Páteo de São Miguel is located in one of the most noble and strategic points of the city of Évora and, for this reason, it has been the object of several occupations throughout its history.
The first occupation of this space had essentially a defensive purpose, determined by its own location at the highest point in the city, which not only made it difficult for enemy forces to access in the event of an attack, but also allowed it to dominate a vast area of the surrounding plain and maintain visual contact with other fortifications. The space occupied by Páteo de São Miguel was a key point in the defensive structure of the city, so it was Alcácer Mourisco and an integral part of the Old Castle of Évora.
After the conquest of the city from the Moors, in 1165, the fortification was handed over by King D. Afonso Henriques to the Military Order of São Bento de Calatrava, who later transferred its headquarters to Avis, changing its name to the Order of Avis. During the period in which the Order was based in Évora, its Knights, also known as Freires de Évora, inhabited the houses of Castelo Velho and other spaces in the immediate vicinity giving rise to the emergence of the toponyms “Freiria de Cima” and “Freiria de Baixo ”that call two streets of the city.
From 1220, the Paço de São Miguel was reinstated in the Crown as a royal palace, having served as an inn for all the kings up to D. Duarte and as headquarters to the Constable D. Nuno Álvares, frontier of the Alentejo, during the War of Independence (1383-85).
A testimony of the military and political relevance of this space in the Middle Ages comes to us through Fernão Lopes, an important Portuguese chronicler of the 15th century. During the crisis of 1383-1385, supporters in Évora of D. Leonor Teles and D. João I of Castela barricaded themselves inside the Castle. In order to occupy this position, the supporters of D. João, Mestre de Avis, future D. João I, besieged the walled area, triggering attacks by archers from the Roman Temple and the Cathedral of Évora, which, however, proved unsuccessful. The doors of the square were only opened when the faithful to the cause of the new King imprisoned the relatives of the besieged people who lived in the city and threatened to execute them.
With the expansion of the city, the construction of the Fernandina Wall, which surrounds the Historic Center of Évora, and the advances in artillery, the old Castelo Velho lost its primitive defensive functions and gained importance as a seat of military, political and administrative power and as residence space of its holders.
