Foral

{{Sources exist|date=May 2026}} {{Italic title}} {{Short description|Royal charter prescribing administrative privileges or sanctions in the Portuguese Empire}} thumb|200px|Foral of Castro Verde - Portugal

The '''''carta de foral''''', or simply '''''foral''''', was a royal charter in Portugal and its former empire, whose purpose was to establish a ''concelho'' (council) and regulate its administration, borders and privileges. A newly-founded town would also need the king's approval through a ''foral'', in order to be considered one; in this case, the town's administration and privileges would be defined in that document.<ref>{{cite web |author= |date= |title=foral |url=https://www.infopedia.pt/artigos/$foral |website=infopedia.pt |location= |publisher=Porto Editora |access-date=13 May 2026}}</ref> '''''Forais''''' (plural form of ''foral'') were granted between the 12th and the 16th centuries. The imperial-Spanish realization of this concept is known as ''fuero''.

The ''foral'' was the basis for municipal foundation, thus the most important event of a city or town's history. It was critical to a successful land settling and an increase in crop yields, by giving more freedom and dignity, via a concession, to farmers, in an age when people were subject to near slave work, as servants of landlords. The ''foral'' made a ''concelho'' free from feudal control, transferring power down to a neighbours' council (''concelho''), with its own municipal autonomy.<ref name="NovaHistoriadePortugal"> {{cite book |last=Cruz Coelho |first=Maria Helena da |date=1996 |title=Nova História de Portugal |chapter=Concelhos |language=pt |publisher=Editorial Presença |editor-last1=Serrão |editor-first1=Joel |editor-last2=Oliveira Marques |editor-first2=A. H. de |location= |isbn=9789722320399 |page=558 |url= |access-date=}}</ref> As a result, the population would become directly and exclusively under the dominion and jurisdiction of the Crown, excluding the Lord from the power hierarchy. The ''foral'' granted public lands to the collective use of the community, regulated taxes, tolls and fines and established protection rights and military duties within royal service.

A pillory (''pelourinho'') is directly linked to a ''foral''. It was usually raised after the ''foral'' was granted and placed in the main square of the town.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dias |first=Jaime Lopes |date=1935 |title=Pelourinhos e Forcas do Distrito de Castelo Branco |language=pt |publisher=Torres & Cia. – Livraria Ferin |location=Lisboa |isbn= |page=26 |url=https://www.google.pt/books/edition/Pelourinhos_e_f%C3%B4rcas_do_distrito_de_Cas/B9ugAAAAMAAJ? |access-date=2026-05-14}}</ref>

The noun ''foral'' ({{IPA|pt-PT|fuˈɾal|lang}}, plural: ''forais'') is derived from the Portuguese word ''foro'', ultimately from Latin ''forum'', and is cognate with Spanish ''fuero'', Galician ''foro'', Catalan ''fur'' and Basque ''foru''.

==References== {{Reflist}} Category:Legal history of Portugal Category:Legal terminology