Alcobaça - Mosteiro de Alcobaça

Alcobaça is home to the "Mosteiro de Alcobaça", one of the largest, most famous and oldest monasteries in Portugal. It was the seat of the Real Abadia de Alcobaça (Royal Abbey of Alcobaça), which from 1567 also presided over all Portuguese Cistercian monasteries. The complex dates back to 1153, when Portugal's first king, Afonso Henriques, gave the Cistercian order the 500 km² area that would later become the monastery, which had been reclaimed from the Moors. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) one of the most influential clerics of his time, had helped him in his disputes with Alfonso VII. of Leao and Castile over Portugal's unilaterally declared independence and the self-coronation of Alfonso Henriques as King of Portugal in 1139, especially as Eugene III was the first Cistercian to sit on the papal throne from 1145 to 1153. However, the papal bull recognizing Portugal, now issued by Alexander III, was delayed until 1179.

Construction of the monastery began in 1178 and was completed in 1240 with the first section (church and first cloister). As a result of the initial large influx of friars, particularly from Burgundy, the complex was constantly expanded, including the addition of three further cloisters and a church.

The economic success caused a considerable influx, which is why the monastery facilities were constantly expanded. By the beginning of the 15th century, the monks developed a great deal of activity, cultivating the land and developing and expanding agriculture, fishing, extracting salt and iron, promoting crafts and educating the settlers. In 1269 they founded one of the first public schools in the West, and its relocation to Coimbra in 1290 gave rise to the University of Coimbra. The communities belonging to the monastery prospered so well that even in the Alcobaça Abbey, some affluent living began to displace the strict Cistercian rules, a development to which many monasteries succumbed. That's why Pope Benedict XII ordered. In 1335 a reform of the Cistercian orders was announced. King Afonso IV (1291–1357) took advantage of this to curtail the abbey's power. and placed a large number of the towns belonging to Alcobaça under his rule on the grounds that the deed of foundation of King Afonso Henriques did not include the towns.

In view of their wealth and power, the monks distanced themselves from the strict teachings of their founders. In 1475, Abbot Nicolau Vieira secretly ceded his rights to the Archbishop of Lisbon in exchange for an annual pension of 150,000 réis. The monks only found out about this when a delegation from the archbishop took possession of his new rights. The monastery, whose general assembly had always elected its own abbots, thus came under the influence of the commandant abbots (appointed by the king).

In 1531, Afonso de Portugal (1509-1540), the fourth son of King Manuel I (1469-1521) and brother of the later King João III (1502-1557), became Abbot of Alcobaça, who was also Bishop of Lisbon and a cardinal. After his death, King João III appointed his other brother Henrique (1512-1580) as Abbot, who was also Archbishop of Lisbon and Inquisitor General of Portugal and was later appointed Cardinal.

As a result of the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, the southern part of the monastery in particular was damaged and the sacristy destroyed. The monastery's own college was completely destroyed and relocated to the rebuilt parts of the southern monastery complex. In two large processions to the Santuário de Nossa Senhora de Nazaré, 10 km away, the monks gave thanks for being largely spared despite this damage. In 1774, Alcobaça was hit by a flood when the river Alcoa overflowed its banks. It once again damaged the southern monastery complex and also caused large areas of the monastery to sink into the muddy masses of the receding water. It took years for the masses of earth to be moved to the south side of the adjoining grounds, where they buried most of the monastery wall. Finally, as part of the Napoleonic Wars on the Iberian Peninsula in 1810, French troops invaded Alcobaça and pillaged the monastery.

At the end of the 19th century the historian, archaeologist and agronomist Manuel Vieira de Natividade published his work on the monastery of Alcobaça. It was not until 1901 that the president of the district submitted a request to the government to repair and clean the monastery façade. In 1907, parts of the monastery were placed under protection for the first time by government decree. From 1929, the state began to repair the church and the medieval monastery and restore them to their original condition.

Tomb of Dona Inês de Castro

Inês was the natural daughter of Pedro Fernández de Castro and his noble Portuguese mistress Aldonça Lourenço de Valadares. Her family descended both from the Galician and Portuguese nobilities. Her stepmother was Infanta Beatriz of Portugal, the youngest daughter of Afonso of Portugal.

Inês came to Portugal in 1340 as a lady-in-waiting of Constance of Castile, recently married to Pedro, the heir apparent to the Portuguese throne. The prince fell in love with her and started to neglect his lawful wife. Moreover, Pedro's love for Inês brought the exiled Castilian nobility close to power, with Inês' brothers becoming the prince's friends. King Afonso IV of Portugal, Pedro's father, disliked Inês' influence on his son and waited for their mutual infatuation to wear off, but it did not.

Constance of Castile died in 1349. Afonso IV tried to arrange for his son to be remarried, but Pedro refused to take a wife other than Inês, who was not deemed eligible to be queen. Pedro's legitimate son, future King Ferdinand I of Portugal, was a frail child, whereas Pedro and Inês' illegitimate children were thriving; this created discomfort among the Portuguese nobles, who feared the increasing Castilian influence over Pedro. Afonso IV had banished Inês from the court in 1344, but Pedro remained with her, declaring her as his true love. After several attempts to keep the lovers apart, Afonso IV ordered Inês' death. Pêro Coelho, Álvaro Gonçalves, and Diogo Lopes Pacheco went to the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha in Coimbra, where Inês was detained, and killed her, decapitating her in front of her small child. When Pedro heard of this he sought out the killers and managed to capture two of them in 1361.He executed them publicly by ripping their hearts out, claiming they didn't have one after having pulverized his own heart.