Why was it nearly forgotten? The Agreda Treaty ... - Brown University

Sá-Nogueira
Why was it nearly forgotten?
A final question. If the document could harm Portugal’s best interest, why was it
not simply destroyed? There is one possible answer, so down-to-earth and utilitarian that
some will deem it too pragmatic and politically realistic to be acceptable. The document
none the less contained the proof of the realm’s release from Castilian subjection. Thus and
therefore, perhaps it was better to keep it, but not to show it—let alone divulge its
existence.
Historical facts, unlike people, are not biological and consequently last much
longer. But they only remain alive in the memory of future ages if they are mentioned.
Otherwise oblivion becomes their guardian, by the hand of those who carefully choose
such guardianship.
e-JPH, Vol. 10, number 2, Winter 2012 20