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Stories of the Nations
A Series of Historical Studies intended to present in graphic
narratives the stories of the different nations that have attained
prominence in history.
In the story form the current of each national life is distinctly
indicated, and its picturesque and noteworthy periods and episodes are
presented for the reader in their philosophical relations to each other
as well as to universal history.
12º, Illustrated, cloth, each $1.50
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Each (By mail) $1.50
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FOR FULL LIST SEE END OF THIS VOLUME
PORTUGAL
[Illustration: colophon]
[Illustration: PRINCE HENRY OF PORTUGAL.
(_From an Engraving of the Miniature in the MS. of “The Discovery of
Guinea,” 1448._)]
THE STORY OF THE NATIONS
PORTUGAL
BY
H. MORSE STEPHENS
BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD; OXFORD UNIVERSITY EXTENSION LECTURER
AUTHOR OF “A HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION”
NEW YORK
G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN
1903
COPYRIGHT, 1891
BY
G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
_Entered at Stationers’ Hall, London_
BY T. FISHER UNWIN
Electrotyped, Printed, and Bound by
The Knickerbocker Press, New York
G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
[Illustration: text decoration]
PREFACE.
This volume is written on a different plan to that adopted in most of
the volumes in the same Series which have preceded it, and attempts to
give a short chronological history of Portugal. An episodical history,
though more interesting than a consecutive narrative, in that it treats
only of the most striking events, demands from the reader a groundwork
of accurate knowledge. This is not given with regard to the history of
Portugal in any book in the English language with which the author is
acquainted. Dunham, who combined a history of Portugal with that of
Spain, in five volumes published in Lardner’s _Cabinet Cyclopædia_
between 1838 and 1843, based his account on Vertot’s _Révolutions de
Portugal_, first printed at Paris in 1678, and modern English standard
books of reference still make use of Dunham, and contain the old
blunders of identifying Portugal with Lusitania, recognizing the
fictitious Cortes of Lamego in 1143, regarding the victory of Ourique as
a “prodigious” victory, &c., &c. Since the time of Dunham, a few books
have been published in England bearing on special periods of Portuguese
history, such as the lives of the Marquis of Pombal and the Duke of
Saldanha, published by John Smith, Count of Carnota, and two volumes of
a _History of Portugal_, by E. MacMurdo, and which is still in progress;
but there exists no book containing a complete and trustworthy history
to which students may be referred.
Yet within the last fifty years the history of Portugal has been
entirely rewritten. The modern school of historians, which derived its
first impulsion from Niebuhr and Ranke, found a brilliant representative
in Alexandra Herculano, who saw that history could only be written after
a careful examination of contemporary documents, and who in his
_Historia de Portugal_, published between 1848 and 1853, swept away much
of the cobweb of legend which had enveloped the early history of his
country. Herculano undoubtedly owed much to Heinrich Schäfer, who wrote
the history of Portugal in the _Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten_
edited by Heeren and Ukert; but he went much further than Schäfer, and
the history of the latter is now quite out of date. The works of
Herculano and his followers have quite superseded the histories of
Lemos, Sousa Monteiro, and J. F. Pereira, which are mentioned here only
as books to be avoided by the historical student.
It is not intended to give a complete bibliography of the works of the
modern Portuguese school of historians, but the author thinks it worth
while to refer to some of the books which he has used, and which can be
recommended as trustworthy guides to those who may wish to examine
further into the history of Portugal. First with regard to documents,
the _Colleccão de Livros ineditos de Historia Portugueza_, edited by
Correa da Serra, and the _Colleccão dos principaes Auctores da Historia
Portugueza_, and the _Portugalliæ Monumenta Historica_, edited by
Herculano, contain the best editions of the old chroniclers; while
perpetual reference must be made to the _Quadro elementar das Relacões
politicas e diplomaticas de Portugal_ of the Viscount of Santarem, which
was continued by Rebello da Silva as the _Corpo diplomatico Portuguez_,
and contains in thirty-six volumes, published between 1856 and 1878, the
“_fœdera_” of Portugal up to 1640, and to the _Colleccão dos Actos
publicos celebrados entre a Coroa de Portugal e as mais Potencias desde
1640 até o Presente_, edited by J. Ferreira Borges de Castro and J.
Judice Biker. As consecutive narratives, the short history of J. P.
Oliveira Martins, and the illustrated popular history, which is the
joint work of Antonio Ennes, B. Ribeiro, E. Vidal, G. Lobato, L.
Cordeiro and Pinheiro Chagas may be read; but it would be far better to
study the more scientific works of Alexander Herculano, _Historia de
Portugal_, 4 vols., 1848-53, which goes to 1279, and _Da Origem e
Estabelecimento da Inquisicão em Portugal_, 2 vols., 1854-57; the
_Historia de Portugal pendente XVI. e XVII. Seculos_, 5 vols., 1860-71,
by L. A. Rebello da Silva; _Historia de Portugal desde os Fins do XVII.
Seculo até 1814_, 1874, by J. M. Latino Coelho; and _Historia da Guerra
civil e do Estabelecimento do Governo Parlamentar em Portugal_, 6 vols.,
1866-1881, by S. J. da Luz Soriano. Among special books of interest in
different languages may be noted _Memorias para a Historia e Theoria
das Cortes_, by the Viscount of Santarem, 1828; _Las Rainhas de
Portugal_, by F. da Fonseca Benevides, 1878; _History of the Revolutions
of Portugal from the Foundation of that Kingdom to the year 1677, with
the Letters of Sir R. Southwell during his Embassy there to the Duke of
Ormond_, by R. Carte, 1740; _Les Faux Don Sébastien_, by Miguel Martins
d’Antas, Paris, 1866; _Le Chevalier de Jant_; _Rélations de la France
avec le Portugal au temps de Mazarin_, by Jules Tessier, Paris, 1877;
and _Life of Prince Henry the Navigator_, by R. H. Major, 1868. Coming
to the history of the present century, the great _History of the
Peninsular War_, by Gen. Sir W. F. P. Napier, is justly famous in all
countries, and it is so well known that only a very few pages have been
devoted to the subject in the present volume; but reference has also
been made to the _Historia geral da Invasão dos Francezes em Portugal_,
by Accursio das Neves; to the _Excerptos Historicos relativos a Guerra
denominada da Peninsula, e as anteriores de 1801, de Roussillon e
Cataluna_, by Claudio de Chaby; and to the Wellington _Despatches_. On
the history of the civil wars the best authorities are _Memorias para a
Historia do Tempo que duron a Usurpacão de Dom Miguel_, by J. L. Freire
de Carvalho, 1841-43; _Historia de Liberdade em Portugal_, by J. G. de
Barros e Cunha, 1869; _Despachos e Correspondencia do Duque de
Palmella_, 1851-54; _Correspondencia Official de Conde de Carneira com o
Duque de Palmella_, 1874; _Memoirs of the Duke of Saldanha_, by the
Count of Carnota; _The Wars of Succession in France and Portugal_, by
William Bollaert, vol. i., 1870, and _The Civil War in Portugal, and the
Siege of Oporto, by a British Officer of Hussars_ [Colonel Badcock],
1835. Much valuable historical material is also buried in magazines and
the transactions of learned societies, and special reference may be made
to two particularly interesting essays in the _Annaes des Sciencias
Moraes e Politicas, Dom João II. e a Nobreza_, by Rebello da Silva, and
_Apontamentos para a Historia da Conquista de Portugal por Filippe II._,
by A. P. Lopes de Mendonça.
Apart from Portuguese history, Portuguese literature deserves to be
studied. Several pages have been devoted to it in the present volume,
and with regard to the early poetry of the troubadour epoch, the author
desires to express his obligations to the learned introductions of
Theophilo Braga, himself a poet of no mean rank, to his _Antologia
Portugueza_, 1876, and his _Cancioneiro Portuguez_, 1878. The glory of
Portuguese literature is Camoens, and it is fortunate that his great
poem, _The Lusiads_, has found an adequate translator at last. I know of
no translation of any classic which can compare with Sir Richard
Burton’s translation of _The Lusiads_. By his profound knowledge of the
Portuguese character no less than of the Portuguese language, by his
intimate acquaintance with the places which Camoens describes, and,
above all, by his temperament, which resembled that of the
conquistador-poet, Sir Richard Burton was fitted to reproduce for the
English people the thoughts and words of the greatest Portuguese poet.
Every lover of Camoens, like every lover of Homer, has been tempted to
translate his mighty poem; but, at last, so it seems to me, the work of
translation has been done once for all for Camoens by the loving labour
of Sir Richard Burton, and Englishmen may read _The Lusiads_,
reproduced faithfully into their own language, alike in spirit and in
words. That the life-poem of a hero of the sixteenth century should have
been worthily translated by a hero of the nineteenth, seems to me a
circumstance of which all lovers of literature in both England and
Portugal should be glad and proud.
In conclusion, the writing of this volume has been to the author a
labour of love. In the intervals of a minute study of the history of
another period, that of the French Revolution, he has turned with
pleasure to the task of writing this “Story of Portugal.” He has not
been able to work at original authorities as thoroughly as he might
wish, owing to the absorbing nature of his more important work, but he
hopes the time may come when he will be enabled to spend a few years
among the Archives at the Torre del Tombo, and investigate more
thoroughly the history of the early relations of England and Portugal,
and of the Portuguese in the East. Is he too presumptuous also in hoping
that a clearer knowledge of the old and tried friendship of the English
nation with the Portuguese may influence in some degree the attitude
taken by a portion of the English people towards their ancient ally in
the dispute with regard to the extent of the Portuguese possessions in
Africa?
H. MORSE STEPHENS.
OXFORD,
_March 1, 1891_.
[Illustration: text decoration]
CONTENTS.
I.
PAGE
EARLY HISTORY 1
The importance of, and features of interest in, Portuguese
history--Greeks, Phœnicians, and Romans--Portugal is not
the ancient Lusitania--The influence of Rome--The Visigoths--The
rule of the Mohammedans--The Christian princes
commence their incursions--Ferdinand “the Great” captures
Coimbra--The successes of the Almoravides--The formation
of the County of Portugal.
II.
THE COUNTY OF PORTUGAL--DONNA THERESA 20
The character of Henry of Burgundy, first Count of Portugal--The
Countess Theresa--Her policy--Count Henry fights in
Spain--His death--The regency of Theresa--The nobility and
the bishops--The wars of Theresa--Theresa styled Infanta--The
battle of S. Mamede--Theresa introduces the religious
military orders--Death of Donna Theresa.
III.
PORTUGAL BECOMES A KINGDOM--THE REIGN OF
AFFONSO HENRIQUES 34
The youth of Affonso Henriques--The heroism of Egas Moniz--The
Gallician wars--Affonso assumes the title of king--He
is recognized by the Pope--The Treaty of Zamora--Independence
won by the Gallician wars--The state of the Moors--Affonso’s
first war with the Moors--The victory of Ourique--Legends
concerning it--The wars of conquest--The capture
of Santarem and Lisbon--The assistance of the English crusaders--Capture
of Alcacer do Sal--The Treaty of Cella Nova--Affonso
taken prisoner at Badajoz--Truce with the Moors--Further
fighting--Great victory over the Moors at Santarem--Death
of Affonso Henriques.
IV.
PORTUGAL ATTAINS ITS EUROPEAN LIMITS 60
The reign of Sancho I.--The successes of the Moors--Sancho’s
internal administration--His quarrels with the clergy
and the Pope--The marriages of his children--The reign of
Affonso II. “the Fat”--Recapture of Alcacer do Sal and
defeat of the Moors--Arrival of the friars--The reign of
Sancho II.--The capture of Elvas--His quarrels with his
bishops--He is deposed by the Pope--The reign of Affonso
III.--His conquest of the Algarves--His alliance with his
people--The Cortes--His death.
V.
THE CONSOLIDATION OF PORTUGAL 85
The reign of Diniz--The Order of Christ--His internal
administration--His encouragement of literature--Portuguese
poetry--Stanzas of Camoens on Diniz--Affonso IV. “the
Brave”--The victory of the Salado--Friendship between
Portugal and England--The murder of Ines de Castro--Pedro
“the Severe”--Ferdinand “the Handsome”--The Queen
Leonor--Riot in Lisbon--War between Portugal and Castile--The
wickedness of the queen--The Treaty of Salvaterra--The
Portuguese revolt under Dom John of Aviz--The defence
of Lisbon--Dom John elected king--The victory of Aljubarrota--The
Treaty of Windsor and alliance with John of Gaunt--Peace
with Castile.
VI.
PORTUGAL DURING THE AGE OF EXPLORATION 115
The policy of John “the Great”--The alliance with England--His
internal administration--The power of the feudal
nobility--The capture of Ceuta--The king’s sons--The growth
of Portuguese literature--The reign of Duarte or Edward--The
expedition to Tangier--The “Constant Prince”--Dispute
as to the regency--Dom Pedro regent--Overthrown at battle
of Alfarrobeira--The reign of Affonso V. “the African”--His
African expeditions--War with Castile--Defeated at Toro--His
patronage of literature.
VII.
THE PORTUGUESE EXPLORERS 140
Prince Henry “the Navigator” and his work--The importance
of a direct route to India--The discovery of Madeira--The
story of Robert Machin--The discovery of the Azores--Cape
Bojador passed--The commencement of the African slave
trade--The discovery of Guinea, and of Cape Verde--The
voyage of Cadamosto--Death of Prince Henry--The equator
crossed--Discovery of the Congo--The Cape of Good Hope
reached and doubled.
VIII.
THE HEROIC AGE OF PORTUGAL 158
John II. “the Perfect”--Overthrow of the power of the
nobility--His foreign policy--Treaty of Tordesillas with Spain--Friendship
with England--His encouragement of exploration--His
court--Emmanuel “the Fortunate”--Expulsion of
the Jews--His policy and marriages--The discoveries of the
Portuguese--The seeds of decline--John III.--His policy--The
abandonment of the ports in Morocco--Corruption at
Court--Rapid depopulation of Portugal--The Inquisition and
the Jesuits--Death John III.
IX.
THE PORTUGUESE IN INDIA AND THE EASTERN
SEAS 185
Romantic interest of the story of the Portuguese in India--The
voyage of Vasco da Gama--State of India, when he
reached it--His return--The voyage of Cabral and the victory
of Pacheco--The viceroyalties of Almeida and Alboquerque--The
capture of Goa--Alboquerque establishes a factory at
Malacca and attacks Aden--The policy of Alboquerque--The
rule of his successors--Their policy and the nature of their
government--The Christian missionaries--S. Francis Xavier--The
viceroyalty of Castro--His victory at Diu--The successors
of Castro--The settlements in South-east Africa--The
Portuguese at Malacca and in the Spice Islands--Their communications
with China and Japan--The career of Mendes
Pinto--Extraordinary energy of the Portuguese in Asia.
X.
THE PORTUGUESE IN BRAZIL 220
Importance of Brazil to Portugal--Cabral’s discovery of the
country--Spain abandons its claims--The aboriginal inhabitants--Early
days--The first settlers and their government--Emigration
from Portugal--The viceroyalty of Thomas de
Sousa--The Jesuits and their work--The government of Duarte
da Costa--Failure of the French Huguenots to establish
themselves in Brazil.
XI.
THE LAST KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF AVIZ--DOM
SEBASTIAN AND THE CARDINAL HENRY 236
The rapid decay of Portugal--The accession of Sebastian--The
regency of Queen Catherine--The regency of the Cardinal
Henry--The character of Sebastian--His crusading ardour--The
Portuguese in India--Athaide’s defence of Goa--Sebastian
determines to invade Morocco--His applications for foreign
aid--His preparations--He lands in Africa--The defeat of
Alcacer Quibir--The death of Sebastian--The reign of the
Cardinal Henry.
XII.
PORTUGUESE LITERATURE--CAMOENS 259
The “Golden Age” of Portuguese literature--The revival of
classical learning--History of the University of Coimbra--Gil
Vicente--Bernardim Ribeiro--Sá de Miranda--Ferreira--Camoens--His
life--His “Lusiads”--João de Barros--Other
writers--Decline of Portuguese literature.
XIII.
THE SIXTY YEARS’ CAPTIVITY 278
The claimants to the Portuguese crown--Defeat of the Prior
of Crato--Philip II. of Spain recognized as king of Portugal--Further
efforts and death of the Prior of Crato--The false
Dom Sebastians--The government of Spain and its disastrous
results--The reign of Philip II.--The Portuguese in Asia--The
conquest of Kandy--The missionaries and the Inquisition--The
Dutch and the English overthrow the Portuguese power
in Asia--The Dutch in Brazil--Count Maurice of Nassau--Results
of the rule of Spain.
XIV.
THE REVOLUTION OF 1640 300
Discontent of the Portuguese at the rule of the Spaniards--Fostered
by Richelieu--The Duke and Duchess of Braganza--The
Duchess of Mantua, and her advisers--Preparations for
revolt--The leaders--The Revolution of December 1, 1640--The
Duke of Braganza crowned as John IV.--He obtains help
from Holland and France--The “Caminha” conspiracy--The
victory of Montijo--Brazil expels the Dutch--War with
Holland--The King despairs, and offers to abdicate--Treaty
of alliance with France--Death of John IV.
XV.
THE ENGLISH ALLIANCE 326
The Queen as Regent--Schomberg organizes the army--Victory
of Elvas--Marriage of Charles II. of England to Catherine of
Braganza--Affonso VI. declares himself of age--The Ministry
of Castel Melhor--Victories of the Portuguese--Court revolution--Dom
Pedro regent--Peace with Spain--The rule of Pedro II.
as Regent and King--His foreign policy--Death of Charles II.
of Spain--The Methuen treaty and its results--The war of the
Spanish Succession--Death of Pedro II.--The decline of the
Portuguese power in Asia--Prosperity of Brazil--Discovery
of gold there.
XVI.
PORTUGAL IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY--THE
MARQUIS OF POMBAL 349
Portugal in the eighteenth century--Accession of John V.--End
of the war of the Spanish Succession--Peace policy of
the King--His long and prosperous reign--Accession of
Joseph--Early career of Pombal--The earthquake of Lisbon--Pombal,
prime minister--He attacks the Jesuits--The
“Tavora” plot--Banishment of the Jesuits--Short war with
Spain--Suppression of the Jesuits--Death of Joseph--The
administration of Pombal--His great reforms--Accession of
Pedro III. and Maria I.--Disgrace of Pombal--The reign of
Pedro and Maria--Death of Pedro III.--The Portuguese in
India in the eighteenth century--The prosperity of Brazil--Discovery
of diamonds there--Literature in the eighteenth
century.
XVII.
THE ERA OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION--THE
PENINSULAR WAR 382
The French Revolution--Persecution of sympathisers with it
in Portugal--Dom John sends help to Spain in the war against
France--Deserted by Spain at the Treaty of Basle--The
Treaty of San Ildefonso--Alliance with England--Dom John
declared Regent--The war of 1801--The Treaty of Badajoz--Policy
of Napoleon against Portugal--Mission of Lannes--Treaty
of Fontainebleau, 1807--Junot invades Portugal--The
Regent escapes to Brazil--Junot’s rule--Forms the Portuguese
Legion--General insurrection against him--The Portuguese
appeal to England--Victory of Vimeiro and Convention of
Cintra--Soult occupies Oporto--Expelled by Wellesley--Beresford
reorganizes the Portuguese army--The Regency--Masséna
before Torres Vedras--The Portuguese troops during
the Peninsular War--Conclusion of the War--Death of Queen
Maria Francisca.
XVIII.
MODERN PORTUGAL--CIVIL WARS AND THE ESTABLISHMENT
OF PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT 409
John IV. his queen, and his sons Dom Pedro and Dom
Miguel--Oporto and Lisbon revolt against the Regency--The
Constitution of 1821--Brazil declares itself independent--The
Constitution abrogated--Death of John VI.--The influence of
the army--The Charter of 1826--Pedro IV. abdicates in favour
of Maria II.--Dom Miguel, Regent--Elected King--Reign
of Dom Miguel--The “Miguelite” war, 1830-34--Convention
of Evora Monte--Reign of Maria da Gloria--Civil wars and
“pronunciamentos”--Era of peaceful parliamentary government--Reigns
of Pedro V. and Luis I.--Accession of Carlos I.--The
Portuguese settlements in Africa--Material prosperity--The
literary revival--Lessons taught by the history of
Portugal--Conclusion.
INDEX 433
GENEALOGICAL TABLES--
I. The Descendants of John “the Great” 139
II. The Descendants of Emmanuel 279
III. The Dukes of Braganza 303
[Illustration: text decoration]
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
PRINCE HENRY OF PORTUGAL _Frontispiece_
SPECIMEN OF ROMAN ARCHITECTURE 9
VIEW OF OPORTO AND VILLA NOVA FROM THE SERRA CONVENT 16
COIMBRA (PRESENT STATE) 27
A VIEW OF THE ANCIENT MOORISH BATH AT CINTRA 42
ARCH OF THE WESTERN ENTRANCE TO AN OLD CHAPEL AT LEIRIA 47
VIEW OF LISBON 50
CONVENTO DE CHRISTO AT THOMAR 61
PRINCIPAL FAÇADE OF THE IGREGA DOS JERONYMOS AT BELEM (PRESENT STATE) 68
GATE AND WINDOW OF THE MONASTERY OF BELEM 77
FAÇADE OF LISBON CATHEDRAL 82
INES DE CASTRO 96
VIEW OF THE PALACE AT LISBON 108
TWO SIDES OF THE ROYAL CHAPEL OF THE MONASTERY
OF BATALHA (PRESENT STATE) 112
KING JOHN THE GREAT 116
QUEEN PHILIPPA 123
PORTUGUESE GOLD COINS 136, 137
ST. SALVADOR IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 142
STATUE OF PRINCE HENRY 152
TOMB OF PRINCE HENRY 155
CHART OF GOA 166
VASCO DA GAMA 168
ALBOQUERQUE, FROM THE SLOANE MS. 194
ALBOQUERQUE, FROM AN ENGRAVING BY SILVA 202
DOM JOÃO CASTRO 210
PROCESSION OF AN AUTO DA FÉ 232
LISBON IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 239
VIEW UP THE DOURO TOWARDS OPORTO 250
LUIS DE CAMOENS 269
JOÃO DE BARROS 275
PHILIP II. 282
FIGURES OF MEN AT AN AUTO DA FÉ 293
PORTUGUESE GENTLEMEN 310
JOHN IV. 322
CATHERINE OF BRAGANZA 328
PEDRO II. 335
OPORTO (PRESENT STATE) 339
SPECIMENS OF PORTUGUESE AND COPPER COINS 344, 345
THE MARQUIS OF POMBAL 356
BULL FIGHT 366
A PORTUGUESE MERCHANT, WITH HIS WIFE AND MAID-SERVANT 384
MARSHAL JUNOT, DUKE OF ABRANTES 394
PORTUGUESE PEASANTS 398
A FEMALE PEASANT FROM THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF CALDAS DA RAINHA 403
[A number of the views illustrating Portuguese scenery are taken from
photographs; others are copied from W. M. Kinsey’s “Portugal
Illustrated,” London, 1829; other volumes which have supplied
illustrations are “Les Royaumes d’Espagne et Portugal,” La Haye, 1720;
Murphy’s “Travels in Portugal,” 1798; Major’s “Prince Henry the
Navigator,” &c., &c.]
[Illustration: text decoration]
THE KINGS OF PORTUGAL
THE HOUSE OF BURGUNDY.
DATE
Affonso Henriques (Count of Portugal 1114),
King 1140
Sancho I. “the City-Builder” 1185
Affonso II. “the Fat” 1211
Sancho II. 1223
Affonso III. “of Boulogne”
(Defender of the Realm 1246) 1248
Diniz “the Labourer” 1279
Affonso IV. “the Brave” 1325
Pedro I. “the Severe” 1357
Ferdinand “the Handsome” 1367
THE HOUSE OF AVIZ.
John I. “the Great” 1385
Edward 1433
Affonso V. “the African” 1438
John II. “the Perfect” 1481
Emmanuel “the Fortunate” 1495
John III. 1521
Sebastian 1557
Henry “the Cardinal” 1578
THE SPANISH DOMINION.
Philip I. (Philip II. of Spain) 1580
Philip II. (Philip III. of Spain) 1598
Philip III. (Philip IV. of Spain) 1621
THE HOUSE OF BRAGANZA.
John IV. 1640
Affonso VI. 1656
Pedro II. (Regent 1667) 1683
John V. 1706
Joseph 1750
Maria I. and Pedro III. 1777
Maria I. alone 1786
John VI. (Regent 1799) 1816
Pedro IV. abdicated 1826
Maria II. 1826
(Miguel, 1828-1834.)
Maria II. 1834
Pedro V. 1853
Luis I. 1861
Carlos I. 1889
[Illustration: Map of Portugal]
THE STORY OF PORTUGAL.
I.
EARLY HISTORY.
The Story of Portugal possesses a peculiar interest from the fact that
it is to its history alone that the country owes its existence as a
separate nation Geographically, the little kingdom is an integral
portion of the Iberian peninsula, with no natural boundaries to
distinguish it from that larger portion of the peninsula called Spain;
its inhabitants spring from the same stock as the Spaniards, and their
language differs but slightly from the Spanish. Its early history is
merged in that of the rest of the peninsula, and but for two great men,
Affonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal, and John I., the founder
of the house of Aviz, Portugal would not at the present day rank among
the independent nations of Europe. The first of these monarchs created
his dominions into a kingdom like Leon, Castile, and Aragon, and the
latter encouraged the maritime explorations which gave the little
country an individuality and national existence, of which it was justly
proud. When Philip II. annexed Portugal in 1580, it was at least a
century too late for the Portuguese to coalesce with the Spaniards. They
had then produced Vasco da Gama and Alboquerque and other great captains
and explorers, who had shown Europe the way to India by sea; and their
tongue had been developed by the genius of Camoens and Sá de Miranda,
from a Romance dialect, similar to those used in Gallicia, Castile, or
Aragon, into a great literary language. Conscious of its national
history, Portugal broke away again from Spain in 1640, and under the
protection of England maintained its separate existence during the
eighteenth century. There was some probability of a union with Spain at
the beginning of the present century, when, after the conclusion of the
Peninsular War against Napoleon, certain statesmen began to point out
the anomaly of the Iberian peninsula being divided into two separate
kingdoms, but a generation of great historians and poets soon arose, who
reminded the people of the days of Portuguese greatness and of the
glories of the past, and made it impossible for the modern Portuguese to
lose the consciousness of their individuality as a nation.
But, though the history of Portugal possesses its peculiar interest as
showing how one small portion of the Iberian peninsula maintained a
separate existence, it presents also many features of romantic incident,
especially during the epoch when it was for a time the leading nation of
Europe. The extraordinary vigour shown by the inhabitants of this small
corner of Europe during the latter half of the fifteenth and first half
of the sixteenth centuries is most remarkable. Not only were Portuguese
navigators the first to creep down the west coast of Africa in small
boats, in which modern sailors would hardly like to cross the English
Channel, but they dared to double the Cape of Good Hope, and to sail
across the Indian Ocean to India and Ceylon. Thence they ventured round
the point of Singapore, and established themselves at Macao, from which
centre they explored the coasts of China and Japan. In the other
direction, to the west, they crossed the Atlantic and discovered and
colonized Brazil. Lisbon became the storehouse and centre of
distribution for the products of the East, and attained to a height of
wealth and luxury unrivalled since the days of ancient Rome. The history
of the Portuguese “conquistadores” in India for the first hundred years
after the discovery of the route round the Cape of Good Hope is one long
romance; the vastness of their designs, the grandeur of their exploits,
and the nobility of character of their great captains, combine to make a
story of surpassing interest. And when it is remembered that the
soldiers and sailors of these great discoverers and conquerors were
inhabitants of the smallest country in Europe, their success seems the
more extraordinary, and the interest in the story of the nation which
trained the Portuguese heroes becomes the more absorbing. As invariably
happens during the heroic age of a nation’s history, literature and the
arts flourished at a time distinguished by military and naval prowess,
and as Spenser and Shakespeare illustrated the Elizabethan age in
England as much as Drake and Raleigh, the age of Vasco da Gama and
Alboquerque in Portugal could boast also of Gil Vicente, Sá de Miranda
and Camoens. The abrupt fall of Portugal from the greatness and wealth
of its heroic period to an insignificant place among the nations is as
full of the great lessons which history teaches as the story of its
growth. Just as the chivalry induced by the constant fighting with the
Moors, and the inspiration to great deeds fostered by freedom and the
good government of worthy kings, produced a race of heroes, so not less
surely did the growth of luxury and absolutism, assisted by the
narrow-mindedness of a dynasty of bigots, lose for Portugal the lofty
place which her heroes had won for her. These are things well worth
pondering upon and lessons well worth learning, for the great value of
the study of history is in teaching such truths as these--truths which
are eternal, while nations wax and wane.
The early history of the country, which took the name of Portugal from
the county which formed the nucleus of the future kingdom, is identical
with that of the rest of the Iberian peninsula, but deserves some slight
notice because of an old misconception, immortalized in the title of the
famous epic of Camoens, and not yet entirely eradicated even from modern
ideas. Portugal, like the rest of the peninsula, was originally
inhabited by men of the prehistoric ages, whose implements are
frequently dug up at the present day, and remains of the cave-dwellers
have been found all over the province of the Alemtejo, and more
especially in the great cave near Alter do Chão. The most famous
prehistoric monument is, however, the beautiful “Anta de Guimaraens,”
about the exact date of which Portuguese archæologists are much
exercised. These prehistoric people were conquered and exterminated by
the first waves of the great Aryan race which has spread all over
Europe. There seems to be no doubt that the Celts, the first Aryan
immigrants, were preceded by a non-Aryan race, which is called by
different writers the Iberian or the Euskaldunac nation, but this
earlier race speedily amalgamated with the Celts, and out of the two
together were formed the five tribes inhabiting the Iberian peninsula,
which Strabo names as the Cantabrians, the Vasconians, the Asturians,
the Gallicians, and the Lusitanians. It is Strabo, also, who mentions
the existence of Greek colonies at the mouths of the Tagus, Douro, and
Minho, and it is curious to note that the old name of Lisbon, Olisipo,
was from the earliest times identified with that of the hero of the
Odyssey, and was interpreted to mean the city of Ulysses. The Celtic
Iberians certainly possessed the elements of civilization, and from a
very early period they had learnt to write, and it is a remarkable fact
that the formation of the letters of their alphabet is traceable rather
to Greek than Phœnician characters. This is the more remarkable, when
it is remembered that the Phœnicians, and not the Greeks, are always
mentioned in history as monopolizing the trade of Iberia. The
Carthaginians, though they had colonies all over the peninsula,
established their rule mainly over the south and east of it, having
their capital at Carthagena or Nova Carthago, and seem to have
neglected the more barbarous northern and western provinces.
It was for this reason that the Romans found far more difficulty in
subduing these latter provinces than they had in taking possession of
the former, which the Carthaginians had already conquered. The Romans
were at first satisfied with these provinces, which were ceded to them
after the conclusion of the second Punic war, but eventually they began
to spread over the hitherto neglected districts; and in 189 B.C. Lucius
Æmilius Paullus defeated the Lusitanians, and in 185 B.C. Gaius
Calpurnius forced his way across the Tagus. There is no need here to
discuss the gradual conquest by the Romans of that part of the peninsula
which includes the modern kingdom of Portugal, but it is necessary to
speak of the gallant shepherd Viriathus, who sustained a stubborn war
against the Romans from 149 B.C. until he was assassinated in 139 B.C.
because he has been generally claimed as the first national hero of
Portugal. This claim has been based upon the assumed identification of
the modern Portugal with the ancient Lusitania, an identification which
has spread its roots deep into Portuguese literature, and has until
recently been generally accepted.
The first Portuguese writer who assumed the identity of Portugal with
Lusitania was Dom Garcia de Meneses, Bishop of Evora, who wrote in the
reign of John II. at the close of the fifteenth century, though the two
terms had been used distinctively by early chroniclers, such as Lucas de
Tuy in his “Chronicon Mundi,” and Matthew de Pisano in his “Guerra de
Ceuta.” The mistaken notion was further developed in the days of the
Renaissance and of the Revival of Learning, and became generally
accepted by the close of the sixteenth century, and exaggerated by the
very title of such books as the “Monarchia Lusitana” of Bernardo de
Brito and the “De Antiquitatibus Lusitaniæ” of the great antiquary
Andrea de Resende. In fact, the Portuguese writers of that epoch
delighted in calling Portugal by the classical name of Lusitania, and
Camoens, the very greatest of them all, has, by the title of his famous
epic, “Os Lusiadas” or “The Lusiads,” stamped the mistake permanently on
Portuguese literature.
This false identification has had important historical consequences.
Modern writers have on this supposition spoken of the Portuguese as a
distinct branch of the Celtic population of the Iberian peninsula
identical with the tribe of Lusitanians spoken of by Strabo. They have
further identified them with the Lusitanians who struggled so gallantly
against the Roman Republic under the leadership of Punicus and
Viriathus; they have found passages in the Latin historians describing
the Lusitanians, and have moralized upon the manner in which the
characteristics of the ancient Lusitanians re-appear in the modern
Portuguese. The identity of two nations must consist in proving their
perfect succession in either race or territory, and in neither respect
can the identity be shown in the present instance. The Celtic tribe of
Lusitanians dwelt, according to Strabo, in the districts north of the
Tagus, while the Lusitania of the Latin historians of the Republic
undoubtedly lay to the south of that river though it was not used as the
name of a province until the time of Augustus, when the old division of
the peninsula into Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior was
superseded by the division into Betica, Tarraconensis, and Lusitania.
Neither in this division, nor in the division of the peninsula into the
five provinces of Tarraconensis, Carthaginensis, Betica, Lusitania, and
Gallicia, under Hadrian, was the province called Lusitania coterminous
with the modern kingdom of Portugal. Under each division the name was
given to a district south of the Tagus, and therefore not embracing the
modern provinces of the Entre Minho e Douro, Trasos-Montes, and Beira.
[Illustration: SPECIMEN OF ROMAN ARCHITECTURE.
(_The Castellum of Q. Sertorius at Evora._)]
It is important to grasp the results of this misconception, for it
emphasizes the fact that the history of Portugal for many centuries is
merged in that of the rest of the Iberian peninsula, and explains why it
is unnecessary to study the wars of the Lusitanians with the Roman
Republic, as is often done in histories of Portugal. Like the rest of
the peninsula Portugal was thoroughly Latinized in the days of the Roman
Empire; Roman _coloniæ_ and _municipia_ were established in places
suited for trade, such as Lisbon and Oporto, and commanding high-roads,
such as Lamego and Viseu; Roman institutions were generally adopted, and
the Latin language superseded the old Celtic dialects. The chief
Portuguese towns, like those in the rest of the peninsula, were granted
the “Jus Latinum” by Vespasian, and all the inhabitants became Roman
citizens under the famous decree of Caracalla. The influence of the
mighty sway of Rome has left its traces all over the peninsula, and to
as great degree in Portugal as in Spain. Portuguese law is based on the
old Roman law, as well as the Portuguese language upon Latin; and many
Portuguese institutions show the direct influence of Roman government.
Notably is this the case with regard to municipal institutions; many
Portuguese cities can boast of distinct existence ever since the Roman
Empire, and the _duumviri_ and _boni homines_ of those days have their
counterparts in the municipal government of the present day. During
these days of peace and prosperity Portugal also received the Christian
religion, and welcomed it as cordially as France and Spain, and
bishoprics were founded which still exist. In more material things the
dominion of Rome has left its traces in the roads and bridges made by
that race of engineers, in the beautiful remains at Leiria, and in the
aqueduct and the ruins of the temple of Diana at Evora.
Peaceful existence under the sway of Rome continued until the beginning
of the fifth century, when the Goths first forced their way across the
Pyrenees. During the first barbarian occupation, the Suevi seized
Gallicia and Tarraconensis, the Alans Lusitania and Carthaginensis, and
the Vandals Betica or Andalusia. The irruption of the Visigoths changed
this settlement; the Alans and the Vandals crossed to Africa, and the
Suevi occupied Betica and Lusitania. The Visigothic Empire left but
slight traces in Portugal, slighter even than in Spain, and the
Portuguese nobility do not, like the Spanish, invariably lay claim to
Gothic descent. Ethnologically the Gothic element is very slight in
Portugal, though the country passed under the rule of the Visigoths
during the reign of Ataulphus, who married the sister of the Roman
Emperor Honorius, and remained part of their dominion for three
centuries. While the Roman rule left so many traces of its existence,
and entirely modelled the language and civilization alike of Spain and
Portugal, that of the Visigoths, which lasted nearly as long, left
hardly any traces at all. The cause is to be found in the natural
assimilation of a race in a low state of civilization to the status of a
higher race. The number of Romans who actually settled in the peninsula
must have been very small, yet the Celts adopted their language and
civilization, while the conquering Visigoths, on the other hand, adopted
the religion and civilization of the people they had conquered. The
Visigothic power reached its zenith in the reign of Euric at the end of
the fifth century, and afterwards steadily declined, being torn by
internal dissensions, and especially by the great struggle between the
nobility and the rulers of the Christian Church. It was the leaders of
the latter party, Count Julian and Archbishop Oppus, who invited the
Mohammedans from Africa into Spain, and in fighting against them,
Roderick, the last Visigothic king, was killed near Xeres, at the battle
of the Guadelete, in 711.
The history of the Mohammedans in the Iberian peninsula has been treated
in another volume of this Series,[1] and it is only necessary to note
here that under the wise and tolerant rule of the Ommeyad sultans, the
rich plains alike of Spain and Portugal maintained the prosperity which
they had enjoyed under the Roman emperors and the Visigothic kings, and
that the old Roman _coloniæ_ and _municipia_ retained their Roman
self-government, and Lisbon and Oporto increased in wealth and
commercial importance. Though the Arabs were fanatical conquerors, the
Ommeyads were enlightened rulers, and the Christian religion was
protected, though not encouraged, as long as the Christian bishops
refrained from active exertions against the Mohammedans. In Portugal
also, owing to its distance from Cordova, the duties of government were
granted almost entirely to the Mosarabs, as the numerous native converts
to Islam were called, men who felt the importance of keeping the
adherents of the two prevailing religions from coming to blows.
But this peaceful state of things was not to last; the Iberian
peninsula, which had remained prosperous under Romans, Visigoths, and
Mohammedans, was to suffer centuries of fierce war, war which was to
devastate its fields and destroy its cities, but from which its people
were to develop into a race of hardy and chivalrous warriors. The people
of the peninsula under the rule of foreign sovereigns had become soft
and weak, occupied only in accumulating wealth, in which to live in
comfort and luxury. Architectural remains of the first thousand years of
the Christian era show to what a pitch of comfort the people had
attained, but the easy conquests of the Visigoths and the Moors prove
that they had become enervated by luxury. During the next five hundred
years a different state of things was to appear. The land and the cities
alike of Spain and Portugal were to be ravaged and destroyed in terrible
wars, and a race of soldiers, bred in all the laws and customs of
chivalry, was to arise--a race which, after finding no further exercise
for its energies at home, was to extend its power to India and to the
New World, as yet unknown, across the Atlantic. Whether it were better
to spend lives of luxurious ease or to become warriors was a question
not asked of the people of the Iberian peninsula; they had no choice in
the matter; but it must not be forgotten in watching the gradual
development of this race of warriors in one part of the peninsula, in
Portugal, that it was, when formed, to do great things for Europe and
for the advancement of a higher civilization than that of the stormy
centuries in which it arose.
Towards the close of the tenth century as the Ommeyad caliphate grew
weaker, the Christian princes of Visigothic descent, who dwelt in the
mountains of the Asturias, began to grow more bold in their attacks on
the declining power; and in 997 Bermudo II., king of Gallicia, won back
the first portion of modern Portugal from the Moors by seizing Oporto
and occupying the province now known as the Entre Minho e Douro. At the
beginning of the eleventh century, the great Moorish caliphate finally
broke up, and independent Mohammedan emīrs established themselves in
every large city, against whom the Christian princes waged incessant and
successful wars. In these wars the Celtic inhabitants of the peninsula
took but little part; the Moorish armies consisted of Mohammedans, the
descendants of the fierce soldiers of Abder-Rahmān and a few
Mosarabs, while the Christian armies consisted only of the feudal
chivalry of the northern mountains.
In each army different customs prevailed; the strength of the Moors lay
in their perfect military discipline and absolute obedience to their
generals; that of the Christians in the new impulse to valour given to
each individual knight by the laws of chivalry. On neither side was
personal ambition without an incentive; Moorish generals hoped to become
emīrs, Christian knights, feudal counts. The finest soldiers of both
armies were foreigners to the peninsula, being on the one side Africans,
on the other either of Gothic descent or else the flower of the chivalry
of northern Europe, which went to win its spurs in the wars against the
unbelievers, and especially admired and followed the Cid, Rodrigo Diaz
de Bivar. Between these two contending bands of warriors the unfortunate
Celtic inhabitants of the middle zone of the peninsula were crushed;
those of the mountains of the north were by feudal custom obliged to
take up arms to follow their lords, and after a century or two those of
the centre by the force of necessity became warriors also, and proceeded
to drive the Moors back to Africa.
The eleventh century was at first marked by great Christian successes,
especially in the west of the peninsula. In 1055 Ferdinand “the Great,”
king of Leon, Castile, and Gallicia, invaded the Beira; in 1057 he took
Lamego and Viseu; and in 1064 Coimbra, where he died in the following
year. He arranged for the government of his conquests in the only way
possible under the feudal system, by forming them into a county,
extending to the Mondego, with Coimbra as its capital. The first count
of Coimbra was Sesnando, a recreant Arab vizir, who had advised
Ferdinand to invade his district and had assisted in its easy conquest.
He had married a Christian, and was ready to defend his new religion and
the dominions he held under the Christian king with all the more vigour
from the knowledge that the Moorish emīrs and wālis to the south
regarded him as an apostate. But though Sesnando’s county of Coimbra was
the great frontier county of Gallicia, and the most important conquest
of Ferdinand “the Great,” it was not thence that the kingdom which was
to develop out of his dominions was to take its name. Among the counties
of Gallicia was one called the “comitatus Portucalensis,” because it
contained within its boundaries the famous city at the mouth of the
Douro, known in Roman and Greek times as the Portus Cale, and in modern
days as Oporto, or “The Port.” This county of Oporto or Portugal was the
one destined to give its name to the future kingdom, and was held at the
time of Ferdinand’s death by Nuno Mendes, the founder of one of the most
famous families in Portuguese history.
[Illustration: VIEW OF OPORTO AND VILLA NOVA FROM THE SERRA CONVENT.
(_After a print by Godhino._)]