High Almoner of the Kingdom

High Almoner of the Kingdom (Portuguese: Esmoler-Mor do Reino) is the exact title corresponding to an official position at the court of the kings of Portugal, reserved for ecclesiastics, with the task of overseeing all the charitable actions and almsgiving that fell to the sovereigns. His insignia was a silver purse.

History

File:Retrato de Frei António da Silveira (Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo, inv. 10140).png

Portrait of Friar António da Silveira, High Almoner appointed by King John VI in 1825; note the depiction of the alms purse.

Other large Portuguese manor houses, as well as large convents and monasteries, also had their almshouses, so it is necessary to colloquially identify which almshouse is being referred to.

The Esmoler-Mor, like all the other offices of the Portuguese court or chief officers, was staffed by qualified personnel who ran the office, under the authority of an Esmoler-Menor, and was generally always present at the great ceremonies of the Portuguese monarchy, and sometimes intervened in political life. Similar positions existed in other European courts.

The High Almoners of Portuguese sovereigns were consecutively, by right of office, soon acquired by the Dom Abbots of Alcobaça. The position was abolished after the Portuguese Civil War, around 1834, when all the religious orders in Portugal were nationalised as a whole and their assets sold at public auction by the liberal government. Miguel I was therefore the last Portuguese king to be assisted by a High Almoner.

High Almoners

• João de Ornelas (1385–1414)
• Estevão de Aguiar (1431–1446)
• João Manuel de Ataíde
• Amador Arrais
• Pedro de Castilho
• Luís Coutinho
• Luís de Sousa
• Pedro de Lencastre
• Francisco Leitão de Carvalho

See also

• Grand Almoner of France
• Royal Almonry

References

• Braga, Paulo Drumond (1995). "Esmoler mor e esmoler menor do reino. Nótulas sobre funções de Corte (séculos XIII-XVII)," Itinerarium, Vol. XLI, No. 153, pp. 491–504.
• Gomes, Rita Costa (2003). The Making of a Court Society: Kings and Nobles in Late Medieval Portugal. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Gomes, Saul António (2012). "Abbés et vie régulière dans l'abbaye d'Alcobaça (Portugal) au Moyen Âge: un bilan". In: Les personnes d'autorité en milieu régulier: Des origines de la vie régulière au XVIIIe siècle. Saint-Étienne: Publications de l'Université de Saint-Étienne.