In the Empire of Prudence

counsel and advisement in Portugal under the Hispanic Monarchy (1580-1640)

Abstract

The article analyzes how the practice of counsel and the virtue of prudence structured Portuguese political culture during the period in which the kingdom was integrated into the Hispanic Monarchy (1580-1640). Based on the study of treatises, chronicles, alvitres, and other political and moral writings, this paper demonstrates that the act of advising – both within institutions and through written production – was a central element of the political thought and communication of the time, also fundamental in defining power relations and constructing royal legitimacy. The text starts from the observation that Portugal’s integration into the Hispanic Monarchy led to the creation of new consultative bodies, such as the Council of Portugal, which reinforced the polysynodal model of government characteristic of the Spanish Empire. At the same time, the circulation of texts devoted to political advice reveals the persistence of an ethics grounded in prudence and in the practical use of history, both of which guided the ideal of the good counselor and the prudent prince, together forming what may be understood as a “culture of counsel” in the Early Modern period.