Revisiting D. Gomes Eanes epistolography: hesitations and difficulties on a project of religious reform

The recent edition of the Carteggio (epistolary) of the abbot Gomes Eanes, from the monastery of Saint Mary of Florence is the pretext to revisit the failed project of introducing the Benedictine observance in Portugal, along with the abbot's participation in the attempts, supported by kings João I (r. 1385-1433) and Duarte (r. 1433-1439), to develop an ecclesiastical reform in the Portuguese realm. A project where the Portuguese kings, the abbot of Florence and the abbot of Alcobaça take an important role, along with the archbishop of Braga, showing different perspectives on religious reform, the resources used to the attempt to introduce Benedictine observance and the obstacles due to a tense relation between the Portuguese monarchs and the Church. At the end, it intends to contribute to the discussion on the historical dynamics linked to the search of religious renewal in late Middle Ages, its connection to wider nets of personal relations and the circulation of people and texts, but also the several forms of resistance to such movements.