Patronage and Indebtedness: Portugal, Castile and the Papal Court around the Year 1300

Based on previously unexamined documentation at Lisbon, Braga and the Vatican, this paper considers two separate but related matters for the history of Portugal: the role of Cardinal Giacomo Colonna in the foundation of the Lisbon Studium Generale, and the use of Portuguese gold at the court of Pope Boniface VIII to purchase the dispensation for the marriage of Fernando IV of Castile to Constança of Portugal. It also demonstrates the bankrupt state of the Castilian crown after ten years of Fernando IV’s rule.