The legend says that king Afonso
Henriques donated most of the lands from the region of Alcobaça to a French
monk named Bernard. The king wanted him, and his religious brothers, to build a monastery there. He did that to accomplish a promise he had done while walked to
the conquer of Santarém*.
In fact, king Afonso Henriques was
in a hurry to put an end to the mixture of races and beliefs among the
populations who lived in that region half christian, half islamic. And this was
necessary in order to unite the nation!
At the same time, the king needed the
Pope's support to consolidate his kingdom.
In that time, Bernard was an
influent man inside Christian Church and also a controversial one. In one hand
defended humility and, in other hand, supported violence, if necessary, to
defend Christian faith! The religious order of Cister (XIth century) resulted
from Saint Benedict Order's reformation held by Bernard. And this man was king
Afonso Henriques' relative. Due to Bernard's influence Alexander III, the
Pope** who later canonized*** him, recognized Portugal as an independent nation
and Afonso Henriques as king.
The Monastery has a church, a
cloister and a chapter house. The current frontage is from the XVII century. The architecture of the monastery follows the
gothic style, it is a decorative sculptural style and mobile art. In this
monastery we can see the tombs of king Pedro and Inês de Castro, characters
from one of the most known love stories of the Portuguese middle age.
* –
Portuguese city.
** –
Christian leader.
*** – To recognize someone as a Saint.
