Amieira Castle

Parish of Amieira

Background

The Amieira castle is explained in this context of renewal of the role and action of the Order. Three years later, D. Pedro I visited the fortress, whose works must have already been quite advanced, although they were only formally completed in 1362. Álvaro Gonçalves Pereira himself showed great care in the construction and development of this castle, dying here in 1375.

According to the studies of Mário Barroca, which we follow here, the Amieira castle is the prototype of a Portuguese Gothic castle (IDEM, p. 206). Located at a relatively low level, a sign that the evolution of military architecture made buildings independent of topographical constraints, it has a regular rectangular plan, surrounded by four towers at the corners.

The medieval castle

In the context of the struggles for the Christian Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula and the formation of the kingdom of Portugal, King D. Sancho II (1223-1248) made a significant donation of land to the Order of Saint John of the Hospital of Jerusalem, including the towns of Amieira, Belver (Gavião) and Crato (1232).

Of the three, the last to be fortified was Amieira, about a century later, under the reign of Afonso IV of Portugal (1325-1357). The construction of the castle is attributed to Prior D. FreiÁlvaro Gonçalves Pereira, bastard son of the Prior of the Order of the Hospital in Portugal, bishop D. Gonçalo Pereira, and father of the future Constable, D. Nuno Álvares Pereira. Some works must have been guided by another son, D. Pedro Pereira, and were not completed in 1359 as can be inferred from a royal letter sent that year to D. Álvaro, having been completed in 1362.

During the Crise of 1383-1385, the then Prior of the Hospital, D. Pedro Pereira, at the beginning of 1384 recognized the authority of D. Beatriz, daughter of D. Fernando, and, as such, legitimate heir to the Portuguese throne. The Amieira Castle, together with others of the Order, paid obedience to the Queen, a situation that changed a few months later, under the influence of Constable D. Nuno Álvares Pereira, the Prior's brother, who left for Castile.

The only military episode in which the castle was involved occurred in 1440. After D. Leonor, princess of Aragon, had a disagreement with the infante D. Pedro, she withdrew, with the complicity of the prior, D. Nuno de Góis, to Crato, having invoked the Castilian forces to her aid, which besieged Amieira. Faced with this insubordination, D. Pedro ordered the occupation of the castles of the Hospital priory in this border region, ordering D. Álvaro Vaz de Almada (Count of Abranches), attack Amieira Castle. Without offering resistance, the castles surrendered, the prior of Crato and D. Leonor fled to Castile and peace was restored. Amieira Castle passed into the hands of Pedro Rodrigues de Castro as mayor at the end of the conflict.

In the following centuries, small modernization works were carried out under the reign of D. João II (1481-1495) and of D. Manuel I (1495-1521), phase in which it would have served as a prison. The construction of a chapel dedicated to Saint John the Baptist dates back to the 16th century (1556).

From the 17th century to the present day

At the time of the war of Restoration of Independence residential buildings were erected inside the castle grounds which, shaken by the earthquake of 1755, were already in ruins in 1747, according to a contemporary report by Father Luís Cardoso. At that time, attempts were made to partially restore the Keep.

In the mid-19th century, possibly due to the decree that prohibited burials within church grounds in Portugal (1846), the castle's parade ground began to be used as a cemetery by the town's population.

In the 20th century, in the 1920s, the castle's dependencies became the responsibility of Ministry of War, with whom the Parish Council entered into a lease agreement that allowed it to use the monument. Listed as a National Monument by Decree No. 8,447, published on November 10, 1922, in the 1940s it was subject to consolidation and restoration intervention by the General Directorate of National Buildings and Monuments (DGEMN), remaining in good condition to this day.

Features

Small in size, with a rectangular plan, it is considered a model of a Portuguese castle in the Gothic style.

The walls, battlements, are reinforced at the angles by four solid towers and by the Keep, of larger proportions, with a quadrangular plan, defending the entrance to barbican. This tower has windows, one of which is semi-detached and the other with a pointed arch and log frame. Inside, the parade ground opens up. On the outside, the complex is completed by a moat (now filled in) and a solid barbican with a quadrangular plan, with crenellated walls.

Outside the walls, but attached to one of the towers, stands the Chapel of Saint John the Baptist with a perfect arched gate with padded staves. Inside, it has a coffered vault decorated with grotesques and an image of the patron saint, as well as a late Renaissance altarpiece.