In his famous Letter of Bruges Prince Pedro recommends that the future King Edward adopt a system to reform and tighten scrutiny over the magistrates of the kingdom. In the first quarter of the fourteenth century there was nothing new in a system which ordered its distribution by territory or in the form of required action. However, in order for these officials not to become "damagers" of districts, an entire renovation of the respective regulations and, in particular, surveillance was urgent. Without this, Justice would be nothing more than wishful thinking. As a line of analysis from this era we propose a short account of what these officials represented up until then and what they would come to represent by the end of the Middle Ages: the visible face of Royal Justice in the eyes of the people.
Letter of Bruges; Afonsine Ordinances; Justice; Magistrates