Sharing the city: the establishment of mendicant houses in Portuguese medieval towns

Abstract

In Portugal, as in the rest of Europe, the mendicants settled in almost all cities and towns from the beginning of the 13th century. Their buildings marked the urban landscape and contributed to the development of the urban centres. This article explores the process by means of which the friars settled in the cities and the factors that determined their choice of site, with attention to the spatial, economic, political and social characteristics of the mendicant establishments in the largest Portuguese cities between the 13th and 15th centuries. It aims to demonstrate that competition between the different mendicant communities for preaching space was a crucial factor in the definition of the site where each religious building was to be built. Although the article focuses essentially on the Portuguese case, it also draws comparisons with other European contexts, thereby affirming the transnational character of the religious orders, particularly evident in the way these communities marked medieval European cities in different contexts.