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Portugal e o desenvolvimento das marinhas oceânicas : o galeão português. 1518-1550
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A necessidade de controlar, proteger e expandir o império ultramarino português – uma dilatada descontinuidade geográfica, em parte inserida em zonas de forte oposição naval - revelou um conjunto de problemas de natureza naval muito específicos que não podiam ser resolvidos dentro do tradicional contexto técnico europeu. Em consequência, a coroa portuguesa compeliu, ou permitiu, a introdução de algumas soluções inovadoras, entre as quais pontuam como as mais importantes: o aperfeiçoamento do padrão português de artilharia naval, de existência prévia à viagem de Vasco da Gama, e a conformação paulatina de uma frota tipologicamente heterogénea, de molde a contrariar de forma mais eficaz todo o tipo de ameaças em diversos contextos. A esta adicionaram-se dois tipos de veleiros destinados à guerra: a caravela de guerra portuguesa, em data incerta, mas muito provavelmente em inícios do século XVI, e o galeão português, em 1518.
Esta investigação incide primeiramente sobre esta última tipologia, cujas características e função têm sido alvo, desde longa data, de acesa controvérsia entre os estudiosos. De forma a contribuir positivamente para esse debate, estudámos os antecedentes e a história primitiva do galeão português, onde, é lícito suspeitar, residem as respostas às questões relevantes. Por força das datas da documentação técnica (ca.1590 em diante), a periodização dos estudos anteriores foi circunscrita à época filipina, quando o galeão português contava já com sete décadas de existência e as peculiaridades marítimas e navais portuguesas se diluíam na lógica unitária e concepções marítimas e navais da Monarquia espanhola. Não é pois para admirar que a identificação da sua natureza funcional colocasse tantas dificuldades.
O galeão português e a caravela de guerra são as mais antigas tipologias de arquitectura militar não pertencentes à família das galés. E o galeão, como vaso de guerra pesado, o precursor, em linha directa ou por influência, de todos os grandes veleiros de batalha europeus, no qual se corporizou – com sucesso – a ideia inovadora do navio de batalha oceânico: uma plataforma de artilharia de alto-mar, com grande mobilidade e autonomia - valor indispensável à gestão dos recursos no vasto espaço de interesses ultramarino - destinada a prevalecer no duelo de artilharia e contramanobrar qualquer veleiro de porte, ao mesmo tempo que defensivamente mais capaz do que qualquer nau quando atacado por galés em calmaria. E assim um dos instrumentos constituintes do poder naval pan-oceânico que permitiu aos portugueses construir e proteger o seu império ultramarino.
Que a mesma fórmula tenha sido replicada com grande sucesso na construção de todas as hegemonias e grandes impérios marítimos europeus revela uma importância que excede o mero âmbito da História do Navio, na qual o galeão português deveria ocupar um lugar proeminente.
The need to control, protect and expand the Portuguese overseas empire - geographically isolated and dispersed, and in part located in regions with strong naval opposition - exposed a number of very specific naval issues that could not be addressed within the conventional European technical context. As a result, the Portuguese authorities forced or allowed the introduction of several innovative solutions, amongst which the most important were: the upgrading, or perfection, of their naval artillery system, which was a standardized arrangement, probably in existence prior to the ~ 2 ~ voyage of da Gama; the progressive creation of a typologically heterogeneous fleet, with respect to ship types, in order to better counteract most effectively all kinds of threats in diverse contexts, and the introduction of two dedicated sailing warships: the Portuguese naval caravel, at an uncertain date, but most probably in the early XVIth century, and the Portuguese galleon, in 1518. This research focuses on the latter ship type, whose characteristics and function had aroused a long lasting controversy among maritime scholars. In order to give a proper contribution to this discussion, we looked into the background and early history of the galleon, where, one might suspect, the answers to the critical queries lie. Technical evidence is late (ca.1590 onwards). That fact restricted all former studies to the period of Spanish rule, when the Portuguese galleon had already existed for seventy years, and Portuguese naval and maritime distinctiveness was being diluted in the unitary logic and the maritime and naval conceptions of the Spanish Monarchy. It is therefore a slight surprise that the functional nature of the galleon had become the subject of such contention. The Portuguese galleon and the Portuguese naval caravel were the first non-galley ship types built upon a distinctive military architecture. The galleon, as a heavy man-of-war, was the forerunner, through direct line or indirect influence, of all the subsequent large European sailing warships, in which the novel concept of the oceanic battleship was successfully embodied: a high-seas gun platform with great mobility and autonomy – an essential requirement to the Portuguese in the management of resources in the vast spaces of overseas interests – meant to outgun and outmanoeuvre any sizeable sailing ship and more capable than naus of withstanding galley attacks in calms. And therefore it was one of the constituent tools of the pan-oceanic naval power that allowed the Portuguese to build and protect their overseas empire. That the same formula has been successfully replicated in the creation of all European hegemonies and great maritime empires reveals a significance that exceeds the scope of the History of the Ship, in which the Portuguese galleon should be placed in a prominent position.
The need to control, protect and expand the Portuguese overseas empire - geographically isolated and dispersed, and in part located in regions with strong naval opposition - exposed a number of very specific naval issues that could not be addressed within the conventional European technical context. As a result, the Portuguese authorities forced or allowed the introduction of several innovative solutions, amongst which the most important were: the upgrading, or perfection, of their naval artillery system, which was a standardized arrangement, probably in existence prior to the ~ 2 ~ voyage of da Gama; the progressive creation of a typologically heterogeneous fleet, with respect to ship types, in order to better counteract most effectively all kinds of threats in diverse contexts, and the introduction of two dedicated sailing warships: the Portuguese naval caravel, at an uncertain date, but most probably in the early XVIth century, and the Portuguese galleon, in 1518. This research focuses on the latter ship type, whose characteristics and function had aroused a long lasting controversy among maritime scholars. In order to give a proper contribution to this discussion, we looked into the background and early history of the galleon, where, one might suspect, the answers to the critical queries lie. Technical evidence is late (ca.1590 onwards). That fact restricted all former studies to the period of Spanish rule, when the Portuguese galleon had already existed for seventy years, and Portuguese naval and maritime distinctiveness was being diluted in the unitary logic and the maritime and naval conceptions of the Spanish Monarchy. It is therefore a slight surprise that the functional nature of the galleon had become the subject of such contention. The Portuguese galleon and the Portuguese naval caravel were the first non-galley ship types built upon a distinctive military architecture. The galleon, as a heavy man-of-war, was the forerunner, through direct line or indirect influence, of all the subsequent large European sailing warships, in which the novel concept of the oceanic battleship was successfully embodied: a high-seas gun platform with great mobility and autonomy – an essential requirement to the Portuguese in the management of resources in the vast spaces of overseas interests – meant to outgun and outmanoeuvre any sizeable sailing ship and more capable than naus of withstanding galley attacks in calms. And therefore it was one of the constituent tools of the pan-oceanic naval power that allowed the Portuguese to build and protect their overseas empire. That the same formula has been successfully replicated in the creation of all European hegemonies and great maritime empires reveals a significance that exceeds the scope of the History of the Ship, in which the Portuguese galleon should be placed in a prominent position.
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Descobrimentos geográficos portugueses - séc.16 Galeões - Portugal - séc.16 Arquitectura naval - Portugal - séc.16 Navegação - Portugal - séc.16 Portugal - História - séc.16 Teses de doutoramento - 2017