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Memória, propaganda e oblívio. O caso do infante D. Pedro, Duque de Coimbra
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Importa mais a forma como nos comportamos em vida ou como somos recordados depois da morte? Esta é uma questão fundamental neste estudo. Surgido numa época de transição do paradigma do feudalismo medieval para o do capitalismo comercial e do humanismo, o infante D. Pedro parece ter sido importante para a transformação de um pequeno reino rural, embora já desperto para os benefícios do mercado, mas sem possibilidade de expansão territorial, numa potência marítima ancorada no comércio e tendo como suporte os desenvolvimentos da ciência. Regente na menoridade do sobrinho, mais tarde, seu genro, a quem educou segundo os melhores princípios, foi, desde cedo, ostracizado pela nobreza que o viu como um corpo estranho ligado à burguesia e ao povo, pretendendo eliminá-lo. Como a história é escrita pelos vencedores, muitos acontecimentos e matérias importantes acabam por ser objecto de esquecimentos e omissões que podem moldar a memória do passado e passar às gerações seguintes formulações erradas sobre uma figura ou um período, não sendo de descurar a hipótese de propaganda deliberada ou de damnatio memoriae.
Alicerçados nos pressupostos teóricos dos estudos de memória, nomeadamente nos conceitos de memória cultural e memória colectiva (Ansgar Nünning & Astrid Erll, eds. Cultural Memory Studies, 2008), pretendemos analisar a cultura da primeira metade do século XV e o papel que pode ter desempenhado no avolumar do drama do infante D. Pedro. Teremos sempre presente que a cultura está intimamente relacionada com a memória, cuja dinâmica consiste na interacção contínua entre recordar e esquecer. Não pretendemos alimentar diferendos entre história e memória, porque compreendemos que a narrativa do passado não é imutável, sendo objecto de uma contínua reapreciação e reconstrução, e porque a forma de recordar e apreciar factos passados também está sujeita a diferenças, pelo que podem existir diferentes modos de recordar os mesmos eventos, sejam eles individuais ou colectivos. Propomo-nos, por isso, perscrutar os esconsos da memória colectiva, apoiando-nos em documentos coevos ou posteriores, sem esquecer os ambientes económico, climático, sísmico, social, sanitário e até artístico, tão importantes para reconstituir a structure of feeling de uma época (Williams, 1965, 64). Daremos igualmente atenção à selective tradition, que, apesar de limitativa, nos poderá permitir aceder a áreas rejeitadas do que foi outrora uma cultura vivida, tendo sempre presente que as selecções e rejeições fazem com que acabe por se perder uma parte significativa dessa cultura (Williams, 1965, 68). Sabemos que, além de numerosas epístolas, entre as quais a conhecida Carta de Bruges, ao irmão D. Duarte, o infante D. Pedro escreveu, pelo menos em parte, o Livro da Virtuosa Benfeitoria. Traduziu igualmente do latim várias obras clássicas, entre as quais o De Officiis, de Cícero, o De Re Militari, de Vegetius, o De Regimine Principum, de Giles de Roma e, provavelmente, o Livro de Marco Polo, que trouxera de Veneza. Aventurou-se igualmente no campo da poesia, que consideramos a voz da alma, chegando até nós apenas um poema, “Em Louvor de Juan de Mena”, um consagrado poeta castelhano que lhe respondeu. Outra obra poética registada em documentos coevos, Em Louvor da Cidade de Lisboa, perdeu-se. No entanto, continua a ser frequentemente ignorado como intelectual da época. Uma parte importante de toda a investigação são as viagens, tanto reais como imaginárias. Entre 1425 e 1428, o infante viajou por vários países. De Portugal a Inglaterra, Flandres, Alemanha, Hungria, Veneza, Pádua, Florença, Roma, Aragão – onde conheceu a mulher que viria a ser sua esposa – e Castela. As viagens imaginárias descritas no Livro do Infante Dom Pedro de Portugal que Andou as Sete Partidas do Mundo, do também imaginário Goméz de Satisteban, estão na base da forma como hoje é conhecido: o infante das sete partidas.
Daremos atenção à propaganda que, embora não existisse com esse nome no tempo do infante D. Pedro, fazia sentir os seus efeitos e tinha como base teórica a retórica – um dos ramos do Trivium – sobretudo a Retórica a Herénio, inicialmente atribuída a Cícero, cuja autoria começou a ser posta em causa no século XV e ainda hoje não tem autor identificado. Escrito sob a forma de epístola, provavelmente no último século antes da era cristã, este tratado procura inculcar nos leitores a ideia das diferentes perspectivas pelas quais se pode encarar uma questão, seja pelo lado da acusação ou pelo da defesa, expondo aplicações e exemplos práticos. Explora, igualmente, o ethos do orador, que tem de ser honrado e respeitador dos costumes, afastando dele quaisquer vícios e atribuindo-lhe apenas virtudes, de forma a sustentar a persuasão perante o ouvinte. Este é o mais antigo manual retórico escrito em latim e uma das obras antigas de maior circulação na Idade Média. Destas ideias se serviram também outros membros da aristocracia ao longo dos séculos seguintes, sendo igualmente aproveitadas pela propaganda do Estado Novo. Em sentido oposto, escritores e poetas têm feito a apologia da figura e obra do infante, contrariando esse oblívio determinado.
How do we define ourselves: the way we behave in life or how we are remembered after death? This is a fundamental question in this study. Emerging at a time of transition from the medieval feudalism’s paradigm to the commercial capitalist and humanist paradigm. Prince D. Pedro seems to have been important in the transformation of a small rural kingdom, although already awaken to the benefits of the market, but without the possibility of territorial expansion, into a maritime power anchored on commerce and supported by developments in science. Regent during the nonage of his nephew and, later son-in-law, whom he educated according to the best principles, he was, since early days, ostracized by the nobility, who saw him as an astranged figure linked to the bourgeoisie and the lower orders and thus intended to eliminate him. As history is written by the winners, many important events and issues end up being the object of forgetfulness and omission that may shape the memory of the past and pass on to the following generations biased reformulations about a figure or a period of time, without neglecting the hypothesis of deliberate propaganda or damnatio memoriae. We intend to analyse the memories of the first half of the 15th century at the Portuguese court under the light of cultural, political, economic and social events as opposed to the historical record and the role they may have played in heightening the drama of Prince D. Pedro. The fourth son of João I and Filipa de Lencastre and second in line of succession, he was always in the shadow of his brothers and is, to this day, more famous for the four, or seven parts of the world through which he is supposed to have travelled than for his political and cultural legacy. Although “his peregrination had considerable impact on both himself and the subsequent course of Portuguese history” (Rodgers, 1961, 1) we know that he also wrote, at least in part, the Livro da Virtuosa Benfeitoria [the Book of Virtuous Benefaction], and other remarkable texts, such as the Carta de Bruges [Letter from Bruges], addressed to his brother D. Duarte. He also translated from Latin several classical works, including Cicero's De Officiis, Vegetius' De Re Militari, Giles of Rome´s De Regimine Principum and probably the Book of Marco Polo, which he had brought from Venice. Nevertheless, he is still often ignored as an intellectual of that time. An important part of the whole investigation are his journeys, both real and imagined. Between 1425 and 1428, the Prince visited various countries. From Portugal to England, Flanders, Germany, Hungary, Venice, Padua, Florence, Rome, Aragon – where he met the woman who would become his wife – and Castile. The imaginary journeys described in the Livro do Infante Dom Pedro de Portugal que Andou as Sete Partidas do Mundo [The Book of Prince D. Pedro of Portugal who Travelled accross the Seven Parts of the World[, by the also imaginary Gómez de Santisteban, form the basis of how he is known today: the travelling Infant. The medieval chronicles, especially the one by Rui de Pina about the reign of King D. Afonso V, allow us to follow the years of the regency of Prince D. Pedro and the events that led to his death in Alfarrobeira, as well as some of the strategies adopted to erase his memory. Curiously, some books from the Chancellery of King D. Afonso V relating to the years of the regency disappeared from the Torre do Tombo (national archive), which can be attributed to the 1755 earthquake and the consequential fires that consumed several libraries and countless official documents, but which can also make us think of a conspiracy to delete records of the Prince's governing action. Later works make possible to observe the analyses carried out, generally by academics, on the character and work of the first Duke of Coimbra, which are mostly propitious to him while others clearly aim to undervalue the man of culture and the humanist. Whatever the perspective, one must bear in mind that for the sake of the security and development of the kingdom, he was a politician, governing the country for eight years. This opposition between this two currents – one seeking to praise the achievements of someone who was ahead of his time, and the other to depreciate the figure and memory of the Prince – has crossed centuries and reached our time. Based on the theoretical assumptions of memory studies, namely the concepts of cultural memory and collective memory (Ansgar Nünning & Astrid Erll, eds. Cultural Memory Studies, 2008), we intend to analyse the culture of the times and how it framed the dramatic denouement of Prince D. Pedro’s life. We will always bear in mind that culture is closely related to memory, whose dynamics consist of the continuous interaction between remembering and forgetting. We do not intend to feed differences between history and cultural memory, because we understand that the narrative of the past is not immutable, but rather an object of a continuous reinterpretation and reconstruction, and because the way of remembering and appreciating past facts can also differ, there may also exist different ways of creating new memories. We propose, therefore, to seek into the recesses of collective memory the life and deeds of the Prince D. Pedro with the support of contemporary or later documents, without forgetting the economic, climatic, seismic, social, sanitary and artistic environments, so important to reconstitute the ‘structure of feeling’ of an era (Williams, 1965, 64). We will also pay attention to ‘selective tradition’, which, although restrictive, may allow us to access rejected areas of what was once a lived culture, bearing in mind that selections and rejections can cause the loss of a significant part of that culture (Williams, 1965, 68). We will pay attention to propaganda which, although it didn't exist under that name in the time of Prince D. Pedro, had its effects and had its theoretical basis in rhetoric – one of the branches of the Trivium – especially the Rhetorica ad Herennium, initially attributed to Cicero, whose authorship began to be questioned in the 15th century and even today has no identified author. Written in the form of an epistle, probably in the last century before the Christian era, this treatise seeks to inculcate in readers the idea of the different perspectives from which an issue can be approached, whether from the prosecution or the defense, setting out practical applications and examples. It also explores the ethos of the orator, who must be honourable and respectful of then-current customs, removing from him any vices and attributing only virtues, in order to persuade the listeners. This is the oldest rhetorical manual written in Latin and one of the most widely circulated ancient works during the Middle Ages. These ideas were also used by other members of the aristocracy over the following centuries, and likewise utilised by the propaganda of the Estado Novo [Salazar’s regime]. Literature is a powerful element in trying to reconstruct someone's memory (Birgit Neumann, 2008, 333-343). Over the centuries which separate us from Prince D. Pedro’s death on 20 May 1449, many writers, in chronicles, historical analyses, reviews, anthologies or novels, have referred to his works and behaviour, either in a good or bad light. Curiously, there was one group that never, to our knowledge, tried to belittle him, always singing the praises of the first Duke of Coimbra. Poets began singing about Prince D. Pedro shortly after his death in Alfarrobeira, and have continued to do so until today. Some of the most notable names include one of the infant's sons, the Constable D. Pedro, Francisco Sá de Miranda, António Ferreira, considered the Portuguese Horace, Camões, the Castilian poet Luis de Góngora, Pedro A. Correia Garção, the Frenchman Guillaume Apollinaire, the Portuguese Fernando Pessoa and Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen. However, the greatest poetic work about Prince D. Pedro belongs to a current writer, politician and poet: Manuel Alegre.
How do we define ourselves: the way we behave in life or how we are remembered after death? This is a fundamental question in this study. Emerging at a time of transition from the medieval feudalism’s paradigm to the commercial capitalist and humanist paradigm. Prince D. Pedro seems to have been important in the transformation of a small rural kingdom, although already awaken to the benefits of the market, but without the possibility of territorial expansion, into a maritime power anchored on commerce and supported by developments in science. Regent during the nonage of his nephew and, later son-in-law, whom he educated according to the best principles, he was, since early days, ostracized by the nobility, who saw him as an astranged figure linked to the bourgeoisie and the lower orders and thus intended to eliminate him. As history is written by the winners, many important events and issues end up being the object of forgetfulness and omission that may shape the memory of the past and pass on to the following generations biased reformulations about a figure or a period of time, without neglecting the hypothesis of deliberate propaganda or damnatio memoriae. We intend to analyse the memories of the first half of the 15th century at the Portuguese court under the light of cultural, political, economic and social events as opposed to the historical record and the role they may have played in heightening the drama of Prince D. Pedro. The fourth son of João I and Filipa de Lencastre and second in line of succession, he was always in the shadow of his brothers and is, to this day, more famous for the four, or seven parts of the world through which he is supposed to have travelled than for his political and cultural legacy. Although “his peregrination had considerable impact on both himself and the subsequent course of Portuguese history” (Rodgers, 1961, 1) we know that he also wrote, at least in part, the Livro da Virtuosa Benfeitoria [the Book of Virtuous Benefaction], and other remarkable texts, such as the Carta de Bruges [Letter from Bruges], addressed to his brother D. Duarte. He also translated from Latin several classical works, including Cicero's De Officiis, Vegetius' De Re Militari, Giles of Rome´s De Regimine Principum and probably the Book of Marco Polo, which he had brought from Venice. Nevertheless, he is still often ignored as an intellectual of that time. An important part of the whole investigation are his journeys, both real and imagined. Between 1425 and 1428, the Prince visited various countries. From Portugal to England, Flanders, Germany, Hungary, Venice, Padua, Florence, Rome, Aragon – where he met the woman who would become his wife – and Castile. The imaginary journeys described in the Livro do Infante Dom Pedro de Portugal que Andou as Sete Partidas do Mundo [The Book of Prince D. Pedro of Portugal who Travelled accross the Seven Parts of the World[, by the also imaginary Gómez de Santisteban, form the basis of how he is known today: the travelling Infant. The medieval chronicles, especially the one by Rui de Pina about the reign of King D. Afonso V, allow us to follow the years of the regency of Prince D. Pedro and the events that led to his death in Alfarrobeira, as well as some of the strategies adopted to erase his memory. Curiously, some books from the Chancellery of King D. Afonso V relating to the years of the regency disappeared from the Torre do Tombo (national archive), which can be attributed to the 1755 earthquake and the consequential fires that consumed several libraries and countless official documents, but which can also make us think of a conspiracy to delete records of the Prince's governing action. Later works make possible to observe the analyses carried out, generally by academics, on the character and work of the first Duke of Coimbra, which are mostly propitious to him while others clearly aim to undervalue the man of culture and the humanist. Whatever the perspective, one must bear in mind that for the sake of the security and development of the kingdom, he was a politician, governing the country for eight years. This opposition between this two currents – one seeking to praise the achievements of someone who was ahead of his time, and the other to depreciate the figure and memory of the Prince – has crossed centuries and reached our time. Based on the theoretical assumptions of memory studies, namely the concepts of cultural memory and collective memory (Ansgar Nünning & Astrid Erll, eds. Cultural Memory Studies, 2008), we intend to analyse the culture of the times and how it framed the dramatic denouement of Prince D. Pedro’s life. We will always bear in mind that culture is closely related to memory, whose dynamics consist of the continuous interaction between remembering and forgetting. We do not intend to feed differences between history and cultural memory, because we understand that the narrative of the past is not immutable, but rather an object of a continuous reinterpretation and reconstruction, and because the way of remembering and appreciating past facts can also differ, there may also exist different ways of creating new memories. We propose, therefore, to seek into the recesses of collective memory the life and deeds of the Prince D. Pedro with the support of contemporary or later documents, without forgetting the economic, climatic, seismic, social, sanitary and artistic environments, so important to reconstitute the ‘structure of feeling’ of an era (Williams, 1965, 64). We will also pay attention to ‘selective tradition’, which, although restrictive, may allow us to access rejected areas of what was once a lived culture, bearing in mind that selections and rejections can cause the loss of a significant part of that culture (Williams, 1965, 68). We will pay attention to propaganda which, although it didn't exist under that name in the time of Prince D. Pedro, had its effects and had its theoretical basis in rhetoric – one of the branches of the Trivium – especially the Rhetorica ad Herennium, initially attributed to Cicero, whose authorship began to be questioned in the 15th century and even today has no identified author. Written in the form of an epistle, probably in the last century before the Christian era, this treatise seeks to inculcate in readers the idea of the different perspectives from which an issue can be approached, whether from the prosecution or the defense, setting out practical applications and examples. It also explores the ethos of the orator, who must be honourable and respectful of then-current customs, removing from him any vices and attributing only virtues, in order to persuade the listeners. This is the oldest rhetorical manual written in Latin and one of the most widely circulated ancient works during the Middle Ages. These ideas were also used by other members of the aristocracy over the following centuries, and likewise utilised by the propaganda of the Estado Novo [Salazar’s regime]. Literature is a powerful element in trying to reconstruct someone's memory (Birgit Neumann, 2008, 333-343). Over the centuries which separate us from Prince D. Pedro’s death on 20 May 1449, many writers, in chronicles, historical analyses, reviews, anthologies or novels, have referred to his works and behaviour, either in a good or bad light. Curiously, there was one group that never, to our knowledge, tried to belittle him, always singing the praises of the first Duke of Coimbra. Poets began singing about Prince D. Pedro shortly after his death in Alfarrobeira, and have continued to do so until today. Some of the most notable names include one of the infant's sons, the Constable D. Pedro, Francisco Sá de Miranda, António Ferreira, considered the Portuguese Horace, Camões, the Castilian poet Luis de Góngora, Pedro A. Correia Garção, the Frenchman Guillaume Apollinaire, the Portuguese Fernando Pessoa and Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen. However, the greatest poetic work about Prince D. Pedro belongs to a current writer, politician and poet: Manuel Alegre.