Abstract
From the reigns of D. Dinis (1267-1325) and D. Afonso IV (1291-1357), the kings of Portugal launched offensives against the misconduct of clerics within their lands and to the detriment of their subjects. In this period, when the universalism of the Church was confronted with royal sovereignty, growing accusations, made by representatives of the councils of the kingdom in the Cortes, that…