Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 19.djvu/577

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POR—POR

LITERATURE.] PORTUGAL 555 au temps dc Mazarin, by Jules Tessier (Paris, 1877) ; Vertot s Revolutions de Portugal (Paris, 1678) ; Miguel d Antas, Les faux J). Sebastian (Paris, 1866) ; R. Carte s History of the Revolutions of Portugal from the Foundation of that Kingdom to the year 1677, with Letters of Sir R. Southwell during his Embassjj there to the Duke ofOnnond (London, 1740), which are the best books on their respective subjects, and two articles in vol. ii. of the Annaes das Scioncias Moraes c Politicas, " D. Joao II. e la Nobreza," by L. A. Rebello da Silva, and " Apontamentos para a Historia da Conquista de Portugal por Filippe II.," by A. P. Lopes de Mendoi^a. The literature of the history of the last hundred years requires careful selection ; the best work is, however, the Historia da Guerra civil c do Estabclecimcnto do Governo parlcmcntar cm Portugal, by Simiao Jose da Luz Soriano (8 vols., 1866-82) ; for the Peninsular War see, besides Napier s history, the Historia gcral da Invasdo dos Francczcs em Portugal, by Accursio das Neves (Lisbon, 1810-11), and Exccrptos historicos relatives a Guerra dcnominada da Peninsula, e as anteriores de 1801, da Roussillon e Cataluna, by Claudio de Chaby (1863). The period of the war of Dom Miguel is best seen in the AFemorias para a Historia do tempo que duron a Usurparao dc D. Miguel, by J. L. Freire de Carvalho (Lisbon, 1841-43) ; the Historia da Libcrdade cm Portugal, by J. G. Barros Cunha (Lisbon, 1869) ; The Civil War in Portugal, and the Siege of Oporto by a British Officer of Hussars [Colonel Badcock] (1835) ; and The Wars of Succession of Spain and Portugal, by William Bollaert (vol. i., 1870). For the ensuing period consult the Dcspachos e Correspond- I cncia do Duque dc Palmella (3 vols., 1851-54) ; the Corresjiondencia official dc Condc dc Carneira com o Duque de Palmella (1874) ; and ! the Memoirs of the Duke of Saldanha, by the count of Carnota (2 I vols., 1S80). (H. M. S.) PART III. LITERATURE. Portugal has a distinct literature as well as a distinct history, and one which is intimately bound up with the growth of the nation. The biographies, histories, and travels of the 16th cen tury are unrivalled of their age in brilliancy and vigour, while the poetry of a land where all men are singers is not only admirable in itself but illustrates a continuous and undecided struggle between native and foreign schools. The period of the growth of national independence and of the victories over the Moors was that of the brilliant poetry of the Portuguese troubadours, which became at last truly characteristic ; but the brilliancy speedily died away with peace and national unity, to be revived in the heroic period of Vasco de Gama and Albuquerque. For in the 16th century, after the classical school of Sci de Miranda had given a polish to the language, the national epics of Camoens and his followers were produced, which might have yielded more lasting results had not the Spanish dominion paralysed all national life. In more modern times the reaction against mere imitations of foreign literature has resulted in the formation of a new native school by which much good work both in poetry and in historical research has already been accomplished. 12th to 14th Century. The Portuguese, Gallegan, and Bable dialects are subdivisions of that form of the Lingua Romana Rustica which was spoken in Galicia and the western provinces of the Iberian Peninsula, and which until the 15th "century was the literary language of Castile itself. The remains of the early poets are necessarily scanty, but they are sufficient to show that the courtly troubadours of Portugal and Castile were certainly not inferior to the more noted singers of Provence. In some respects they were even superior, since, not being tied to the forms of a merely literary language such as the Provencal, they were able to borrow both form and matter from a vigorous national poetry which can be traced through the different races which successively occupied Portugal. The "alalala, " which afterwards developed into the "aravta," the earliest form of the epic, is probably a legacy from the original Turanian inhabitants; the "guayado," a short lyric with the refrain " ay " or "guai," was derived from their Celtic successors; the "cantos de ledino are evidences of the Roman conquest, which in turn gave place to the "chacones" or dance-songs of the Visigoths ; while during the Arab dominion the sensuous " serranilhas " and "cantos de amigo" found a place in the family "cancioneiros," which were then compiled in imitation of the divans or tribal songs of the ruling race. This national poetry, however, was for long affected in its literary form by foreign influences. From the beginning of the reign of Affonso Henriques (1112) to the death of Dom Sancho II. (1248) the court was under direct Provencal influence ; and it is not improbable that in 1146 the celebrated trouba dour Marcabrun was himself attached to the suite of Donna Matilda on her marriage with Affonso Henriques, since he was certainly a visitor at the court in 1147. The poets Egas Moniz Coelho and Goncalo Herminguez are commonly, though erroneously, referred to the time of Alfonso Henriques, who was himself a poet ; but the name (and poem) of only one undoubtedly Portuguese troubadour of this period has survived, Joao Soares de Panha (1145-1204). The history of Galician literature properly belongs to that of Spain, but it is important to remember that Portugal is perhaps even more than Castile the heir of its early efforts. Amongst the Galician poets who frequented the court of Sancho I. (1185-1211) and formed a strong opposition to the Italo-Proveni;al school were Affonso Gomez, Fernam Goncalves de Senabria, and Joao Soares de Paiva. The most famous of their Provencal rivals, who doubtless were the more readily welcomed owing to the king s marriage with a daughter of Raymond Berenger IV., count of Provence and king of Aragon, were Peire Vidal, Peire Valeira, and Gavaudan o Velho, who in a "sirvente" written about 1210 incited the Christians to a crusade against the Moors. Affonso III. (1248-1279) returned from his residence at the court of St Louis of France imbued with northern rather than with southern sentiments, and consequently during his reign French influences prevailed. The nobles who had accompanied him were "trouveres" rather than "troubadours " and to one of them, Affonso Lopes de Bayam, belongs the honour of writing the first Portuguese gesta, a Gesta de Maldizer. Other celebrated poets of this Franco-Provencal school were the "privados," or court poets, Joao de Aboim, the author of several sirventes and tensons, but, like De Bayam, the writer also of cantos de amigo and cantos de ledino, Fernao Garcia Esgaravunha, and Joao Garcia o Pinto, his brother. The privados were in their turn satirized by Martim Moxa and Lourenco and Diogo Pezelho, who belonged to the less privileged class of " segreis," a term applied to those singers who wandered from court to court. The king s songs have been lost, or at least cannot be identified, but he is reputed to have been no mean poet, and a sirvente against Alphonso X. of Castile, which appears from internal evidence to have been written by him, is still extant. To this period also belonged the privados Fernao Fernandes Cogominho, the writer of cantos de amigo and serran ilhas, and Estevam Coelho, of whose works two lovely serranilhas remain of the purest Galician form and feeling. The works of these poets show that, notwithstanding foreign influence, the national forms had already obtained some degree of favour at court. Similarity in the literary language led to considerable intercourse between Portugal and Castile, and the Galicians Pero da Ponte and Affonso Eanes de Coton were entertained by Affonso III., while the Portuguese poets Pero Gomes Barroso, Payo Gomes Charrinho, and Goncalo Eanes do Vinhal enjoyed the patronage of Alphonso the Wise. On the accession of Diniz (1279-1325) the court literature showed the decided southern and Provencal tendencies of this king, who from the number, variety, and beauty of his songs was himself the greatest poet of his time. Educated by Aymeric d Ebrard of Cahors, afterwards bishop of Coimbra, he at first affected the mannerisms of the decaying school of Provence. With the courts of Love which he introduced came the Limousin decasyllabic in place of the national octosyllabic metre, and the ancient forms were lost in the intricacies of the ritournelle. This king s songs are marked by an exaggerated subjectivism, but among them quaint and graceful "pastorellas " are found, full of poetic life and truth, which show that the king was not blind to the beauty of his people s lyrics. Admiration led to imitation, and the close of his reign is marked by a distinct literary revival of the national poetry, which at his hands received a polish it had somewhat lacked before. The effects of Diniz s influence pervade the whole of Portuguese poetry, for not only was he in his pastorellas the forerunner of the great pastoral school, but by sanctifying to literary use the national storehouse of song he perpetuated among his people, even to the present day, lyric forms of great beauty. Dom Diniz completely overshadows the poets who were his courtiers and contemporaries, but amongst them the most notable were Estevam da Guarda, Ayras Peres Veyturon, Ruy Goncalves, Joiio Eanes, and Joao de Guilharda, though the last-named was rather a musician than a poet. Dom Affonso Sanches, a natural son of Dom Diniz, wrote partly in the Limousin and partly in the Galician style, and another son, Dom Pedro, Conde de Barcellos, who com piled a " livro das cantigas " and a " nobiliario " or peerage, was the author of several poems, but in an affected strain, which marked the approaching decay of lyric poetry. With the reign of Affonso IV. (1325-1357) began the reaction of the Castilian language against the Portuguese, but the quarrels of Ferdinand (1367-1383) with Henry II. of Castile were the fortunate cause of the formation of a second national school. For amongst its founders were the Galician poets who took refuge at the court of Portugal, and who were followers of Macias and Padron, including Vasco Pires de Camoes, ancestor of the great Luis, while to this period must be properly assigned the poems of Egas Moniz Coelho and Gonalo Herminguez. Epic poetry was in Portugal as in Provence a later literary Epic development than lyric. The popular aravias must have been poetry, numerous, to judge from the remains which are still found in the Azores and in the provinces of Beira and Algarves ; and to the 13th century may be referred the Locnda de Santa Iria and the

Can-do do Figuciral. In its literary form the Breton "lai" was