Peripheral agents of royal justice in the small frontier towns of the Alto Alentejo in the 15th and 16th centuries (juizes de fora in action)

The aim of this article is to evaluate the action and mobility of the juízes de fora in and towards the small towns located in the border area of Alto Alentejo in the 15th and 16th centuries. It thus forms part of an area of research which, despite having already acquired classic status, continues to grow and is the subject of renewed perspectives of approach: the process of granting greater effectiveness to the peripheral administration of the crown throughout the Middle Ages and early modern period. The problem will be analysed at a focal point delimited in terms of the territory of the kingdom, but the mechanisms and agents will be studied. Ultimately, the peripheral magistrates of the crown interest us because they (also) contribute to the study of the links and flows between the various localities in this area