On the immediate practical, ideological and political level, the historiographical incursion at the end of the 14 th century never strays from the revolutionary designs of the 20 th century: in the doctrinal sphere, it recapitulates the principles and corroborates the universal validity of Marxist codification; in the realm of the battle of ideas, it contrasts a dialectical view of the years 1383-85 and the foundations of expansion with monistic and nationalist historiography and mythology; in the party arena, it constitutes an exercise in the application of a revolutionary social theory and a warning against conciliatory strategic or tactical deviations; in the symbolic register, it guarantees the success of proletarian political action with the example of the bourgeois revolution, both progressive, patriotic, popular, with urban leadership and a rural front, equally subject to sudden and contradictory developments. In As Lutas de Classes em Portugal nos Fins da Idade Média [ Class Struggles in Portugal at the End of the Middle Ages ] , one cannot fail to see an indication of cultural policy.

A simple appreciation of the schematic layout of the original edition makes the message controversial, tending to divide opinion and constitute a clear Marxist historiographical trend. On the side of the supporting quotations, we find only those of Marx and Engels, the historiographical knowledge that the communist leader takes for granted is evoked generically, while the refuted authors not only see the passages chosen as emblematic formally transcribed as they appear, as a rule, accompanied by ideological epithets, Antero and António Sérgio are classified as reformists, Jaime Cortesão is considered liberal, and Torquato de Sousa Soares is treated as a fascist.

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