Part 20

But before studying the rapid manner in which, first, the Dutch, and then the English and other foreign nations, contended for a share in the Asiatic trade, and eventually destroyed the Portuguese power in the East, it is necessary to draw attention to the fact that this destruction did not commence until the beginning of the seventeenth century, and the reign of Philip III. The ruin of Portugal was indeed due to the policy of Philip II., whose enemies Holland and England consummated it; but it was hardly commenced in his reign, which ended in 1598. Indeed, during that period, when the power of Portugal was on the very point of extinction, its Asiatic trade, and more especially its Indian trade, was at its height.[25] Philip II. faithfully observed the promises he had made to the Cortes of Thomar in this respect. All the viceroys he appointed were Portuguese, and he made no attempt to intrude Spaniards into either official appointments or into the conduct of the Asiatic commerce. The Portuguese viceroys of his reign, Dom Francisco Mascarenhas, Dom Duarte de Menezes, Dom Manoel de Sousa Coutinho, Dom Mathias de Alboquerque, and Dom Francisco da Gama, were all able and enterprizing rulers, who increased the prestige of the Portuguese power throughout the East by many deeds of daring, and especially by the conquest of the King of Kandy in Ceylon. The yearly fleets increased in number; the peoples of the East had got accustomed to regard the Portuguese as invincible; and the wheels of administration, from long practice, ran smoothly. Especially active were the missionaries, principally Jesuits, in Asia, and their progress was forwarded rather than checked by the accession of Philip II. to the throne of Portugal. The bishopric of Goa was raised to an archbishopric in 1577, and suffragan bishops were appointed wherever the influence of the Portuguese spread, and it is curious to note that an important mission headed by Dom Luis de Sequeira, consecrated Bishop of Japan, and Father Alexandra de Valignano, was despatched to Japan to 1598 and had much success.[26] But though the authorities of the Roman Catholic Church in Asia paid much attention to preaching the gospel among the distant peoples of the East, in India they were chiefly occupied in persecuting the Nestorian Christians on the Malabar coast with the help of the Inquisition. These Nestorian Christians were especially obnoxious to the orthodox Catholics, who got the Portuguese to prevent the arrival of any consecrated Nestorian bishop in India by blockading the coast, and who solemnly condemned the doctrines of the Nestorians in the famous synod of Diamper (Udayampura) held by Archbishop Alexis de Menezes in 1599. The history of the work of the Jesuits in India at this time is peculiarly interesting; the keynote to their policy is contained in the following words: “The Christian religion cannot be regarded as naturalized in a country, until it is in a position to propagate its own priesthood;”[27] and it must be remembered that the credit of their activity must not be attributed to Portuguese priests alone, for Jesuits of all nations cooperated in the work of evangelization, and among them should be noted Thomas Stephens, an Englishman and rector of the Jesuit college at Salsette. In preaching, teaching, and writing these early Jesuit missionaries were equally able, and it is recorded that the first book printed in India was printed by the Jesuits at Cochin in 1570. In opposition to this activity must be noted the terrible severity of the Inquisition at Goa, which stained the labours of these early missionaries with blood.

The last twenty years of the sixteenth century, comprised in the reign of Philip II., from 1580 to 1598, mark the height of the wealth and power of the Portuguese in the East, but their fall into nothingness there during the reigns of Philip III. and Philip IV. was as rapid as their success had been astounding. The first great blows were struck by the Dutch merchants, whose ships were sent out at their own expense, and in no way protected by the State. In 1597 two years after Houtman had led a Dutch fleet round the Cape, the Dutch established a factory in Java. In 1601 they defeated the Portuguese governor of Malacca, and took that city; in 1607 they conquered the Portuguese settlements in the Moluccas and Sumatra; and in 1618 they founded Batavia, which became the capital of the trade of the Spice Islands, and soon not only took the place of Malacca, but rivalled Goa. Not satisfied with the trade of the further East, they attacked that of China also, and in 1635 occupied the island of Formosa. At a later date they even ousted the Portuguese from their chief settlements in India and Ceylon, always excepting Goa, which, according to Catholic belief, has ever been preserved to the Portuguese by the holy bones of St. Francis Xavier. Meanwhile, just as the Dutch broke the power of the Portuguese in the Spice Islands and China, a new power had arisen to attack their Indian monopoly. The ancient allies of the Portuguese, the English, now made no distinction between them and their bitter enemies, the Spaniards, and during the last forty years of the “Sixty Years’ Captivity,” they laid the foundation of their empire in India. During the reign of Elizabeth, the English had sacked Pernambuco in 1594, destroyed Fort Arguin on the African coast in 1595, and ravaged the Azores in 1597; during that of James I. they attacked the Indian trade of Portugal. As was the case with the Dutch, the assault upon the Portuguese monopoly was the work of private traders, not of the State. This is not the place to trace the slow growth of the English power in India, but it is enough to say that the English ships went to Asia with no idea of conquest, and solely with the desire to trade. This the Portuguese desired to hinder, and in trying to prevent the English from taking on board cargoes at Surat in 1615, the Portuguese were defeated by Captain Best, and thus lost their reputation for invincibility on the north-west coast of India. The English, instead of showing a bold front, made efforts to live in harmony with the Indian kings, and especially with the Great Mogul, and were rewarded by being looked upon with favour instead of with suspicion, and being allowed to set up many commercial agencies. As traders, the English merchants had no wish to go to war and maintained no armies to defend their agencies, and the only offensive operation they undertook against the Portuguese was in 1622, when they assisted the Persians to capture Ormuz. These rapid onslaughts completely overthrew the Portuguese power in Asia. The Dutch quickly absorbed all the trade of the further East, and of the Spice Islands in particular; the English gained a good hold upon that with Persia and North-western India; and in 1629 the Portuguese commerce with Bengal was almost destroyed by the capture of their headquarters, Hūglī, by Shah Jehān who killed one thousand Portuguese, and carried over four thousand, including women and children, into captivity. Even smaller European nations attacked their monopoly, and in 1616 the Danes established themselves at Serampore and Tranquebar. Against all these blows, Portugal made little resistance; Golden Goa was shorn of its pre-eminence; and the Portuguese fleets when homeward bound were preyed upon by the Dutch and English cruisers.

It was not only in the East that disasters fell in quick succession upon the Portuguese, but efforts were made also by the Dutch to dispossess them of their great empire in South America. The history of the Dutch in Brazil is as remarkable as their history in Asia, and considering the small size of Holland, the same feeling of astonishment, which strikes the student, when he reads of the exploits of the Portuguese in the sixteenth century, affects him, when he examines the enterprises of the Dutch in the seventeenth. It was in 1624, when success was assured in Asia, that a Dutch West India Company was founded to drive the Portuguese out of South America. The new company at once sent a fleet under Admiral Willikens to attack Brazil, and this admiral met with little opposition in the capture of San Salvador, the capital of Portuguese South America. The Portuguese governor-general, Dom Diogo de Mendonça, abandoned the city, but the Archbishop, Dom Miguel de Teixeira, took his place, and calling on his clergy to take up arms, he defended the city for a few days, and then retired to a neighbouring port. Admiral Willikens plundered the city, and returned with a vast booty, to the delight of his employers, and left only a small garrison behind, which was soon driven back in all its forays, and eventually closely blockaded by the gallant old archbishop, who took the title of Captain-general of Brazil. In April, 1626, strong reinforcements arrived under Dom Emmanuel de Menezes, and the city of San Salvador once more fell into the hands of the Portuguese. It is not necessary to trace the exact history of every Dutch expedition to Brazil; it is enough to say that from 1626 to 1637, plunder was brought home every year and distributed to the shareholders of the company, while no real attempt at establishing trade or at colonization was made. This policy naturally caused the Dutch to be loathed by the Portuguese settlers as robbers and pirates, and kept them in a state of perpetual disquietude. In 1637, a great ruler, Count Maurice of Nassau, was sent out by the Dutch West India Company as Governor-general of their possessions in South America, which extended roughly over the four Captainships of Pernambuco, Tamaraca, Paraiba, and Rio Grande. This great general and statesman attempted to entirely destroy the Portuguese power in South America, and to establish a Dutch dominion there. His warlike expeditions were successful, excepting an attack on San Salvador, and he also managed to establish a general system of administration over the seven northern captainships with his capital at Mauriceburgh opposite the strongly fortified island of the Recife. It was Maurice of Nassau, who gave up the system of plundering the Portuguese, and substituted that of taxing them, and his power was at its height, when the news of the revolution of 1640, and of the overthrow of the Spanish domination, arrived in Brazil and revived the spirits of the Portuguese colonists.

To compensate for all these losses, the destruction of the monopoly of the Asiatic trade, the loss of Ormuz and Malacca, and the reduction of the greater part of Brazil, what advantages had Portugal received? The promises made by Philip II. to the Cortes of Thomar were mostly broken by his successors. The Duke of Lerma and the Count-Duke of Olivares, the all-powerful ministers of Philip III. and Philip IV. tried to see how far and how entirely they could prove to the Portuguese people that they were subject to Spain, and not a free nation. The Cortes, instead of being summoned frequently, was only summoned once during the reign of Philip III., in 1619, in order to recognize his son as heir to the throne; and was never summoned at all during the reign of Philip IV. Spaniards filled every office in the kingdom, and more especially in the garrison towns; Spanish ecclesiastics were consecrated to Portuguese bishoprics; and the Portuguese council at the Court of Madrid was reduced to a single secretary. Taxation was heavy, and the revenue from it was not spent in the country, and the promise that no Portuguese land should be granted to other than Portuguese subjects was often broken, conspicuously in the case of the Duke of Lerma, who secured a grant of the royal domains of Beja and Serpa. But Lerma and Olivares forgot that the Portuguese were a separate race, with a great and noble history; they would not be trampled on for ever, and to the surprise of Spain, the little country rose in rebellion in 1640 and put an end to the “Sixty Years’ Captivity.”

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.

TABLE III.

THE DUKES OF BRAGANZA.

JOHN “THE GREAT,” by Ines Pires (see p. 125) | AFFONSO, = (1) Beatrice, dau. of Nuno Alvares Pereira, Duke of Braganza, 1412; | “The Holy Constable.” d. 1461. | (2) Constance de Noronha. | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | | FERDINAND, = Joanna de Castro. Affonso, Count of Ourem = Beatrice Isabel = John, Constable of | de Sousa (from whom descended Duke of Beja, Portugal. | the Marquises of Valencia). 4th son of John “the Great” | (see Table I., p. 139). --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | FERDINAND, = Isabel, dau. of John, = Isabel de Noronha. Affonso Alvaro, beheaded | Ferdinand, Duke Constable of Portugal, Count of Faro. Chancellor of Portugal 1483 | of Viseu and Beja d. 1484; (from whom descended (see p. 162). | (see Table I., p. 139). Marquis of Monte Mor. the Dukes of Cadaval). | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | | JAYMÉ = (1) Leonor Guzman de Diniz Affonso, | Medina Sidonia, (from whom descended the Dukes Grand Master of the | (2) Joanna de Mendoza. of Taurisano, extinct 1694). Order of Christ. | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | | | | THEODOSIO = Isabella de Lemos. Constantino, John, Theotonio, Isabel = Edward, | Viceroy of India Prior of Archbishop of Duke of Guimaraens, | (see pp. 212, 246). Guimaraens. Evora. 6th son of King Emmanuel | (see Table II., p. 279). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | JOHN, = Catherine, elder dau. of Edward, Duke of Guimaraens, 6th son Jaymé d. 1582. | of King Emmanuel (see Table II., p. 279). killed at Alcacer Quibir (see p. 255). | ------------------------------------------------ | | THEODOSIO, = Anna de Velasco. Edward, = heiress of Alvares Toledo, Constable of Portugal, | Marquis of Count of Oropeza. d. 1630. | Flechilla. | ------------------------------------------------- | | JOHN IV., = Luisa Guzman de Edward, General of Artillery in the Emperor’s King of Portugal, Medina Sidonia. service, delivered up to Spain 1641; 1640; d. 1656. d. 1649.

But the discontented people of Portugal wanted some one to rally round; the nobility wanted a leader. This leader and representative was found in John, eighth Duke of Braganza, the legitimate heir to the throne. This great nobleman was the head of the most noble family in Portugal, and the direct lineal descendant of the bastard son of John “the Great,” who had married the daughter of the Holy Constable, and he was further the grandson of Donna Catherine, the rightful heiress to the Cardinal-King, Dom Henry. Philip II. had purchased the acquiescence of the husband of Donna Catherine in his usurpation by securing to him the vast possessions of the Braganza family in Portugal, but he had not fulfilled his promise of the grant of Brazil in full sovereignty, to the great disgust of the heiress to the throne of Portugal. She had inspired her hatred for Spain and her love for Portugal into her son, Dom Theodosio, seventh duke, but her grandson, Dom John, was an indolent and timid nobleman, who preferred an easy life to a crown. Dom John had succeeded to the duchy and estates in 1630, at the age of twenty-six, and he had married Donna Luisa de Guzman, daughter of the Duke of Medina Sidonia, in 1633. This marriage had been hailed with delight by Olivares, as it seemed to bind the Braganza family closer to Spain, and he persuaded Philip IV. to grant Dom John as a wedding-gift the duchy and lordship of Guimaraens, which had been the property of Dom Edward, youngest son of Emmanuel “the Fortunate,” the prince through whom the Duke of Braganza traced his claim to the throne. But this marriage did not cement the friendship of the House of Braganza with Spain. On the contrary, the duchess seemed to surrender her Spanish nationality; she made a point of speaking Portuguese, and became more patriotic than the Portuguese themselves; she never forgot that her husband was by rights a king, and was encouraged to use all her great abilities to scheme for the throne of Portugal by the recollection of a prophecy made to her in her childhood that she should be a queen. Dom John himself did not share her opinions; he was no warrior, but loved hunting, music, and the arts, and his lovely hunting-seat at Villa Viçosa, far more than he did politics or even his country. But his easy nature made him subservient to the will of his duchess, and she, through the duke’s agent, João Pinto Ribeiro, Professor of Civil Law at Coimbra, let the nobility of Portugal know that the Duke of Braganza would put himself at their head, if they would but strike a blow for the freedom of their country.