Frontier town · Kingdom of Portugal · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Penamacor

A castle on a hill on the Beira frontier facing León's Riba-Côa and the Coria country; whether it had a charter before 1209 is uncertain.

Who holds it

Name
Sancho I (the crown); the alcaide on 1 January 1200 is not pinned
Title
Royal town under the king's alcaide or tenente
Confidence
medium

Lord in 1200

The crown (an alcaide is named in the foral); holder on 1 January 1200 not pinned.

Overlord

Sancho I of Portugal

How things stand that morning

Royal frontier castle.

Fuero

Not pinned for 1 January 1200. One Torre do Tombo copy dates Sancho I's foral to 1189 and another to 1209 (Herculano gave 1199). The surviving text names Afonso's wife Urraca (married 1206), the alferes Martinho Fernandes (alferes 1203-1211) and Lopo Afonso (at court from 1205), so the text as we have it belongs to 1209.

Militia

Not pinned. No figures.

Where the sources disagree

  • The Penamacor edition treats 1189 as the original date. The confirmation list (Urraca as the heir's wife, Martinho Fernandes as alferes, Lopo Afonso) fits only 1206-1211, so the campaign should not treat a 1189 or 1199 foral as known on 1 January 1200.

Evidence: Foral dates from the municipality's edition; the 1209 reading is mine from the confirmants.

Primary sources for Portugal

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

5 more in the sources library for France and Iberia.

Sources and studies

  1. Forais de Penamacor (Câmara Municipal de Penamacor)
  2. Inés Calderón Medina, 'Beyond the Border: the aristocratic mobility between the kingdoms of Portugal and León (1157-1230)', e-Journal of Portuguese History
  3. Adelino Campante, 'A família de Riba Vizela' (Rádio Vizela)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.