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João das Regras (??? - 3 May 1404), in English, literally John of the Rules, was a Portuguese jurist of the second half of the 14th century. In the context of the 1383—1385 Crisis, in Portugal, he stood out for his masterly representation for the cause of the Master of Avis in the Coimbra Courts of 1385, the corollary of which was his acclaim as
King of Portugal This is a list of Portuguese monarchs who ruled from the establishment of the Kingdom of Portugal, in 1139, to the deposition of the Portuguese monarchy and creation of the Portugal, Portuguese Republic with the 5 October 1910 revolution. Thro ...
.


Life

Born in
Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
at an unknown date, he was the son of João Afonso das Regras and Sentil Esteves, João das Regras became a stepson of Álvaro Pais, the chief chancellor of the Portuguese Kingdom, after his mother's second marriage. According to the Portuguese
chronicler A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, ...
Fernão Lopes, João das Regras studied in the
University of Bologna The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...
. Later, João das Regras became a professor in the
University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; ) is a public university, public research university in Lisbon, and Portugal's largest university. It was founded in 1911, but the university's present structure dates to the 2013 merger of the former Universit ...
and in October 1400, became the Protector of the University (a title that nowadays can be compared to that of a Rector). Although he was reputed to have defended the creation of a compilation of laws and, controversially, the possibility of having wrote its first few chapters, the works only started after his death in 1404. Works which would produce the first codification of Portuguese law and one of the first in the modern era: the ''Ordenações Afonsinas''. João das Regras became notable for supporting the claims of the grand-master of the
Order of Aviz The Military Order of Aviz (), known previously to 1910 as the Royal Military Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz (), and before 1789 as the Knights of Saint Benedict of Aviz () or ''Friars of Santa Maria of Évora'', is one of the four former ancien ...
, João I to the throne of Portugal during the 1383–1385 Crisis, a period of
civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
and
anomie In sociology, anomie or anomy () is a social condition defined by an uprooting or breakdown of any moral values, standards or guidance for individuals to follow. Anomie is believed to possibly evolve from conflict of belief systems and causes b ...
in the Portuguese history that began with the death of king Fernando I of Portugal — who left no male heirs — and ended with the accession to the throne of João I. During that period, several pretenders to the Portuguese throne arose and Regras became notable for refuting the arguments of every one of them without mentioning the name of João I at the Cortes of Coimbra. His famous intervention in the Crisis began by influence of his stepfather, also a supporter of the grand-master, who had a major intervention in the Lisbon uprising, that would take João I to the throne. João das Regras was appointed by João I as his personal counsellor and supported the Master by pointing reasons that excluded the remaining pretenders to the throne,
Beatrice of Portugal Beatrice (, ; 7–13 February 1373 – ) was the only surviving legitimate child of King Ferdinand I of Portugal and his wife, Leonor Teles. She became Queen consort of Castile by marriage to King John I of Castile. Following her father's d ...
, Juan I of Castile, Denis, Lord of Cifuentes and John, Lord of Alba de Tormes, omitting the name of John I.


The arguments against the four pretenders to the throne

* João das Regras claimed that
Beatrice of Portugal Beatrice (, ; 7–13 February 1373 – ) was the only surviving legitimate child of King Ferdinand I of Portugal and his wife, Leonor Teles. She became Queen consort of Castile by marriage to King John I of Castile. Following her father's d ...
, daughter of Ferdinand I had no right to claim the throne because her father's marriage with Leonor Telles was void, due to the previous marriage of Leonor with João Lourenço da Cunha and also due to the uncertain behaviour of Leonor Telles, which created doubts about the identity of Beatrice's father. Along with that, he also claimed that she married John I of Castile, who was her relative, without the dispensation of the Pope. * To the king of Castile, Juan I, João das Regras refuted the right of being King of Portugal because of his recognition of the
Antipope An antipope () is a person who claims to be Bishop of Rome and leader of the Roman Catholic Church in opposition to the officially elected pope. Between the 3rd and mid-15th centuries, antipopes were supported by factions within the Church its ...
Clement VII Pope Clement VII (; ; born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate of ...
, a fact that made Juan I a heretic. Along with that, Juan I was descendant of Ferdinand I by the female lineage, a fact that, according to the Portuguese and Spanish
customary law A legal custom is the established pattern of behavior within a particular social setting. A claim can be carried out in defense of "what has always been done and accepted by law". Customary law (also, consuetudinary or unofficial law) exists wher ...
gave him no right to claim the throne. * The princes Denis, Lord of Cifuentes and John, Lord of Alba de Tormes, the two male sons of
Peter I of Portugal Peter I (; 8 April 1320 – 18 January 1367), known as Peter the Just () or Peter the Cruel (), was King of Portugal from 1357 until his death in 1367. Early life Born on 8 April 1320 in Coimbra, Peter was the fifth child of Afonso of Portuga ...
and Inês de Castro, and therefore half-brothers of Ferdinand I had no right to claim the throne for being illegitimate (despite the King himself had sworn and presented witnesses of that marriage). Along with that, they proved to be enemies of Portugal after making an alliance with
Henry II of Castile Henry II (13 January 1334 – 29 May 1379), called Henry of Trastámara or the Fratricidal (''el Fratricida''), was the first List of Castilian monarchs, King of Castile and List of Leonese monarchs, León from the House of Trastámara. He became ...
and his son Juan I. This strategy showed the vacancy of the throne, because no heir had a legitimate right to it. Therefore, the courts had the right to choose the King themselves. As the grand-master João I was desired by every member of the courts and by the Portuguese people, that rebelled in order to assure his ascension to the throne, João I became King of Portugal, the first of the
House of Aviz The House of Aviz (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Casa de Avis'' ), also known as the Joanine Dynasty (''Dinastia Joanina''), was a dynasty of Portuguese people, Portuguese origin which flourished during the Portuguese Renaissance, Renaissanc ...
. João das Regras was praised by João I and received several benefits and properties, among other things, the king gave him knighthood and granted him the lordship of Castelo Rodrigo, Tarouca, Beldigem,
Cascais Cascais () is a town and municipality in the Lisbon District of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera, Estoril Coast. The municipality has a total of 214,158 inhabitants in an area of 97.40 km2. Cascais is an important tourism in Port ...
and Oeiras. João das Regras died in Lisbon on 3 May 1404 and is buried in the church of
São Domingos de Benfica São Domingos de Benfica () is a ''freguesia'' (civil parish) and district of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. Located in northern Lisbon, São Domingos de Benfica is east of Benfica, Lisbon, Benfica, south of Carnide, west of Alvalade, and north ...
.


Notes

#The original Portuguese and Spanish names of the kings are used because in English they both translate as "John I," which is confusing. #At this time (fourteenth century), Castile is not synonymous with "
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
". That country appeared only in the end of the fifteenth century, with the marriage of
Isabella I of Castile Isabella I (; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''Isabel la Católica''), was Queen of Castile and List of Leonese monarchs, León from 1474 until her death in 1504. She was also Queen of Aragon ...
and Ferdinand of Aragon (the rulers, together, of present-day Castile, Leon, Asturias,
Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...
,
Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
,
Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...
,
Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...
), the Canary Islands and Sicily and other territories in the Italic peninsula —"the
Catholic Monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Isabella I of Castile, Queen Isabella I of Crown of Castile, Castile () and Ferdinand II of Aragon, King Ferdinand II of Crown of Aragón, Aragon (), whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of ...
."


References

* Fernão Lopes, ''Crónica de D. João I'', 1st volume, Civilização, 1994. * Joel Serrão, ''Dicionário de História de Portugal'', Iniciativas Editoriais, 1963.


External links

*
Jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...
s * List of Jurists by Nation
The part of the Chronicle of John I that shows and explains the arguments of João das Regras
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joao das Regras 1404 deaths Portuguese jurists 14th century in Portugal Year of birth unknown People of the 1383–1385 Portuguese interregnum People from Lisbon 14th-century Portuguese writers