[166] By the populace of the kingdom, Sebastian was believed, even in the nineteenth century, to be yet alive, concealed, like Roderic the Goth, or the English Arthur, in some hermit’s cell, or, perhaps, in some enchanted castle until the time of his re-appearance arrives, when he is to restore the glory of his nation. During the aggressions of Bonaparte on the kingdom, his arrival was expected with much anxiety. [The sect of Sebastianistas often rose to cause excitement, and as early as 1763, Lord Tyrawley exclaimed, “What can one possibly do with a nation, one-half of which expects the Messiah and the other half their king, Dom Sebastian, dead two hundred years?”]
[167] [We may omit from the contest the pope, Gregory XIII, who claimed to be heir to a cardinal, and Catherine de’ Medici, who traced back to Alfonso III’s marriage to the countess of Boulogne in the thirteenth century.]
CHIEF CLAIMANTS OF THE PORTUGUESE SUCCESSION
* The first wife of Emmanuel was Isabella, eldest daughter of the Catholic sovereigns, who died in childbed, and was soon followed by her infant son. By Maria, his sister-in-law and his second queen, he had three other children, besides those enumerated in this table, but all died without issue.
† João III had also other children, but as they all died without issue and before him, they need not be enumerated.
[168] [[See the chart of Portuguese successions on page 503.]]
[169] [According to some historians the duke was really as indifferent as he seemed, and it was the ambition of his wife and of his friends that did all the work for him.]
[170] [“This movement reached Villa Viçosa, where the residents changed it to a rebellion, and under cover of the night some of them proclaimed the duke of Braganza, eighth of the title, as João IV king of Portugal. But the time prescribed from centuries had not yet come; the duke sent his son Dom Theodosio, duke de Barcellos, through the streets, and, although he was only four years of age, the light of the great virtues which afterwards distinguished this excellent prince shone in his face, and he became as it were a rainbow of peace, and returned leaving the people pacified, and saved from anxiety the father whom a serious illness prevented from going himself to check the disturbance.”—Menezes.[k]]
[171] [This statement, which was made by Vertot[l] in 1689 and is repeated by many historians, is denounced by Stephens[e] as “absurd,” though the Netherlands offered an easy analogy.]