The book production of monasteries of S. Cruz de Coimbra and Alcobaça in the fourteenth century

Abstract

Hagiographies and Monastic Treaties of the monasteries of Santa Cruz de Coimbra and Alcobaça were considered important tools for maintaining social order, for prescribing what was objectionable or recommended practice in daily life between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The scriptoria of such monasteries textually prescribed various practical teachings to spread them through different regions of Portugal at that time. Given the commitment of these moralizing works, we intend to find out which values ​​the copyist monks   sought to spread on Portuguese soil in that period. More precisely, this article aims to analyze such written production to scan the forms of production, conservation and distribution of knowledge related to the practice of virtues on the "Three hundred." In other words, from an argument about the social role of the book, this article attempts to inventory framework of values   and practices   shared by the Portuguese clergy of that time. Furthermore, it is also an objective of this study to show the importance of the monasteries for the construction of the first libraries in that kingdom.