Since he was unable to carry out archival work, the primary sources he turned to were Fernão Lopes' chronicles, particularly the one about King John I, which was essential for understanding the revolutionary events of 1383. The work vividly captures the collective spirit of the time, painting a galvanising picture of the joy and upheaval in the streets, amplifying the voices of the common people, farmers, craftsmen, and highlighting the alliance formed by the lower classes against a weakened and challenged nobility. Thus, Borges Coelho brings to light the role of the working classes and the emerging bourgeoisie in shaping a new era, driven by the first bourgeois revolution.

Borges Coelho's first two works shared a clear intent: to explain the roots of the expansion and the new world that opened up with the Revolution of 1383. In Raízes da Expansão Portuguesa he puts forward the thesis of a bourgeoisie triumph that turned to the sea, drawing on ancient, experiential, and socially transmitted knowledge. This bourgeoisie distanced itself from a medieval culture that largely constrained the challenges posed by this endeavour, thereby objectively restricting the mercantile drive while reinforcing a warrior ethos that favoured territorial expansion. The work reflects the tension and conflict between these two movements.

Borges Coelho's second historiographical focus was on understanding who had culturally passed down the knowledge that ultimately enabled maritime expansion. His research question led him to explore the long-standing Islamic presence in the territory now occupied by Portugal. His curiosity grew while he was at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. A pressing question arose from the peculiar situation where, despite centuries of Muslim dominance, there appeared to be no trace of their cultural influence. As one prominent professor observed, it was as if an apocalypse had buried all evidence of that history beneath the earth.

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