149 - The manner in which these princes maintained obedience to their father

Summary

Upon the death of Prince Afonso, that first-born son to whom the kingdom was to have passed, the second prince, Dom Duarte, took his place as the rightful heir.

After he and his siblings left childhood behind but before they entered their full adulthood, they had acquired, through the Grace of God from Whom all good things come, such knowledge of His precepts and commandments that, conforming to them with no other alteration, with great love, fear and loyal faith, they did nothing shameful or reprehensible at any time to give their father cause to be vexed at any one of them.

Now, leaving aside praise of the virginity of the unmarried (as this receives its sufficient due) and the gentle chaste behaviour of those who had wives, as the story will later relate, they were so much in the habit of holy obedience that of none of them could it be said what Peter of Blois wrote to a prince, the English heir, who was very disobedient to his father. Among other things, in his epistle he said, ‘He who voluntarily disobeys his father abandons his lineage and betrays it. Take the ray from the sun and immediately there is neither sun nor light; isolate the river from the spring and straightaway it ceases to be a river; chop the branch from the tree and very soon it withers; separate the son from obedience to the father and soon he will no longer resemble a son.’

These princes were completely the opposite, for they were ever illuminated with meekness, like pleasant, leafy boughs that came to fruitfulness in the following manner: when they were unsure whether something would please their father or not, they held back from doing it until they knew what he wished in that regard, taking care not to deviate from anything that touched upon his pleasure, as if he were a fickle lord who would punish them harshly. In the things they spoke to him about or wished to deal with, they did not promote their own plans, either by deferential words or by any other means. They [simply] let him know what was on their minds and what their viewpoint was, while promising unreservedly to accept his decisions.