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Portucalensis

Portucalensis is a Latin term meaning “of Portucale” and is used in medieval and early modern sources to designate people, offices, or things associated with Portucale, the historical region around the city of Porto in the northwest Iberian Peninsula. The form serves as a geographical and political identifier more than a modern place name.

Portucale corresponds to the area surrounding Portus Cale, an ancient settlement at the Douro estuary that

Historical documents and chronicles frequently use Portucalensis to reference the people, offices, or institutions tied to

Today, Portucalensis survives chiefly as a scholarly descriptor rather than a contemporary administrative term. It remains

later
gave
its
name
to
Porto
and
to
the
broader
territory
known
in
Latin
as
Portucale.
In
the
9th
century,
this
region
became
a
frontier
county
within
the
Christian
realms
of
the
Iberian
Peninsula,
often
described
in
Latin
as
the
County
of
Portucale.
Its
lords
developed
the
county’s
power
and
laid
the
groundwork
for
a
consolidated
territorial
basis
that
would
eventually
play
a
central
role
in
the
formation
of
Portugal.
Portucale,
such
as
governors,
counts,
or
diocesal
entities
associated
with
the
region.
The
term
is
encountered
in
Latin
charters
and
in
the
historiography
surrounding
the
rise
of
the
Portuguese
nation,
especially
in
discussions
of
the
early
medieval
county
that
preceded
the
Kingdom
of
Portugal.
of
interest
to
historians
studying
the
origins
of
Portugal
and
the
medieval
institutions
that
emerged
from
Portucale.
See
also
Portus
Cale,
County
of
Portucale,
Kingdom
of
Portugal,
and
Latin
historiography
of
Iberia.