The

Prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be l ...

of Crato (''Prior do Crato''), was the traditional title given to the head of the Order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem (Hospitaller) in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. It is a reference to the domains of the order around Crato,

. The Portuguese branch of the Knights Hospitaller was originally based in the northern citadel of Leça do Balio (near

Matosinhos Matosinhos, Porto, Portugal () is a city and a municipality in the northern Porto district of Portugal, bordered in the south by the city of Porto (8 km from the city centre). The population in 2011 was 175,478, and covered an area of approx ...

), which was allegedly donated to the order as early as 1112 by Countess Theresa. Around 1232, King

Sancho II of Portugal Sancho II (; 8 September 1209 – 4 January 1248), nicknamed the Cowled or the Capuched ( pt, o Capelo), alternatively, the Pious ( pt, o Piedoso), was King of Portugal from 1223 to 1248. He was succeeded on the Portuguese throne by his bro ...

donated extensive domains further south, around Crato (in the

Portalegre District Portalegre District ( pt, Distrito de Portalegre ) is located in the east of Portugal. The district capital is the city of Portalegre. As of 2021, it is the least populous district of Portugal. Municipalities The district is composed of 15 mu ...

) to the Knights Hospitaller, along with the duty to fortify that frontier. The order moved its headquarters from Leça to Crato in 1340, shortly after the Battle of Salado, constructing the Monastery of Flor da Rosa near Crato. From the outset in the 12th century, the head of the Order of Knights Hospitaller in Portugal was known simply as the ''Prior do Hospital''. That title continued to be used after the move to Crato. It is really only after 1441 that the term ''Prior do Crato'' began being commonly used. The most famous person to hold this position was probably

António, Prior of Crato António, Prior of Crato (; 153126 August 1595; sometimes called ''The Determined'', ''The Fighter'', ''The Independentist'' or ''The Resistant''), was a grandson of King Manuel I of Portugal who claimed the Portuguese throne during the 1580 d ...

, a royal prince who attempted to lay claim on the royal throne (as King Anthony I of Portugal) during the 1580 dynastic crisis. Anthony ended up losing his bid to King

Philip II of Spain Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...

. At the time of the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

of the Portuguese monarchy in 1640, the new king

John IV of Portugal John IV ( pt, João, ; 19 March 1604 – 6 November 1656), nicknamed John the Restorer ( pt, João, o Restaurador), was the King of Portugal whose reign, lasting from 1640 until his death, began the Portuguese restoration of independence from H ...

nominated D. Rodrigo da Cunha to the position, but the order refused to ratify the king's choice, noting that the title was currently held by a Spanish ''Infante''. For the next few decades, the king and the order continued at odds, the order forwarding its own candidates against the king's choices. No one held the formal title of ''prior'', the king being limited to appointing an administrator or governor for the order. A compromise was finally reached during the regency of Peter II, whereby the king agreed to recognize the candidate nominated by the order, and in return, the king would get to nominate his three subsequent successors. The title of ''grão-prior'' (Grand Prior of Crato) was subsequently dominated by royal princes (''

infante ''Infante'' (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as Infant or translated as Prince, is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to t ...

s''), before ascending to the throne. This was formalized in a royal letter of Queen

Mary I of Portugal , succession = Queen of Portugal , image = Maria I, Queen of Portugal - Giuseppe Troni, atribuído (Turim, 1739-Lisboa, 1810) - Google Cultural Institute.jpg , caption = Portrait attributed to Giuseppe Troni, , reign ...

in 1789 (confirmed by

Pope Pius VI Pope Pius VI ( it, Pio VI; born Count Giovanni Angelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to his death in August 1799. Pius VI condemned the French Revoluti ...

), passing the properties of the order to the

Casa do Infantado The House of the Infantado (Portuguese: ''Casa do Infantado'') was an appanage for the second eldest son of the Portuguese monarch. History The House of the Infantado was created in 1654 by King John IV of Portugal from properties and riches co ...

- that is, permanently placing the administration of the order in the hands of the legitimate heir to the throne. This arrangement continued until 1834, when the ''commenda'' of the Order of Knights Hospitaller in Portugal was extinguished, and their properties passed to the Junta dos Juros.

Priors of Crato

Heads of the Knights Hospitaller in Portugal. * c. 1157 - D. Frey Aires *1232 - Mem Gonçalves *D. Gonçalo Pereira, Bishop of Lisbon and

Archbishop of Braga The Archdiocese of Braga ( la, Archidioecesis Bracarensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Portugal. It is known for its use of the Rite of Braga, a use of the liturgy distinct from the Roman R ...

(father of Álvaro Gonçalves Pereira) *1235? - Rodrigo Gil *1335 - ? - Álvaro Gonçalves Pereira (father of

Nuno Álvares Pereira D. Nuno Álvares Pereira, O. Carm. (; 24 June 1360 – 1 November 1431) was a Portuguese general of great success who had a decisive role in the 1383-1385 Crisis that assured Portugal's independence from Castile. He later became a mystic ...

), the first Prior of Crato *1384? - D.

Pedro Álvares Pereira Dom Pedro Álvares Pereira (; 13?? – 14 August 1385) was a Portuguese noble of the 14th century. He was the son of Marinha Domingues and Álvaro Gonçalves Pereira, to whom he succeed after his death as patriarch of the Pereira family and as ...

(elder brother of

) *1430? - D. Frei Nuno de Góis * Álvaro Gonçalves Camelo * Afonso Pais *João de Ataíde (1448 - 1453) (son of D. Álvaro Gonçalves de Ataíde, 1st

Count of Atouguia Count of Atouguia (in Portuguese ''Conde de Atouguia'') was a Portuguese title of nobility created by a royal decree, dated from 17 December 1448, by King Afonso V of Portugal, and granted to D. Álvaro Gonçalves de Ataíde. This title became ...

) *Vasco de Ataíde (1453 to 1492?) (son of D. Álvaro Gonçalves de Ataíde, 1st

) * Vasco Martins de Gomide ? * 6th 1490s - Diogo Fernandes de Almeida (son of Lopo de Almeida,

Count of Abrantes Count of Abrantes (in Portuguese ''Conde de Abrantes'') was a Portuguese title of nobility created by a royal decree, dated from June 13, 1476, by King Afonso V of Portugal, and granted to his 4th cousin, Lopo de Almeida. ''Dom'' Lopo was close ...

). *1508-1522 - D. Joao de Meneses, 1st Count of Tarouca *João Coelho *1527-1555 -

Infante Louis, Duke of Beja ''Infante'' (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as Infant or translated as Prince, is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to th ...

(second son of King

Manuel I of Portugal Manuel I (; 31 May 146913 December 1521), known as the Fortunate ( pt, O Venturoso), was King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521. A member of the House of Aviz, Manuel was Duke of Beja and Viseu prior to succeeding his cousin, John II of Portugal, a ...

) * D. João de Menezes *

(son of Louis of Beja and pretender to the Portuguese throne during the 1580 dynastic crisis). * 1581-1598 Archduke Albert of Austria (administrator) * 1598-1604 Infante Victor Amadeus of Savoy * Manuel de Melo *? - 1742 - Infante Francis, Duke of Beja (son of

Peter II of Portugal ''Dom'' Pedro II (Peter II; 26 April 1648 – 9 December 1706), nicknamed "the Pacific", was King of Portugal from 1683 until his death, previously serving as regent for his brother Afonso VI from 1668 until his own accession. He was the fifth a ...

) (grão-prior) *? - 1786 -

Peter III of Portugal Dom Peter III ( pt, Pedro III, ; 5 July 1717 – 25 May 1786), nicknamed the Builder, was King of Portugal from 24 February 1777 to his death in 1786 as the co-ruler of his wife and niece, Queen Dona Maria I.David Birmingham ''A Concise History ...

(grão-prior) *? - ? -

John VI of Portugal , house = Braganza , father = Peter III of Portugal , mother = Maria I of Portugal , birth_date = , birth_place = Queluz Palace, Queluz, Portugal , death_date = , death_place = Bemposta Palace, Lisbon, Portugal , ...

(grão-prior) *?-? -

Pedro I of Brazil Don (honorific), Dom Pedro I (English: Peter I; 12 October 1798 – 24 September 1834), nicknamed "the Liberator", was the founder and List of monarchs of Brazil, first ruler of the Empire of Brazil. As King Dom Pedro IV, he List of ...

(grão-prior) *1828-1834 - Miguel I of Portugal (grão-prior) *1846-1857 - Guilherme Henriques de Carvalho,

Patriarch of Lisbon The Patriarch of Lisbon ( la, Patriarcha Olisiponensis, pt, Patriarca de Lisboa), also called the Cardinal-Patriarch of Lisbon once he has been made cardinal, is the ordinary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lisbon. He is one of the f ...

(grão-prior)

References

Sources

"Ordem de Malta ou de S. João de Jerusalem em Portugal"
January 1839, ''O Panorama: Jornal litterario e instructivo'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Prior Of Crato Orders of chivalry of Portugal Knights Hospitaller