Habilitation (Agregação) in 2003, Doctorate in 1993, and Bachelor’s degree in 1974, all from the University of Lisbon. Assistant Professor at the School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon until her retirement. Having entered the university teaching career through a public open competition in 1985, she has taught courses on medieval history, focusing on institutional and political history, the history of culture and mentalities, and ecclesiastical history; she has also taught palaeography and diplomatics. Her area of research focuses on the themes of power and institutions, power and "political mentalities", especially Church-State relations, and the question of "just war"; but also in the field of Camões studies, specifically the political thought of the poet in the context of reflections on these topics in the 16th century, in Portugal and Europe. She has worked on regional and local history, namely on the towns of Ericeira, Portel, and Óbidos. In Ericeira, she was one of the founders and also a member of the scientific council of the Instituto de Cultura Europeia e Atlântica and of the publishing house Mar de Letras, from its foundation until 2015. She is a researcher at the Centre for History of the University of Lisbon, where she is a member of the research group Military History. Member of the group Raízes Medievais do Brasil Moderno since its establishment in 2005. The group has held meetings, that are now in 17th edition, alternatively in Portugal and Brazil, and its proceedings have been published accordingly. She is a part of the editorial board of the collection “Memória Atlântica” (research group Escritos Sobre os Novos Mundos, FAPESP, University of São Paulo). Among other institutions, she is a member of the Academia Portuguesa da História (Académica de Número), the Academia de Marinha (Membro Emérito da Classe de História Marítima), the Sociedade Científica da Universidade Católica Portuguesa, the Sociedade Portuguesa de Estudos Medievais (founding member) and the Associação Ibérica de História Militar (sécs. IV-XVI).