The long walk up to the castle of Leiria, in Portugal, is paved with cobblestones that are slippery when wet. I gingerly trekked up until, gasping for air, I reached the entrance to the castle proper.

As a city that is the capital of its district, Leiria is large enough to be useful for the locals and small enough to be easy to see by tourists.

Leiria has the usual influences found on the Iberian peninsula – Phoenicians, Romans, Moors. It also has Celtic connections and the Welsh may have inhabited it a few thousand years ago. The word ‘Leiria’ comes from a medieval Galician word meaning ‘ground’ or ‘plot’. It shares its origin with the Welsh ‘llawr’ meaning ‘floor’.

Its greatest attraction is the castle which commands an impressive view of the city from its hill-top site. The ruins of this castle are all that are left. The remaining spaces, I’m happy to note, are well maintained and used for exhibitions. Certain architectural details about the place were carefully restored and maintained. These show influences that had not been used in the region before which makes them important for historians. The Mediterranean arches along the terrace, for instance, provide an excellent view of the city and give a unique touch to an otherwise medieval building.

In 1438, the castle was the site of a discussion chaired by the Portuguese King Dom Duarte. The Moors had captured and imprisoned the King’s brother in Tangiers. The King was considering handing over the city of Ceuta in return for his brother.

Ceuta is today a Spanish enclave in Morocco which I visited in 2015.

The discussion was heated but the parliament voted to keep the territory.

The King, not wanting to disagree with the majority, accepted this. His brother died in a Moroccan prison 5 years later. Dom Duarte, overcome by grief, died soon afterwards.

We think of royal families as having absolute control over their territories. The reality is that the concept of democracy was already in vogue in the 15th century.

Letting parliament decide the fate of your own brother is a step too far, if you ask me. I’m far more impressed by the Austrian version of brotherly love than this one!