Portuguese King Research Articles

Orden jurídico e identidad política en los albores de la recepción del derecho común (sobre los Forais de Coimbra, Lisboa y Santarém)

Although Portuguese historians have already paid special attention to the recognition of Portugal as a kingdom by Pope Alexander III, this very fact has not yet been connected to another singular contemporary fact: the simultaneous concession of «forais» to the towns of Coimbra, Lisbon and Santarem, by king Alfonso Enriquez. The assumption, as an initial working hypothesis, that there is a possible causal relationship between both facts, as well as seeking to verify such hypothesis by means of a critical analysis of the documents respectively embodying the action of both Pope and King, lead to remarkable results about the redaction process of these «forais», where, while keeping within the bounds of the current historical and juridical traditions, it also occurs the reception of the «Ius commune» principles, depicting the first Portuguese king as «Imperator in regno suo».

Do oriente ao ocidente: “aculturação” do espaço sócio-cultural brasileiro em Gilberto Freyre

With the imminence of the bourgeois society occidental person, deriving of the French and industrial revolutions, the Orient starts to have a different view. Yawed for an occidental speech, the Orient stop to be an exotic, rich and charming land to become synonymous of decay and starvation. This because the occidentalists, in the expression of Freyre, intend to clean all the vestige of orientalism in the countries of the Occident. Applying this estimated to Brazil we will see that the change was not so simple, therefore many them customs of the Brazilian society until the beginning it century XIX were to the light of the Orient. Thus it was the social, space and communitarian organization. When the Portuguese kings came in 1806 the situation only starts to move, but slowly. Stimulated for England, Portugal has left for an offensive in the direction to purge everything what it remembers the oriental in its American colony. From there initiatives as to finish with the lattice windows in the old large houses of the Rio de Janeiro. The colonial system, based in the family and the patriarchalism, start to disappear, little by little, for a system individualistic bourgeois as so exploring as the first. Endowing me with Freyre, Said, Foucault, Candido, amongst others, I retake this conflict between Occident and Orient, carrying it to the literary sphere, aspiring to prove that the figure of redneck lobatian were occidentally, even with the change of the views that had made with that the Jeca passed of a sluggish one for victim of the capitalist system.

O governo protetor: a representação do poder político em cerimoniais régios portugueses (séc. XVIII-XIX)

Ao inventariarmos as grandes celebrações da monarquia portuguesa, encontraremos algumas que são cerimoniais eminentemente religiosos. Dentre eles, há a procissão do Anjo da Guarda do Reino de Portugal (no terceiro domingo de julho), instituída no século XVI como celebração da realeza, das quais toda a Corte participava e eram realizadas por todo o reino português. Também as aclamações de Da. Maria I (1777) e D. João VI (1818) utilizam elementos de caráter religioso (símbolos e idéias). Estas celebrações colocam-nos a hipótese de uma série de articulações entre os procedimentos religiosos e o poder real. Em função do exame daquelas procissões e destes cerimoniais, procuramos esboçar uma imagem do rei português: um rei-protetor, detentor de um poder de salvação.

Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome: A Descriptive Catalogue: Japonica-Sinica I-IV (review)

Reviewed by: Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome: A Descriptive Catalogue: Japónica-Sinica I-IV Elisabetta Corsi (bio) Albert Chan, S.J. Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome: A Descriptive Catalogue: Japónica-Sinica I-IV. Study of the Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History. An East Gate Book. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2001. xliii, 627 pp. Hardcover $145.00, ISBN 0-7656-0828-6. On February 23, 1555, Ignatius of Loyola wrote a letter to the Negus of Ethiopia, an alleged descendant of the mysterious Prester John, stating his willingness to intercede on his behalf to facilitate full reconciliation with the Holy See. According to historical accounts, this unfortunate Jesuit enterprise in what was then known as Abyssinia revolved around the Negus Galawdewos, Claudius, who had been appealing to the King of Portugal, John III, to defend his tiny kingdom from Muslim assaults. The Portuguese king, in turn, believing that these requests in fact were a loosely disguised bid to unite the African nation with the Roman Church, sought the help of the recently constituted Society of Jesus, asking Ignatius to select from among his brethren a suitable candidate for appointment as Patriarch of Ethiopia. The plan was that the Patriarch would be assisted in his mission by two bishops and a group of twelve other Jesuit missionaries. The exuberance of the Portuguese king, who evidently envisioned the union of the Church of Ethiopia with the Roman Church as a giant step toward a more lasting consolidation of his colonial empire, provoked a comparable response from Ignatius. The Ethiopian mission was in fact the only case in which the saint agreed to make such an exception to the rule which forbade Jesuits from promotion to episcopal and prelatial appointments. The motivation provided by Ignatius is significant: The appointment would not imply the usual "pompa y descanso" (pomp and repose), but "fatigas y trabajos" (fatigue and labors).1 [End Page 326] After much resistance from the candidates for appointment, Pope Julius III finally confirmed Juan Nunez Barreto as patriarch and Andrés de Oviedo and Melchor Carneiro as bishops coadjutor. Later, the three Jesuits arrived in Goa, the gateway to Ethiopia—Nunez carrying Ignatius' letter to the Negus—but were halted in their tracks as a general feeling of uneasiness began to loom. Given the unwelcoming reception that was bestowed upon two fathers who had been sent ahead to pay homage to the Negus, doubts were raised in Goa about the Negus' sincerity to reconcile with Rome. The Portuguese viceroy resolved at that point to sent only one of the three bishops, Oviedo, and a small party of Jesuits. The mission was indeed ill-fated, for once the Portuguese project became clear, the Negus Claudius reacted by imprisoning Oviedo and his entire delegation. Oviedo would eventually die on Ethiopian soil after several years of capture and privation, bringing the entire odyssey to a tragic finale. There is, however, a point to this story: Ignatius' letter, which of course Claudius never received, is a very profound treatise in ecclesiology. It highlights key Jesuit concepts such as that of reductio, loosely translated to mean "being persuaded and therefore ascending to a higher status,"2 or that of plantatio ecclesiae, that is, "implanting the church" according to an apostolic model (suggested also by the revered significance of the number twelve). These concepts are fundamental to a real understanding of the Jesuit apostolate. The document also reveals the Society's intermingling with the Portuguese colonial power (as well as their resistance to it), counterbalanced by a forcible Ignatian call for unconditional obedience to the Pope, as it is formally stipulated by the fourth vote, circa missiones ("insuper promitto specialem obedientiam Summo Pontifici circa missiones. . ." [Constitutiones S.I., V, III, 3]). These elements are of paramount importance because they cast new light on the kind of spiritual and theological training undergone by the missionaries who authored the texts listed and described in Father Albert Chan's book and are therefore essential to a broader comprehension of the documents themselves. Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome: A Descriptive Catalogue: Japonica-Sinica...

Arsenic detection in nineteenth century Portuguese King post mortem tissues by energy‐dispersive x‐ray fluorescence spectrometry

AbstractArsenic and other heavy metal concentrations in post mortem soft tissues from a Portuguese King of the nineteenth century were studied by energy‐dispersive x‐ray fluorescence analysis. This work is an attempt to clarify the strange death of the King, through the analysis of his post mortem soft tissue remains, which were kept inside a Chinese porcelain container since his death in 1826. The container was put in a wooden coffin and buried underground in a chapel of the St Vicente de Fora Monastery in Lisbon. Quantitative elemental analysis of the remains showed very high concentrations of arsenic and lead, which on average correspond to a few hundred times the mean normal values for contemporary human soft tissues. Increased levels of Cu were found, and also small enrichments for Fe and Zn, probably due to either enrichment during the 175 years or contamination by direct intake from the container, or both. The results obtained are consistent with acute arsenic poisoning, reinforcing the conclusions from the medical anatomical–pathological report, based on the analysis of the fragments by scanning electron microscopy. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Two Portuguese Exiles in Castile (review)

Reviewed by: Two Portuguese Exiles in Castil Inacio Steinhardt Two Portuguese Exiles in Castile, by Elias Lipiner. Hispania Judaica 10. Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, 1997. 173 pp. $23.00. This is a work of historical research about the Jews of Portugal, during the century preceding their expulsion from that country. It is the first of Elias Lipiner’s writings to be published in English; hitherto, his books and articles have appeared in print in either Yiddish, Portuguese, or Hebrew. This book is a fine example of Lipiner’s work, and will serve very well to introduce this remarkable scholar to readers who are inexpert in those languages. The “Two Portuguese Exiles” of the title are David Negro, longtime favorite of the Portuguese King D. Fernando (1376–1383), and Isaac Abravanel, minister at the court of King Alfonso V (1438–1481). Both were Portuguese Jews, among the wealthiest and most influential men of their community, deeply involved in the economic and political life of Portugal. Both were entangled in similar conspiracies concerned with the subject of Iberian Union (a subject with which the Royal Courts of both Portugal and Spain were much occupied at that time, each trying to gain ascendancy over the other by means of a complicated network of dynastic alliances). Both men fled the country and were tried in absentia; both had all their possessions confiscated. David Negro became Chief Rabbi of Castile under King Juan I and died in 1385. Isaac Abravanel served Ferdinand and Isabella from 1484 to 1492; after the decree of expulsion he became once again an exile, dying in Venice in 1508. This book is a brilliant investigation of these two cases. With great skill the author reveals the similarities between them and places them in a historical context rendered wholly convincing by sound utilization of source material. As he unravels the two stories, Lipiner succeeds in giving the reader a concise overview of the history of the Jews in Portugal. Both Portuguese and Jewish sources are extensively quoted for the benefit of the [End Page 134] interested reader: half the book is taken up by supporting documents—facsimiles, transcriptions, and translations. Some of these are published here for the first time. Lipiner’s contribution to the study of the history of Jews and “conversos” in Portugal and Brazil is inestimable. Born in Bessarabia (Romania) in 1916, he migrated on his own to Brazil at the age of 19. While a struggling law student in São Paulo, he became interested in the history of Portuguese Jewry during that tragic period which began before the discovery of Brazil and continued through the colonization of the New World. This interest developed into a lifetime’s labor of study and research, performed in addition to the work of an active legal practice. His intimacy with both Portuguese and Jewish sources helped to make him outstanding in the field. The qualities which have earned for Lipiner’s work such high repute in the academic world are an innovative approach, elegance of literary style, and meticulous care in researching sources. For every person mentioned in his books, Lipiner kept a record in his filing cabinet, similar to the files of his legal clients. For each individual he searched the archives, hunted down the records and examined the evidence, documenting his case studies with the greatest care. The result was invariably a fascinating text, accurate as far as possible in every detail, written in a style which made reading a pleasure—not only for the scholar, but also for the general reader. Lipiner could never resist the challenge of historical puzzles, which other writers might relate, but could not explain. For example, in this book he clears up a long- standing and much-debated mystery. It concerns one of the items of Abravanel’s estate, which was confiscated by King John II: “the ‘silks’ that he possessed in the Great Synagogue of Lisbon.”Historians before Lipiner supposed that there were “silk-covered seats” in the Synagogue. Lipiner is able to show, using documented examples, that the Portuguese word for “silk” (‘sseda’ or ‘seda’), actually meant in Old Portuguese “site, seat, chair.” What the King confiscated...

Amor e amizade na cultura política dos séculos XVI e XVII

This article explores the political meaning of friendship and love in Portugal during the 16th and 17th century. In its first part we present an outline of the early-modern theological and moral literature that dealt with the subject of friendship and love. It will become evident that a great deal of authors stressed the social and political significance of the bonds of affection. We then concentrate on the various ways the Christian friendship shaped the interaction between people in the several sectors of the body politic. The last part of this article is concerned with the role of love in the relationship between the Portuguese kings and their vassals. This article therefore argues that the early modern political culture cannot be understood unless we take into account its Catholic foundations.

Mineral water and spas in Portugal

M ineral waters and spas have been known on the Iberian penisula for centuries. During Roman times large buildings were erected, and their remains can be seen in Conimbriga, Troia, and Ossonaba-Milreus in the Algarve.’ In Lisbon the socalled Cassian Spas were built in 49 B.C.E. by the order of Quint0 Cassio and Lucia Cassio who represented Julius Caesar. They are an important part of the Roman ruins that lie underneath the old part of modern Lisbon.’ In Vizela, in the north of Portugal, ruins of the Roman Baths can still be visited. They were erected in 81 C.E. during the reign of Titus Flavius.’ During the Arab occupation, interest in thermal baths persisted, probably under the influence of the great medical doctor Avicena.’ Many Portuguese kings used spas, and the founder of the country, D. Afonso Henriques (11431, wounded in the battle of Badajoz

Júlio Dantas and medical archaeology

Júlio Dantas (1876-1962), was a doctor of very restricted practice. Literature was his great passion, and projected him to a place in the Academy and to an interesting diplomatic career. Dantas, an archaizing and baroque writer who lived in the first times of the modernistic trends, became the object of a vivid controversy. We must, however, recognize he was the most successful of the popular playwrights in Portugal, having sold over two hundred thousand copies of his most known play. In Dantas', somewhat irregular work there are very beautiful pages of prose. The retrospective study of the diseases that afflicted the Portuguese kings is the subject of a collectanea of papers, published by Júlio Dantas in 1909, under the title Medical inquiries to the portuguese royal genealogies-Avis and Bragança. The book is within the limits of the so-called medical archaeology, a mix of history and speculation. Dantas presents a generic thesis of degeneration of the royal dynasties of Portugal, explained as natural consequence of heredity and consanguinity. Between the 13th. century and the beginning of the 1800s, monarchs and princes are implacably flagelatted, because of their physical diseases or moral faults. Isabel of Aragon, the saint-queen; prince Henry the Navigator; even the national hero, the constable Nun'Alvares, as many others, do not escape the severity of an analysis which, in most cases, is not medically accurate.

Back to the Sources for Christopher Columbus

Summary The paucity of sources for some aspects of Columbus's early life is especially acute for the years he spent in Portugal from the mid-1470s until about 1485. Nonetheless, by searching through every available source and secondary study, it is possible to patch bits of information together into a plausible scenario. Quite likely members of his wife's family and their political allies at the Portuguese court helped secure Columbus an audience with the Portuguese king Joäo? and possibly aided his later efforts to secure an audience with the Spanish monarchs Fernando and Isabel. Even for topics so well-studied as the life and deeds of Christopher Columbus, a fresh look at standard sources can yield surprising results. Despite received wisdom, (1) the portrait by Sebastiano del Piombo in the Metropolitan Museum in New York does not depict Columbus; (2) the notion that Columbus kept a false log to fool the crew on his 1492 voyage is most likely a fantasy based on a misunderstanding of the log; and (3) Columbus's profound Christian religiosity formed an integral part of his personality that complemented rather than contradicted his identity as a merchant mariner.

THREE FRAGMENTS FROM LAMEGO

Portuguese liturgical books remain, generally speaking, incompletely and poorly catalogued and have never been described in either a syste matic or a trustworthy fashion, as Victor Leroquais did with most of the French codices and Jos? Janini with those in the Spanish libraries. Frag mentary manuscript sources are mostly un-catalogued and unidentified, despite the efforts of scholars like Antonio de Vasconcelos in the 1920s, Avelino Jesus da Costa and Solange Corbin in the 1940s, and a few other authors in more recent years. In this paper, I will add to the ever-grow ing list of Portuguese chant sources three fragments from Lamego, a small town a few miles south of the Douro river, mid-way between Opor to and the Spanish border. The diocese of Lamego was already in existence in 569. In the 700s, under the Moorish rule, there is memory of a Christian bishop, but none is known for most of the following century. The conquest of the town by Alfonso III of Asturias in 877 and the subsequent appointment of bi shop Branderico inaugurated a period of religious stability which lasted until the end of the tenth century, when Lamego was almost completely destroyed by Almanzor. It then became a military outpost of Al Anda lus. In 1057, the King of Le?n and Castile, Fernando el Magno, conquers the town; around 1070, his son Sancho, King of Castile, has the diocese restored; but the economic conditions of the area prove too unfavorable for a normal religious life; by the turn of the century the diocese of La mego is entrusted to the bishop of Coimbra. Finally, in 1147 at the la test, a new bishop, favored by the Portuguese King, Alfonso Henriques, is confirmed. For political reasons, Afonso was a strong advocate of the

Some Protestant Missionary Letters Relating to the Religious Question in Brazil: 1872–1875

The above-quoted letter, along with a score of other letters from the Reverend A. L. Blackford, as well as from other Presbyterian missionaries in Brazil, throw a new light on the so-called Religious Question of the 1870's.The Religious Question or Masonic Question, as all students of Brazilian history well know, was the incident which began in December of 1872, when Bishop Dom Frei Vital M. Gonçalves de Oliveira, of the Diocese of Olinda, Pernambuco (who later on was joined by Bishop Dom Antonio de Macedo Costa, of the Diocese of Pará), ordered all Catholics who were Masons to be expelled from the Catholic fraternal organizations known as confrarias. The confrarias, which were dominated by Masonic elements, refused to expel the Masons from their midst. The Bishop, in return, interdicted all of the recalcitrant confrarias and their churches in the Diocese. The confrarias appealed to the Crown demanding that the Bishop be restrained by the Imperial Power of Patronage, as under the law of the land—as interpreted by the Crown—the Bishop was not entitled to take such a measure. The Papal Encyclicals, which the Bishop was using as his guide, had never been approved by the Crown and as such, were not legally enforceable in Brazil. The Imperial Patronage of the Church, which had been inherited from the Portuguese kings, was very jealously guarded by the Emperor.

The English Factory at Lisbon: Some Chapters in its History

I take it that to most English readers the history of Portugal is less familiar than that of any other of the western states of Europe. One reason for this is that there are few books in English on the subject, and those which have been written are rather outline sketches than detailed studies. I imagine that the ordinarily well-informed person, if asked what he or she knew about Portugal, would reply: Oh! Vasco da Gama, Catharine of Braganza, the Methuen Treaty and the taste for port, the Lisbon earthquake, the Marquis of Pombal, and the Peninsular War. I doubt whether any Professor of History could offhand give the names and dates of the Portuguese kings.

The Commercial Relations of England and Portugal, 1487–1807

Roughly speaking the modern history of Anglo-Portuguese commerce falls into two distinct parts, the period before and after the momentous treaty of 1654.From the end of the fifteenth century up to 1580 the commercial interests of England and Portugal were overshadowed by their rivalry for the trade of Africa, As yet, England put forward little claim to a share in the riches of the East. Henry VIII. did, indeed, attempt to bargain with the Portuguese king for a part in one of the Portuguese expeditions to India. His overtures were rejected, however, and the English concentrated their attention on the trade with Africa. But the Portuguese guarded their possessions in Barbary and Guinea as jealously as their treasure-house in the East. By the middle of the sixteenth century the question grew acute. Philip and Mary forbade their subjects to trade in places under the king of Portugal's government. The merchants ingenuously pleaded that they did no such thing; they merely lay in their ships off the coast, and the natives came to them in boats and traded with them: but even this innocent performance was forbidden by Queen Mary, under the influence of Philip, the natural champion of colonial monopoly.

The Beginnings of the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance

The beginnings of the alliance between England and Portugal are to be sought almost at the beginning of the latter's history as an independent kingdom. Though the distance between these two countries must have seemed greater in the Middle Ages than it does now, they were very soon brought into friendly relationship through the crusading energy of England in the twelfth century, and the convenient position of Portugal as a stopping-place for ships sailing to the Holy Land, which made it possible for the English to help the early Portuguese kings in their long struggle with the Moors.