The Story of the Nations: Portugal

by H. Morse Stephens

These successes in the palace were followed by equal successes in the city of Lisbon. The populace of all classes detested the Spanish domination; they rose in a body, armed themselves as best they could, and arrested every Spaniard they could find from the Marquis de la Puebla to the naval officers on shore from the Spanish vessels lying in the Tagus. Dom Antonio de Saldanha, as previously arranged, entered the Relacão, or High Court of Justice, and informed the judges of the revolution, and the president, Gonçalo de Sousa, immediately began to pronounce his decrees in the name of King John IV., instead of King Philip III. Dom Gaston de Coutinho set free all the political prisoners, and some young men rowed off to the three Spanish galleons in the port, and easily obtained possession of them, since most of their officers had already been arrested on shore. There remained only the citadel, or castle, of St. George, garrisoned by a strong Spanish force under Don Luiz de Campo. This important post was obtained by a stratagem of Dom Antonio de Almada, who forced the Duchess of Mantua to sign an order for its surrender by a threat to assassinate all the Spanish prisoners already taken, and the order was willingly obeyed by the timorous governor. The conspirators then assembled in the palace, and amidst the shouts of the populace, the Archbishop of Lisbon was proclaimed Lieutenant-General of the kingdom, with Dom Miguel de Almeida, Dom Pedro de Mendonça Furtado, and Dom Antonio de Almada as councillors of state. The new government sent off expresses in all directions to announce the news of the successful revolution, and obtained peaceable possession of all the chief fortresses and strong places round Lisbon, of Belem, Bugio, S. Antonio, Almada, and Cascaes, with the exception only of S. Julian, at the mouth of the Tagus.

The Duke and Duchess of Braganza were all this time waiting with feverish impatience at Villa Viçosa for news of the great undertaking, and on the following day, Sunday, December 2nd, Dom Jorge de Mello arrived, after travelling all night, and hailed the Duke and Duchess as King and Queen of Portugal. The neighbouring country was devoted to the duke and his family and joyfully received the news of his accession, and Affonso de Mello took possession of Elvas, the strongest city in Portugal, in the name of John IV., without any bloodshed. On December 3rd the new sovereign entered Lisbon amidst general rejoicings, and on December 15th he was solemnly crowned in the Cathedral of Lisbon. Never was a sudden revolution more successful. From Oporto to Faro the people everywhere rose in rebellion; the Spanish arms were torn down; the Spanish garrisons were expelled, and John IV. was hailed with acclamation. A Cortes was summoned to meet at Lisbon for the first time since 1619, and on January 19, 1641, John IV. was declared King of Portugal, as the rightful heir of Emmanuel “the Fortunate,” and the whole Cortes swore to obey him, and recognized his eldest son, Dom Theodosio, as heir to the throne. The new sovereign determined to meet his loyal people half way, so he declared that his patrimonial estates were sufficient to meet the expenses of his royal household, and that the revenues of the Crown lands should for the future be spent on national needs. He bestowed important posts and orders on the leading conspirators, and bribed Don Fernando de la Cueva to surrender the fortress of S. Julian, the only place which resisted his authority. The last person to be informed of this sudden and successful revolution was the former king, Philip IV. of Spain and III. of Portugal. His courtiers all feared to tell him the news, and when it became necessary to break it to him, the Count-Duke Olivares accomplished the feat with his usual adroitness. “Sire,” he said to the king with a pleased countenance, “I have to congratulate you on a most fortunate event. Your Majesty has just obtained a powerful duchy, and some magnificent estates.” “By what means,” answered the astonished monarch. “The Duke of Braganza,” said Olivares, “has madly allowed himself to be seduced by the populace, who have proclaimed him King of Portugal. His vast estates are therefore forfeited, and become the property of your Majesty, who, by the annihilation of this family, will in future reign securely and peaceably over that kingdom.”

Olivares had every reason to speak with confidence, for there could be no doubt that Portugal, weakened by her long subjection, could do little or nothing to resist the power of Spain, if it could be fully employed. But, fortunately for the independence of Portugal, Spain was distracted by the Catalan rebellion and foreign war, and was unable to exert her strength for the time being. Both the new king and his advisers felt, however, that it would not be wise to count too much or too long upon this fortunate circumstance, and he sent ambassadors all over Europe to inform the foreign sovereigns of the revolution, and to beg for their help and alliance. The old Chancellor Oxenstiern, who governed Sweden after the death of her warrior monarch, Gustavus Adolphus, during the minority of Queen Christina, promptly recognized the accession of the new dynasty, and welcomed it as another breach in the power of Spain. Charles I. of England, after some delay, also recognized John IV., but he was too much occupied by his quarrels with the Parliament to pay much attention to foreign politics. The Dutch received the news of the revolution with joy, and compared it to their own successful rebellion against Spain, and they at once concluded a treaty with Portugal, and promised to send assistance. But it was to France that John IV. looked with most confidence for help; he remembered the secret emissaries of Richelieu and their lavish promises; and on January 22, 1641, three days after his coronation, he sent two of his most accomplished courtiers, Francisco de Mello and Antonio Coelho de Carvalho, on a special mission to Paris. They were received with much cordiality by the great cardinal, who understood how thoroughly Spain must be crippled by the Catalan and Portuguese rebellions, and, to their surprise, also by the Queen of France, Anne of Austria, the sister of Philip IV. De Mello ventured to hint his surprise at this hearty reception, when the queen made a famous reply: “True it is, that I am the sister of his Catholic Majesty, but am I not also the mother of the Dauphin?” Their negotiations ended in the conclusion of an offensive and defensive treaty between France and Portugal, signed on June 1, 1641, by which the King of France promised to make no peace with Spain until the independence of Portugal was fully recognized. These embassies and treaties ended in the arrival of a strong French fleet, under the command of the Chevalier de Brézé, in the Tagus, on August 7, 1641, followed by a Dutch fleet, under Admiral Gylfels, on September 10th.

At this very time, before the first king of the House of Braganza had been a year upon the throne, a serious conspiracy was in progress, which had for its aim the re-establishment of the power of Spain. This conspiracy was almost entirely the work of one man, Dom Sebastião de Mattos de Noronha, Archbishop of Braga, and Primate of Portugal. This prelate had not been in any way interfered with by the new government, but he felt that he had lost the power which he had enjoyed during the viceroyalty of the Duchess of Mantua, and he had never forgiven the danger in which his life had been placed on the day of the outbreak of the revolution in Lisbon. He first engaged the Marquis of Villa Real, and his son, the Duke of Caminha, to join him. Their family boasted of royal blood, and ranked next to that of the Duke of Aveiro in the kingdom of Portugal, and they felt indignant that no important posts had been conferred upon them for their acquiescence in the revolution. The marquis was won over by a promise that he should be the Viceroy of Portugal, if the conspiracy succeeded, and his son threw himself so heartily into the project that the whole plot is generally known as the “Caminha conspiracy.” The other chief laymen engaged were the Count of Armamar, the nephew of the primate, the Count of Ballerais, Lourenço Peres de Carvalho, keeper of the treasury, who feared to lose the lucrative post which he had held so long under the Spanish domination, and Antonio Correa, the confidential clerk of the murdered Vasconcellos, who had been severely wounded in the outbreak of December 1st. A far more important ally than any of these noblemen and officials, was the Grand Inquisitor of Portugal, Dom Sebastião de Tello, Bishop of Leiria, who was persuaded to promise the “novães Christiãos,” or half-converted Jews, a cessation of all persecution if they would join in overthrowing John IV. They, on their part, were ready to assist because the new monarch had absolutely refused to make any concessions to them for fear of offending the Pope. The arrangements were soon made; it was settled that the “novães Christiãos” were to set fire to the palace on August 5th; that the king was to be stabbed in the confusion which would ensue; and that the Duchess of Mantua should be released from her convent, and again placed in power. The Count-Duke Olivares gladly acquiesced in all the schemes of the treacherous archbishop, and despatches giving all the details of the plot were entrusted to a converted Jew named Baese, to send to Madrid. These despatches fell into the hands of Marquis of Ayamonte, a Spanish nobleman, and a relation of the new Queen of Portugal, who was acting as intermediary between John IV. and his brother-in-law, the Duke of Medina Sidonia, and the marquis promptly sent them to Lisbon. Forewarned was forearmed, and on August 5th, the day fixed for the rising, all the leaders of the conspiracy were arrested. Baese confessed, when put to the torture, and on August 29th all the noblemen concerned, including the Marquis of Villa Real and the Duke of Caminha, were publicly executed at Lisbon, while the Primate and the Grand Inquisitor were condemned to imprisonment for life.

This severe punishment did not check the ardour of the friends of Spain, who were chiefly officials and discontented nobles, and numbered few adherents among the people, and in 1643 a new plot was discovered, headed by Francisco de Lucena, Secretary of State, who was promptly executed. In spite of these difficulties, the government managed to get together an army; it was neither well-disciplined nor well-equipped, but popular enthusiasm took the place of experience, and on May 26, 1642, the Portuguese under the command of Mathias de Alboquerque, defeated a Spanish army under the Baron de Molingen at Montijo. This victory, which was loudly compared to that of Aljubarrota, was, in truth, of no great importance from a military point of view, but it invigorated the spirit of the Portuguese people, and encouraged them to persist in fighting for their independence. From every quarter of the globe news arrived that the old Portuguese possessions had declared for John IV. Mozambique, Goa and the possessions in India, Malacca, and Macao, all threw off the domination of Spain, and prepared to send money and men to Lisbon; while Brazil, the most valuable possession of the Portuguese crown, since the Dutch had taken possession of the Asiatic trade, began a gallant struggle for the House of Braganza, a struggle which brought about a war with the Dutch in Europe, and lost the Portuguese the assistance which had been promised them in 1641 by the arrival of the fleet under Gylfels.

The story of the great dominion acquired for the Dutch in South America by Count Maurice of Nassau has been told; and the wealth received by the Dutch West India Company from his efforts was only inferior to that of the Dutch East India Company. The Count had managed matters on a large scale; he had built or strengthened forty-five fortresses; he commanded a regular army of three thousand men and a fleet of ninety ships; and he sent over to Holland no less than twenty-five thousand chests of sugar a year. But in spite of his success he recognized that this dominion depended on the sword; the Dutch were not good colonists, for they never thought of making their homes in Brazil, but always of returning some day to Holland; and all the European settlers and planters in the five captainships held by the Dutch were of Portuguese descent. Further, the native Brazilians were on more friendly terms with the Portuguese than the Dutch owing to the labours of the Jesuits among them. Count Maurice of Nassau saw therefore that it was impossible to oust the Portuguese and replace them by Dutch settlers, so he established a dominion, resembling that of the English in India, which rested for its keystone upon the military possession of the country and the maintenance of strong garrisons in the various fortresses. It need hardly be said that the Portuguese of all the various captainships freely communicated with each other, and so wise and prudent was the administration of Count Maurice that the Portuguese settlers in his captainships were envied by those who remained under the power of Spain.

But this attitude of mind changed, when the news arrived of the successful revolution of December, 1640. Dom Antonio Telles da Silva, the Portuguese Governor-General at once proclaimed King John IV. at San Salvador, and the Portuguese in the Dutch captainships felt an immediate desire to join their brethren. Matters of European policy however prevented them from striking a blow at once; John IV. could not afford to make enemies of the Dutch, and one of the terms of his alliance with them was that matters should remain exactly as they were in Brazil for ten years. However the Portuguese colonists had not to wait ten years owing to the ungrateful behaviour of the Dutch themselves. The Dutch West India Company could not appreciate the political ideas of Maurice of Nassau; these traders wanted large profits and not a great empire; they were disgusted at the amounts spent on the fortresses and the army, and in 1644 they recalled the great man whose ideas were too grand for them to fathom. Immediately on his departure, matters went from bad to worse in the Dutch captainships. His successors, a committee of merchants, neglected the fortresses, and aroused the hatred of the Portuguese sugar planters by their exactions, and though they sent home an unparalleled amount of sugar and money for one year, it was the only year they remained in office; for in 1645 the whole of the Portuguese colonists in the Dutch captainships burst into insurrection. It was in vain for the Dutch authorities to complain to Dom Antonio Telles da Silva; he answered that it was not his fault if the Portuguese revolted; they did not do so under his orders or directions; and the Portuguese ambassador at the Hague made the same assertion in the name of the king. Seldom has an insurrection been so rapidly successful; Antonio Moniz Barreto and Antonio Teixeira de Mello speedily reduced the province of Maranham, and João Fernandes Vieira, a self-made man and originally a butcher’s boy, occupied the whole of the province of Pernambuco, and drove the Dutch into their capital. The neglected fortresses were easily taken, and soon the Dutch held no place, but the Recife. It was in vain for Holland to declare war against Portugal, and to send great armaments to Brazil; the national movement was too strong to be resisted; the Dutch won some naval victories but could gain no fresh foothold in the country, and in 1655 the island of the Recife was abandoned after a ten years’ siege, and a King of Portugal once more reigned over the whole of Brazil.

Great as was the triumph of the revolt in Brazil, it at first filled the heart of the King of Portugal with alarm, for it deprived him of an ally in Europe on whose valuable assistance he had firmly relied. Everywhere he looked in vain for help. Sweden could do nothing; England was torn by civil war; and in France his ally, Cardinal Richelieu, had been succeeded as supreme minister by Cardinal Mazarin. John IV. instinctively felt that he could not depend upon Mazarin, who would certainly throw him over, if a peace should be made between France and Spain, and in his despair he made an offer to resign his throne to a French prince, who should bring ample assistance from France. The nature of this offer is best told in a letter from Mazarin to the Duke of Longueville, dated October 4, 1647. “The King of Portugal,” wrote the Cardinal, “after having maturely considered the state of affairs, is disposed to resign his crown and retire to the Azores, and to offer his kingdom to any one whom the Queen of France shall select, believing himself strong enough to have such a person recognized as king and obeyed by all the people of Portugal. He only desires that the person selected should be a prince who may expect powerful help from France, and that he shall have the means to make such an alliance with his eldest son, as may eventually secure the succession of the kingdom to the latter. He proposes M. the Duke of Orleans and Mademoiselle, or M. the Prince, or you and your daughter.”[29] This strange offer of abdication came to nothing, and it may well be doubted if John IV. would have had the power to introduce a foreign prince in this way; and if he had succeeded, Mazarin would have abandoned Portugal with equal certainty even if a French prince had been on its throne. Though this scheme failed, John IV. still hankered after help from France; he offered his daughter, Donna Catherine de Braganza with a large dowry both to the Duke of Beaufort and to the young Louis XIV., and he also promised large sums of money to the avaricious cardinal for his own use. Years passed on, occupied with these various schemes and entreaties for assistance, and it was not until John IV. threatened to make peace at any price with Philip IV. that Mazarin’s trusted agent, the Chevalier de Jant, signed an offensive and defensive alliance with Portugal on September 7, 1655.[30]