Convinced that it was impossible to study political history outside its international framework, he proposed the creation of a practical course in diplomatic history, but it was frowned upon by the professors of the Faculty of Arts, who rendered it down to a series of lectures, beginning on 26 April 1934. At that time, he requested a PhD in History, at both the Universities of Lisbon and Coimbra, which was refused (Memorial, p. 185). Also dating from that time was an open letter (27 February 1934) to the Ministers of Finance, Foreign Affairs and Instruction (Salazar, Caeiro da Matta and Sousa Pinto) on the urgent need for organising a diplomatic archive to bring together the vast documentary heritage spread across several depositories. He also suggested the creation of a library of international studies and the publication of a newsletter or diplomatic magazine. He was later pleased to note Virginia Rau's initiative in developing a line of research in Diplomatic History, at the History Centre of the University of Lisbon.

His entry into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was not easy. The competitive entrance exam finally opened in 1939, but he was deemed to have "a controversial character, unfit for diplomacy" (Memorial, p. 192). He failed that year, and again failed to be admitted in 1941. He then won a grant from the Institute for High Culture to work in the Vatican Secret Archives. Soon after, he put together a compilation – the Colecção de concordatas estabelecidas entre a Santa Sé e Portugal de 1238 a 1940 (Collection of concordats made between the Holy See and Portugal from 1238 to 1940). Preceded by a brief introduction, analysing the evolution of the concept of concordats in light of international law, the author brought together the Portuguese versions of the texts, positioning them in their temporal contexts through short analyses and explanatory notes. This set the tone for the path he would follow throughout his life, combining diplomacy with the development of historical research, such that both became an integral part of himself. "I was, after all, a diplomat and a historian. Or perhaps I should say, a historian and a diplomat", he would later say in Memorial de Don Quixote, written shortly after he ended his career (p. 165).

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