Justiça, moralidade e amor: aspectos do reinado de D. Pedro I de Portugal

Abstract

This work proposes a reflection on the aspects related to justice, love and moral issues present in the Fernão Lopes' Chronicle of D. Pedro I. This is a work produced during Portuguese Middle Ages, written by Fernão Lopes in the XV century, having as its subject the ten years during the reign of D. Inês de Castro s lover in the 14th century (1357 - 1367). This lopean chronicle, the smallest amongst three of its undisputed authorship, basically deals with three great themes: the "blind" justice of the Portuguese king, his love for Inês de Castro and the profile of the cruel king Pedro de Castela. In the first chapter of this dissertation, in addition to a summary on the life, work and context of the author's production, there is a brief introduction about the main historiographic and rhetorical theories used as tools for the analysis of the work. It deals specifically with aspects of rhetorical art in Greece, Rome and medieval Europe and their contributions to the process of creation of Fernão Lopes. In addition, there is also a concise explanation about the main features of New History theory. In the second chapter, we address the question of justice, related to morality, and its implications in the imaginary construction of the Lusitanian king. It analyzes the justice used by the Portuguese monarch and the counterpoint expertly established in the chronicle with the king of Castile, as well as the amorous relationship between Pedro de Portugal and the Castilian aia Dona Inês de Castro. The central question of both the chronicle and the present work, seen in its correlations with morality and love, is therefore in justice.