saint Vincent, painted c. 1470, peak of the Portuguese painting of the XV century. Most of the characters are actual portrayed and many were dead. At the center, the aged Afonso V and his wife, Isabel of Coimbra, with their son João II and his wife, Leonor of Viseu, and grandson, infante Afonso. Two panels to the right are represented the princes of the previous generation Saint Ferdinand, captive at Tangiers, constable João (d. 1442), Pedro of Coimbra (d. 1449) and kneeling in purple, Henrique of Viseu, 'the Navigator' (d. 1460).

The good 'Eloquent' king, Duarte I (1433-1438) -named after his great-grandfather Edward III- died too early, after barely five years of reign, leaving a child to rule the crown of Portugal, Afonso. The realm was left in a good state by the late king and his father, the first of the Avis, and there is promise for the starting reign, even during the king's minority. Ceuta was conquered in 1415, openning the gates to Morocco, the nobility was pacified and the princes born to João I and Philippa of Lancaster were an illustrious generation, all of them sound of mind and body. However, the constable John of Portugal died and he left a gap that provoked the arousal of rivalries at court. Pedro of Coimbra, eldest among the king's uncles, is regent, but he's starting to be disputed by his siblings, for he hungers for power and influence and has married the infant king to his own daughter, Isabel, and given the office of condestable (constable/marshall) to his eldest son and namesake. His illegitimate brother, Afonso of Barcelos, count of Barcelos, created duke of Braganza in 1442, has grown envious and jealous of the duke of Coimbra and started fueling the enmity between king and regent, sowing the seeds of disent and conflict.

What will you do? Will you support duke Pedro? Or duke Afonso? Or neither? Will blood be shed? Will you embark and sail to lands unknown to forge a seaborne Empire? All while the king of Castille, Juan II, looks with weary eye to our borders and Africa and the Aragonese battle all over the Iberian peninsula and Italy to gain more power. Culture and art flower all over Europe and Portugal stands on the edge of a glorious trajectory. This is an era of change and conflict, will you be up for it?

Dramatis personae (abridged):

-Afonso V: you are young, yet people will learn to fear you. A harsh, authoritative and imposing man, fiery and wrathful. Your blood is a fearsome one, you carry the curse of the Plantagenets within you. There is none that will keep you from your goals and ambitions and you remember very well the glory that can be gained in Africa, enterprises that the regent Pedro denies, for he thinks of it as a waste of money and men. In time, you will be so great that Isabel of Castile will simply adress you in reverence as "The Man"... what else?

-Duke Pedro of Coimbra: you are the wisest, smartest, most cultured man in Portugal. They call you Pedro de las Siete Partidas, of the Seven Departures or of The Seven Parts of the World, because you crossed in seven travels whole Europe, including England, Flanders, Hungary, Italy, Aragon, Castille, the Holy Roman Empire and Bohemia. You fought the hussites and the ottomans, were granted a dukedom in Italy, Treviso, by emperor Sigismund himself and the king of England named you a knight of the Garter. You dined with sultan Murad II, you were in Constantinople and heard the plight of its Emperor, crossed the sea to Egypt and visited the Holy Land. There are none equal to you, duke. However, once you tasted power you knew you needed more of it. Your son is an ambitious man, so you made him condestable, like the saintly Nuno Alvares da Pereira, and then you married your own daughter to the king. All you ever wanted was to make the crown supreme and, by proxy, yourself. But, you notice your bastard brother is envious of your position and your remaining brother, Henrique, is growing distant. Will you keep power? Or will you lose your head?

-Duke Afonso of Braganza: you are a bastard among the glorious children of Philippa and João I. However, you were granted many lands and properties by your father, who saw a bit of himself in you, bastard-born son of a royal bastard himself. You gained titles when you married the heiress of the saint Nuno Alvares Pereira, the greatest man of his generation, and was made twice a count. However, your eldest brother, Duarte, died, leaving a child. Then, the nobles of the kingdom looked up to you, Afonso, so you could lead them against the regent, who only wanted to increase the crown's power -and his own- at the expense of this nobility that bled for the dynasty of Avis. The dowager queen, Leonor of Aragon, trusts you, as does her child, the king Afonso V. And the duke of Coimbra stole your son's rightful title of condestable, as his grandfather once held the title, and had the balls of marrying his own daughter to the king. That cannot be! 

-Duke Henrique of Viseu: you are a younger son, your lot in life was not to inherit any crown. Yet, you are as capable and smart as all your elder siblings and best of all, you are driven and determined. Your father granted you inmense properties in the North and the South and made you administrator of the Order of Christ, with all its riches. You sit at the South, looking to the waves, and with the admiral of Portugal -Rui de Melo, a knight and lord of the Algarve, husband to the late admiral's daughter and father to the last legitimate admiral of the Pessanha line- and valiant captains like Lançarote de Lagos at your service you see promise across the sea. There lays the boundless riches of Africa and you are determined to seize them. You want no wife or need no children, that will not be your legacy and if you ever need a heir you have nephews a plenty.

-The Noronhas: you might be of illegitimate descent, but what a lineage! Your matriarch was a bastard of Fernando I of Portugal and her husband was a bastard of Enrique II of Castile! Twice the royal blood. You passed to Portugal to gain fortunes and power and now Pedro of Noronha is Archbishop of Lisbon and the most powerful cleric in Portugal, his brother is count of Odemira and his nephew is conde of Vila Real, by virtue of his mother, heir to the Menezes, one of the most powerful families in the realm. You have no claim to the crown, but you could be the true power behind it.

-Duarte de Menezes: another bastard among many, who cares at this point? You are Pedro de Menezes' son and he was the most powerful man in the southern half of the kingdom and captain of Ceuta during decades, until he died in 1437. Your sister, his heiress, married a Noronha and took the wealth and fortune, most of it, for your father provided for you with sufficient riches and you were even granted a county, Viana do Alentejo. You are probably the most seasoned warrior in the whole kingdom, hardened and experienced by many years of warfare in Morocco. Ceuta should have been yours to lead, not Noronha's, but yet, your name is known all over the land and the duke of Coimbra named you standard-bearer to the king, he trusts you and knows your worth. You married the daughter of prince Henrique's head of the household. 

-Diogo of Portugal: you are the late condestable João's son. He died early, too early, and left you without even a dukedom to your name. Yet, you're the king's trueborn cousin and grandson of king João I, you should have and you diserve more than you have. The regent robbed your rightful office, the much coveted rank of condestable, and you lurk in the shadows, part of the court, yet not old enough to exert power. What will you do?

-Fernando of Portugal: the young king's brother and his heir. You have no titles, just your status and your birthright, but you will soon reach riches and fortunes when your brother comes to age and if he does not you will rule as Fernando II of Portugal. You are impatient, unruly and brash and have a thirst for adventure, seeking the thrill of the unknown, maybe Africa or Italy will meet your expectations?