He decided to focus his doctorate on 15th-century chronology, a period tailored to his preference for cultural revivals of a classical nature. His taste for the Age of Expansion and Discovery soon became apparent – “O parecer do Infante D. João sobre a ida a Tânger” (The opinion of Prince John on the trip to Tangier) (Brotéria, 1958). As a member of the Centre for Archaeological Studies, under the supervision of Manuel Heleno, he spent two years as a scholarship holder in Florence, Rome and the Vatican between 1960 and 1962, a happy time when he crossed paths with friends who would remain his lifelong companions, especially Manuel Mendes Atanázio and Ruy de Albuquerque.

In 1963, his doctoral dissertation in History was published, entitled Dom Frey Gomez, Abbot of Florence (1420-1440) (1963). The documentation and bibliography he collected for his doctoral research, especially the former (he could not conceive of scientific work without first “getting his hands dirty” in the sources), immersed him deeply in the turbulent clerical world of the Italian peninsula after Constance-Basel, especially in the themes of Church reform, an immersion that would explain his interest in the “ “ reinforced by the reign of King Duarte and the figures of the Eloquent King and his brother Pedro, patron of Abbot Gomes. Works such as “Nótulas de história do século XV português” (Notes on the history of the 15th century in Portugal) (Do Tempo e da História, 1965), “Guerra Santa – Santa ‘Pirataria’“ (Holy War – Holy ‘Piracy’) (Brotéria, Vol. XC [1970]), “Política hospitalar de D. Duarte. Achegas Vaticanas” (1973) and “Parecer do Doutor ‘Velasco di Portogallo’ sobre o Beneplácito Régio (Florença, 1454)” (Do Tempo e da História, II, 1968) reflect how much he learned and later matured and published.

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