contacts as well and encouraged maritime development
in the Algarve. In 1293 he supported the creation of a
bolsa de comércio (commercial fund) by Portuguese
merchants for their legal defense in foreign ports. The
monarch promoted trade fairs and gave the towns that
held them privileges and exemptions. Dinis also re-
formed the kingdom’s coinage. Further, he promoted
the mining industry by encouraging the extraction of
silver, tin, sulphur, and iron.
Although Portuguese shipping had played a role in
the kingdom’s defense, as well as in the offensive against
the Muslims, it was not until the reign of Dinis that a
Portuguese navy was offi cially established. In 1317 the
Portuguese monarch signed a contract with the Genoese
Manuele Pessagno (Manuel Peçanha) that made him
and his heirs admirals of Portugal and gave him many
important rights and privileges. Pessagno was to provide
twenty Genoese captains and build up the king’s fl eet.
He was obliged to defend Portugal’s coast, but at the
same time was free to engage in commerce between his
native Italy and England and Flanders.
Dinis ordered the exclusive use of Portuguese as
the nation’s language. Works of history and law were
translated into Portuguese, including the Siete Partidas
of Dinis’s grandfather, Alfonso X of Castile and León.
In 1290 papal approval was received for the University
of Lisbon, which Dinis had founded several years ear-
lier. In 1308 the university was transferred to Coimbra,
where it remained until 1338. Between 1354 and 1377
it was again at Coimbra; then it returned to Lisbon and
remained there until 1537.
By promoting royal justice and cracking down on the
usurpation of royal prerogatives, Dinis also greatly in-
creased royal authority. He reinstituted the inquiricM es
(general inquiries) of his predecessors, especially in the
regions of Beira Baixa and Entre Douro e Minho. Fur-
ther, he gradually resolved the kingdom’s problems with
the papacy, ending the twenty-two years struggle with
Rome that had left his father and him excommunicates
and Portugal under interdict. In 1289 a compromise, the
Concordat of the Forty Articles, was signed. Although
the church did not give up any of its ideas regarding the
immunity of its holdings and its jurisdiction, it did agree
to obey royal authority.
An important fi gure in Portugal during Dinis’s reign
was his wife, Isabel—the future St. Isabel—whom he
married in 1288. The daughter of Pedro III of Aragón,
the Portuguese queen played an important role as a
mediator in the feuds between her husband and his
brother Afonso, and between the king and his son, the
future Afonso IV. In addition, her skill as a conciliator
was of major signifi cance in the negotiations leading
to the Treaty of Alcañices, which fi xed the defi nitive
boundaries between Portugal and Castile.
See also Clement V, Pope; Philip IV the Fair;
Sancho IV, King of CastileFurther Reading
Livermore, H. V. A. History of Portugal. Cambridge, 1947.
Serrão, J. V. História de Portugal. Vol. 1. Lisbon, 1977.
Mattoso, J. (ed.) História de Portugal. Vol. 2. Lisbon, 1993.
Francis A. DutraDIRC VAN DELF (ca. 1365–ca. 1404)
Dirc van Delf, author of Dutch religious texts, was one
of the most learned men of his time. He was probably
born in Delft (county of Holland) around 1365. At an
early age he entered the Dominican convent at Utrecht.
After many years of study he became doctor of theology.
From December 1399 onward we fi nd him at the court
of Duke Albrecht of Bavaria, count of Holland, in The
Hague. There he had the function of court chaplain, but
he also lectured at German universities, such as Cologne
and Erfurt. We lose all trace of Dirc van Delf after the
death of his patron Albrecht in the year 1404.
In 1401, a book presumably written by Dirc for count-
ess Margaret of Cleves, wife of Albrecht, is mentioned
in the accounts of the court in The Hague, but unfortu-
nately it has not survived. For Duke Albrecht he started
writing around 1403 the Tafel van den Kersten Ghelove
(Handbook of the Christian Faith), a scholastic summa,
or compendium, in the vernacular. Stylistically, it is one
of the best Middle Dutch prose works, and is indeed
one of the most learned encyclopedias of all European
vernacular languages. The text consists of two large
parts: the Winterstuc (Winter Piece) and the Somerstuc
(Summer Piece). The main source of the Tafel van den
Kersten Ghelove is the Compendium of Religious Truths
(Compendium theologicae veritatis) by Hugh Ripelin
of Strasbourg (also known as Hugo Argentinensis, ca.
1210–ca. 1270), but Dirc made use of many other Latin
sources as well. Dirc’s personal achievement consists in
his regrouping and reformulating of this large amount
of knowledge. He always takes into account the intel-
lectual level of his audience, and his use of images often
corresponds with the experiences of the members of the
court. His work deals with the whole creation: there
are, among others, chapters about God, the creation of
the world, the creation of humankind, the angels, more
scientifi c subjects like the planets, the four elements,
physiognomy, and also virtues and vices, God’s mercy,
the life of Christ, the acts of the apostles, the ecclesiasti-
cal hierarchy, works of mercy, liturgy, the sacraments,
social order, the Antichrist, and the Last Judgment.
Using the Aristotelian system of dialectical reasoning,
Dirc expounds God’s perfect plan for the laity: noth-
ing is without sense or reason. Finally, he signifi cantlyDIRC VAN DELF