XIV.
THE REVOLUTION OF 1640.
THE Portuguese people groaned under the powerlessness and poverty which fell to their lot during the Sixty Years’ Captivity. None of the advantages which had been so eloquently prophesied by Christovão de Moura as the inevitable result of a union with Spain had been experienced. Instead of being protected by great Spanish armies, the colonies and trade of Portugal had been left an open prey to the enemies of Spain; it was on account of her union with Spain that the Dutch and English attacked the Portuguese possessions in both East and West; and in return for all she lost, Portugal did not even have the satisfaction of retaining the independence of its local government, but was administered for the benefit of Spaniards alone. The proverbial Castilian haughtiness was especially aggravating to the nobles and people of Portugal; there was no attempt made to unite the two peoples; they kept apart like oil and water, and the traditional hatred of the Spaniard grew to be more intense than ever. The loss of material prosperity and the insolent demeanour of the Spanish officials affected all classes, high and low, and incited them to rebel, and to these causes must be added the influence of the Portuguese writers. The great Camoens had not lived to see the Spaniards supreme in his beloved country, but he had successors during the Sixty Years’ Captivity, who sang in the same lofty strain of the great deeds of the Portuguese warriors during the heroic period. Such poems as the “Primeiro Cerco de Dio” (“The First Siege of Diu”), by Francisco de Andrade; the “Segundo Cerco de Dio,” by Jeronymo Corte-Real; the “Affonso Africano,” by Vasco Mousinho de Quebedo; and the “Malacca Conquistada,” by Francisco de Sá de Menezes, were all calculated to stir the hearts of the Portuguese of the seventeenth century, and to make them desire to be worthy of their great forefathers. Nor were the prose writers less eloquent than the poets in telling of the great deeds of the past; the “Decadas” of Diogo do Couto, and the “Asia,” “Europa,” “Africa,” and “America Portugueza,” of Manoel de Faria e Sousa, continued the work of João de Barros in making the Portuguese proud of their past exploits, while the historians, Bernardo de Brito and Antonio Brandão, in their “Monarchia Lusitana,” told the story of the centuries of independence before Portugal became a province of Spain.
A universal feeling of discontent had arisen during the reigns of Philip III. and Philip IV., but the final impulse from passive discontent to active rebellion was supplied by the energy of certain Portuguese noblemen, who relied for success on the weakness of Spain and on help from France. The Spain of Philip IV. was indeed very different to the Spain of Charles V. and Philip II.; its days of greatness were over; Holland was practically independent; and Catalonia was in revolt. On the other hand, France had passed through the terrible civil wars of the sixteenth century, and was being moulded into a mighty kingdom by the hand of Richelieu. One of the keynotes of Richelieu’s policy was to harass Spain; and for this reason the great cardinal encouraged the revolt of the Catalans in 1639, and had long fomented the feeling of discontent in Portugal. As early as 1636, one of Richelieu’s secret agents is found writing to his master, “All Portugal cries aloud, ‘When will the King of France deliver us from the Pharaoh of Spain’?”[28] and in 1638 the cardinal sent one of his most trusted agents, the Chevalier de Saint-Pé, to report upon the disposition of the Portuguese people. Richelieu soon grasped the situation of affairs, and resolved to encourage an open rebellion in Portugal, in order to secure an independent ally in the Iberian Peninsula, which should be such a thorn in the side of Spain as Scotland had in former days been in the side of England. The discontent of the people was shown in many overt acts; in 1634 the people of Lisbon refused to pay their taxes; in 1637 a serious riot broke out at Evora, which remained in a state of insurrection for many months; and attacks upon Spanish soldiers and officials constantly took place all over the country.