In the City and Countryside. The Establishment and Definition of the Parish Network in the Diocese of Lisbon (12th-15th Centuries)

Abstract

The conquest of Lisbon, in October 1147, marked a new period for the territories of Islamic al-Ušbūna. The now Christian rulers oversaw the changes within the social fabric of the city through the arrival of new elites and the exodus of part of the previous inhabitants, now perceived as ethnic and religious minorities, alongside the transfer of property and appropriation of space. In these urban processes, as with others, the rare information available underlines the role of the new ecclesiastical authorities in the forefront of a necessary institutionalization. The creation of a parish network was part of the latter, with a cadence and comprehensiveness that are still poorly known. This paper intends to re-evaluate the historical treatment of this question, drawing from existing research and new source material. It argues that the process of parochialization in the Lisbon diocese took root very quickly in urban and suburban nuclei, while extending only later to newly-cleared land areas, mostly under the dependence of urban churches. From the middle of the thirteenth century, this process runs in parallel with the necessity to better define their boundaries, which left a document trail spanning until at least the end of the Middle Ages.