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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Pious lies for place(s) of memory? The myth of the Cortes of Lamego in the constitutional history of Portugal

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Despite their dubious authenticity, the laws adopted at the Cortes de Lamego of 1143 (an equally disputed date) were seen as the basis of Portugal's customary constitution from the time of their convenient rediscovery at the beginning of the 17th century during the Spanish rule (1580-1640). Until the period of the New State (1933-1974), their political and constitutional use served almost every cause, even the most opposed: Portuguese independence, at the time of the Restoration (1640-1668); national sovereignty and the use of constituent power by human beings during the liberal revolution of Porto (1820-1822); the submission of men to the divine constituent power, implying the respect of the historical and/or natural constitution of the country during the reign of D. Miguel (1828-1834); the early introduction of parliamentary rule in Portugal, constitutional monarchy and the rejection of Iberianism at the end of the 19th century; and even 'lusotropicalism' and the legitimacy of the colonial empire in the 1960s.