62 - How King Fernando publicly married Dona Leonor, and how she came to be called the Queen of Portugal

Summary

The king travelled freely through his kingdom, taking with him Dona Leonor, until they arrived in the province of Minho at a monastery called Leça, which belongs to the Order of the Hospitallers. There the king decided to marry her in public, and on the day chosen for the ceremony a declaration on his behalf was proclaimed to everyone in the following words:

My friends, you know well that the estate of marriage is one of the noble sacraments instituted by God in this world so that not only kings, but also other men, might live in a state of salvation, and that kings might have rightful successors to the throne and to the royal governance which God has vouchsafed to them. Accordingly, the king, our liege lord, who desires to live in this estate, as is his duty, has considered how the very noble Dona Leonor, the daughter of Dom Afonso Telo and Dona Aldonça de Vasconcelos, is of royal descent, and also how all the grandees and greatest noblemen of this realm share with her strong family ties whereby, in receiving this honour from the king, they will feel all the more bound to help him to defend this country. He has also considered how for him the said Dona Leonor is a very suitable wife, for the said reasons, and has proposed marriage to her, wherefore he now wishes to marry her in public and by verba de praesenti, as commanded by Holy Church, and intends to present to her such towns and villages within his realm as will enable her to uphold honourably the rank of queen, as befits her.

The king then married her in the presence of everybody, and it was proclaimed throughout his kingdom that she was his wife, which was a source of great sorrow to great and lowly alike. Moreover, the king immediately presented her with Vila Viçosa, Abrantes, Almada, Sintra, Torres Vedras, Alenquer, Atouguia, Óbidos, Aveiro and the Crown lands of Sacavém, Frielas and Unhos, as well as the land of Melres in Ribadouro. Thereafter she was called the Queen of Portugal, and by the king's command her hand was kissed by all those of noble rank throughout the kingdom, both men and women, just as she was received as their liege lady by all the towns, large and small, in his kingdom.