Did King Afonso VI really leave marks on the floor of his bedroom from walking around?

Anyone who has visited the National Palace of Sintra has heard of the floor marked by the footsteps of King Afonso VI. But is the wear and tear on the floor really related to the Portuguese king's imprisonment?

This is the oldest part of the palace, a fortified structure that was built to defend the surrounding territory. Refurbished during the time of King Dinis and Queen Isabella of Aragon (13th century), this palace displayed its lordly authority to the population. This authority rested with the Queen, to whom the king handed over the lands (or town) of Sintra for her management. As the highest authority, queens had their quarters in this area of the Paço, which was the most inaccessible of all.

In the 17th century, this space had a different use. It became the prison of King Afonso VI, who was removed by his brother. The king lived here, inaccessible and guarded by 300 soldiers, for nine years. The Paço, a symbol of authority in earlier times, now obsolete, became a place of imprisonment for a king who was stripped of his royal authority. In the Chamber of King Afonso VI, you can see one of the oldest ceramic sidewalks in the palace (c. 1430-1440)

Truth or myth?

Let's take a trip back in time. Afonso VI, son of João IV and Luísa de Gusmão, ascended the throne in 1656. He was given the nickname ‘The Victorious’ because it was during his reign that the Restoration War came to an end (1668). However, shortly after this conquest, Afonso was removed from the throne by his brother, the future Pedro II, who declared him physically and mentally incapable. Afonso spent the rest of his reign in isolation: first on the island of Terceira, in the Azores, and then at the Paço de Sintra, where he died after nine years of confinement.

The king was confined to his room. He was guarded by 300 soldiers and could only leave his chambers to attend mass. Hence the legend that the marks we see today on the floor were left by the footsteps of King Afonso VI, who spent the day pacing back and forth in his small room. How true is this claim?

In fact, Afonso may have left marks on the tiled floor of that chamber. When he was a child, just three or four years old, he was struck down by a “malignant fever” which left him with hemiparesis, i.e. difficulty moving the right side of his body. It was therefore normal for him to drag his right leg and thus put more wear and tear on the tiles.

But was the king's physical problem enough to leave such deep marks on the floor of his bedroom? The curator of the National Palace of Sintra, Cláudio Marques, recalls that the floor of that chamber is dated to c. 1440 and that the king was in those rooms from 1674 to 1683, about 230 years later. In other words, it was normal for the floor to show some wear and tear by the time King Afonso VI lived there. "What's more, there isn't a single area of the floor that has gone unscathed by the marks of time. If the king had worn down the floor with his footsteps, this would only have been noticeable in one area of the room and not on the entire floor, given the placement of furniture such as the bed, table and chairs," explains the conservator. It is also known that, in the last years of his life, Afonso had more and more motor difficulties - he even had to be carried in his arms to attend mass in the tribune of the Paço de Sintra chapel.

With all these factors in mind, it's possible to say that, yes, King Afonso VI did wear down the floor of the room where he lived until he died, but its state of preservation is not due to his incessant footsteps.

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Source: Parques de Sintra