Sancho II of Portugal - Dispossession From Throne

Dispossession From Throne

Sancho II proved a capable commander but, with regard to equally important administrative issues, he was less competent. With his total attention focused on military campaigns, the ground was open for internal disputes. The nobility was displeased by the king's conduct and started to conspire against him. Moreover, the middle class of merchants quarrelled frequently with the clergy, without any intervention from the king. As a result, the Archbishop of Porto made a formal complaint to the Pope about this state of affairs. Since the Church was the superpower of the 13th century, Pope Innocent IV felt free to issue a bull ordering the Portuguese to choose a new king to replace the so-called heretic.

In 1246 recalcitrant nobles invited Sancho's brother Afonso, then living in France as Consort Count of Boulogne, to take the throne. Afonso immediately abdicated from his French possessions and marched into Portugal.