546 Beira the garden of Europe, the southern part of the king dom was chiefly in the hands of the military orders, who did not sufficiently encourage immigration. The great dis coveries of the 15th century quickened the depopulation of Portugal. Not only did the bulk of the young men gladly volunteer as soldiers and sailors to go in search of wealth and honour, but whole families emigrated to Madeira and the Brazils. Also the Portuguese who did continue to live in their native country flocked to Lisbon, which trebled in population in less than eighty years, owing to the large fortunes which could be made there in trade. The king, the nobles, and the military orders were quite unconcerned at this extensive emigration, for their large estates were cultivated much more cheaply by African slaves, who were imported from the time of the first voyages of Dom Henry in such numbers that Algarves was entirely cultivated by them, and even in Lisbon itself they outnumbered the free men by the middle of the 16th century. In this respect the condition of Portugal resembled that of Italy at the time of the decline of the Roman empire, as the wealth of Lisbon resembled that of imperial Rome, while in another respect the utter corruption of the officials in the factories and Indian settlements too far resembled the peculation and corruption of the Roman proconsuls. While the Portuguese nation was exhibiting these signs of a rapid decline, another factor was added by the religious zeal of John III. This king inherited his father s bigotry and fanaticism, and was anxious to introduce the Jesuits and the Inquisition into Portugal. The Church of Rome was not likely to hinder his pious desire, but for several years the "neo- Christians" the name given to the half hearted converts made from the Jews as the condition of their remaining in Portugal managed to ward off the blow. But the king s earnest wish was gratified at last, and in 1536 the tribunal of the Holy Office was estab lished in Portugal with the bishop of Ceuta as first grand inquisitor, who was soon succeeded by the king s brother, the cardinal Henry. The Inquisition quickly destroyed all that was left of the old Portuguese spirit, and so effectu ally stamped out the Portuguese revival of literature that, while towards the close of the 16th century all Europe was becoming civilized under the influence of the Renais sance, Portugal fell back and her literature became dumb. The king had his reward for his piety : he was permitted to unite the masterships of the orders of Christ, Santiago, and Aviz with the crown, and to found new bishoprics at Leiria, Miranda, and Porto Alegre ; but it was left to St Francis Xavier to show the real beauty of Christianity in his mission to the Indies. It was in India that the decline of the Portuguese was most perceptible. Nuno da Cunha, son of the discoverer Tristan da Cunha, governed the Indian settlements worthily till 1536, and then corruption undermined all prosperity until the arrival of Dom Joao de Castro in 1545. He was a Portuguese hero of the noblest type ; and for three years the friend of St Francis Xavier revived the glories of Albu querque by winning the battle of Diu, and then died in the missionary s arms. Everything went afterwards from bad to worse, till even observers like the Dutchman Cleynaerts saw that, in spite of all its wealth and seeming prosperity, the kingdom of Portugal was rotten at the core and could not last. King John III., satisfied with peace and the establishment of the Inquisition in his kingdom, did nothing to check the decline ; and he endeavoured to secure his aims by the marriage of his only surviving son John to his niece Joanna, a daughter of Charles V., but he had the misfortune to outlive his son, who died in 1554. When he himself died in 1557 he left the crown to his grandson, a child of three years old, the ill-fated Dom Sebastian. [HISTORY. Nothing could be more disastrous for Portugal than the Sebas succession of a minor at this juncture. Under the will of tian - John III. the regency was assumed by Queen Catherine and the cardinal Henry, his widow and his brother, but all power was exercised by the brothers Luis and Martini Gonculves Camara, of whom the former was the young king s tutor and confessor and the latter prime minister. In 1568 Dom Sebastian was declared of age by the Camaras, who thus excluded the cardinal from even a semblance of power. As the king came to take more interest in affairs, the mixture of imperiousness, fanaticism, and warlike ambi tion which made up his character began to make its mark upon his reign. He tried to check the luxury of his people by a sumptuary edict that no one might have more than two dishes for dinner ; he encouraged the Inquisition ; and he dreamt of a new crusade in Africa for the conquest and conversion of the Moors. His crusading ardour was most objectionable to his people, who had highly approved of John III. s surrender of all ports in Africa except Ceuta, Tangiers, Arzilla, and Mazagan, but the Jesuits and young courtiers about his person encouraged him in his wild ideas. In 1574 he paid a short visit to Ceuta and Tangiers, and in 1576, to his great delight, Mouley Ahmed ibn Abdallah, after being disappointed in his application to Philip II. for help against Mouley Abd al-Melik, sultan of Morocco, applied to Sebastian. The king proceeded to raise money by harsh taxes on the converted Jews and by partial bankruptcy, and set sail for Africa on 24th June 1578 with 15,000 infantry, 2400 cavalry, and 36 guns; of this army only some 10,000 were Portuguese, the rest consisting of Spanish and German volunteers and mer cenaries, and 900 Italians, under Sir Thomas Stukeley, whom, when on his way to deliver Ireland from Elizabeth, Sebastian had stopped. On reaching Africa the Portuguese king was joined by Mouley Ahmed with 800 Mohammed ans. He at first amused himself with hunting, and then, just as Dom Ferdinand had done in 1436, he foolishly left his base of operations, his fleet, and the sea, and began to march over the desert to attack Larash (El-Araish). Mouley Abd al-Melik, who had previously endeavoured to dissuade the young king from his purpose, collected an army of 40,000 cavalry, 15,000 infantry, and 40 guns, and, feeling that he was himself on the point of death from a mortal disease, ordered an instant attack upon the Portuguese at AlcAcer Quibir, or Al-kasr al-Kebir, on 4th August 1578. Dom Sebastian behaved like a brave knight, though he had not been a prudent commander, and when all was lost he was determined to lose his own life also. According to the most trustworthy account, Christovao de Tavora, his equerry, had shown a flag of truce, and had offered to surrender with the fifty horsemen who still remained about the king, when Sebastian sud denly dashed on the Moorish cavalry, who, irritated by this breach of faith, instantly slew him and the brave equerry who had followed his master. The slaughter was terrible; Mouley Abel al-Melik died during the action; Mouley Ahmed was drowned ; Sir Thomas Stukeley was killed, with many of the chief Portuguese nobles and pre lates, including Don Jayme de Braganza (brother of the sixth duke of Braganza), the duke of Aveiro (who had com manded the cavalry), and the bishops of Coimbra and Oporto, while among the prisoners were the duke of Bar- cellos and Duarte de Menezes. The sad news was brought to Lisbon by the admiral of the fleet, Dom Diogo de Sousa, and the cardinal Henry was proclaimed king of Portugal Hi- * as King Henry I. Hardly had the new king been crowned when intrigues began about his successor. He could not live long ; but he determined not to examine the question himself, and
so summoned a cortes at Lisbon at once to decide it. Of