The Mendicant Equilibrium in Medieval Lisbon: Religious Houses and Urban Growth

Abstract

From the mid-twelfth century to the end of the fifteenth century, a total of eleven religious houses were founded in Lisbon, in addition to those located in the city’s surrounding area. This set of buildings belonged to different religious communities, but the majority of them represented the mendicant orders. This article analyses the chronological and spatial process of the installation of the mendicant orders in Lisbon and its impacts on the urban development of the city. The objective is to demonstrate how the equilibrium in the distribution of mendicant order’s edifices in the urban space was established in conjunction with the houses of the other religious communities and the growth of the city itself, and to examine the large-scale impacts for the city’s development.