ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the study of three Portuguese documents, written in 1503, 1509 and 1516, containing regulations relating to the Orders of Christ, Santiago and Avis respectively. The Order of Christ, on the other hand, had not originally been dependent on a Castilian order, although it had later become affiliated to the Order of Calatrava. By the early fifteenth century, the Portuguese military orders felt the need to reorganize and to readapt themselves to their fundamental goal: the fight against the infidel. Each military order admitted new members by means of a religious ceremony; nevertheless, there was a clear distinction according to whether the candidate was a knight or a cleric. The Order of Christ was an exception to the other military orders because of its national character and participation in the expansionist project, and it had the particular privilege of assigning overseas benefices as well as being responsible for spiritual jurisdiction overseas.
