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Everything indicates that it was born from a law instituted in the Iberian peninsula, around the 13th century, which stipulated a fine of 500 sous for anyone who offended a nobleman. “In cases of recidivism, the aggressor would have to pay another 500 and it may have been in such situations that the expression appeared”, says etymologist Deonísio da Silva, from the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar). Non-nobility could claim as little as 300 – but usually ended up not getting a penny. In Precipício de Faetonte, a play written by Antônio José da Silva in 1738, there is the following sentence: “Whoever saddles a beauty will have to put up with being angry, zealous, itchy, begging, faded: another five hundred”. There are, however, older records, such as a dialogue from the play Filodemo (1587), by Camões, in which a character says “Dionísia, the most beautiful lady who never scattered her hair in the wind, is the daughter of I don’t know who” and another responds «That’s another five hundred.»
Furthermore, in the famous Don Quixote (1605), by Miguel de Cervantes, the protagonist tells his faithful squire, Sancho Panza, that he is “a nobleman of well-known manor, of possessions and properties, and of deserving five hundred soldi”.