BETWEEN TRADITION AND TRANSFORMATION: PARDON LETTERS OF DUARTE I (1433–1438) IN THE CONTEXT OF COLONIAL EMPIRE FORMATION

The author of the article examines royal pardon letters as a source for the study of everyday practices.The analysis focuses on clemency acts signed by Portuguese King Duarte I (1433-1438), as found in the royal chancery documents of the time.A total of 130 pardon letters have been identified, for which a specific classification has been developed, representing five distinct categories: permission to bear arms, fines, escape, exile, and absence of punishment (most commonly in cases of reconciliation between parties).The author emphasizes the gender dimension of these documents.For each category, alongside general observations, specific examples are provided that illustrate not only the legal system of mid-15th-century Portugal but also the structure and values of late medieval Portuguese society.Against the background of the conducted research, data on the economic situation of the population are correlated with the amounts of fines.Particular attention is paid to the rhetoric employed in the context of petitions to the king seeking mitigation of the sentence for the accused.The article also highlights the socio-political factor present in the decision-making process regarding pardon.Disloyalty to royal authority is punished more severely; even offensive words directed at a government official are considered a crime against the Crown.Medieval practices such as carrying weapons or heraldic symbols -stemming from the state's inability to ensure individual protection -coexist in the chancery with the exile of accused persons to colonial territories for military service as a form of punishment.The pardon letters thus emerge as a source that records the early mechanisms of integrating colonial space into the structures of the metropole -not only through conquest, but also via administrative and legal practice.The article demonstrates how, within a single generation of monarchy, colonial instruments began to penetrate domestic politics, reshaping concepts of justice and punishment while reflecting the social realities of the time.