Honra

A honra was an administrative division and a form of lordship that existed in the Kingdom of Portugal prior to 1834 - a land, or district, whose jurisdiction and income belonged to a Lord or Fidalgo.

[2] Honras and coutos - made up of one or more parishes, or parts of parishes - had in common the characteristic of immunity, which resulted in the exemption from tax charges before the Crown, the right to administer civil and criminal justice by the respective Lords and the right to prevent the entry of royal officials.

The honras' original constitutions were linked to the so-called "Reconquista" movement, during which several Portuguese noble families managed to impose their political and territorial influence independently of royal concessions.

[1] The crown thus recognized acquired rights,[3] at the same time as it sought to limit the expansion of the Lords' powers and influence.

By then, however, they were already subject to the general regime applicable to Lordships (that is, to the provisions of the so-called Lei Mental, that only allowed the succession of property and lordships, in a noble family, when there was a legitimate male son to inherit them), namely with regard to the process of royal confirmations - either by more or less automatic succession or by express confirmation made by a new King.