In this, the bicentenary year of the Liberal Revolution and in recognition of its important links to Great Britain, the present issue of REAP/JAPS will, for the first time in its history, be devoted entirely to Anglo-Portuguese relations during the period of Liberalism, or more precisely from the Revolution of 1820 to the Restoration of the Constitutional Charter in 1842.
Due emphasis is therefore given to the central role of the London based Portuguese press (…)
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through which exiled writers promoted liberal ideas, extolled the advantages of a constitutional monarchy and advocated what was, essentially, the British parliamentary system. In addressing the subject, Eurico Dias’ article “Simbioses e Influências Britânicas na Imprensa Periódica Portuguesa (1808-1826)” underlines the part played by such periodicals in preparing public opinion for imminent change, in the socio-political environment leading up to and coinciding with the Revolution of 1820. Perhaps the most emblematic amongst them were the Correio Braziliense ou Armazem Literario, O Investigador Portuguez em Inglaterra and O Portuguez ou Mercurio Politico, whilst the more influential writers were Hipólito José da Costa, José Liberato Freire de Carvalho and João Bernardo da Rocha Loureiro. The prolonged absence of the King D. João and his court in Brazil paved the way for Field-Marshal William Carr Beresford’s (1768-1854) rise to power in Lisbon, following the final liberation of Portugal from the French forces of occupation. Upon returning to Portugal at the end of the Napoleonic Wars to resume command of the Portuguese Army, Beresford, rather than accepting the limitations of his post, decided to play an active part in the political affairs of the nation. Intent on consolidating his role, he travelled to Rio de Janeiro, returning to Lisbon in 1816, invested with ample powers by the King, which led inevitably to conflict with the Regency. Elevated to a position of authority which surpassed even the Regency, he gave orders to arrest not only those accused of Jacobinism but also those suspected of conspiring to expel him from the country and planning to introduce a charter similar to the one which had been granted to Spain in 1812, at Cadiz. In effect, the so-called “Supremo Conselho Regenerador e Após a Derrota Definitiva de Napoleão Bonaparte (1815), de Portugal e do Algarve”, which was made up of military commanders and leading freemasons, had vowed to put an end to British military control of Portugal and “save the independence” of the nation. Accused of despotism, brutality and interference in national affairs, Beresford became the target of Portuguese hatred against British hubris and arrogance. In May 1817, he launched an operation in Lisbon allegedly to prevent an attack on his person, arresting a series of suspects who included Gomes Freire de Andrade e Castro (1757-1817), accused of conspiring against the sovereignty of D. João VI, represented at the time by the Regency, under Beresford’s military rule. On his return to Portugal after having fought in the Portuguese Legion, Freire de Andrade was hunted down, arrested and condemned to death. After being hung at S. Julião da Barra, his body was publicly burned and his remains were thrown into the sea. Other alleged conspirators were hung and their bodies burned in Campo Santana (now Campo dos Mártires da Pátria). This episode, which led to the intensification of Anti-British sentiment amongst liberals, was recreated in the historical play Felizmente Há Luar! (1961), by Luís Sttau Monteiro (1926-1993), and is the subject of Rogério Miguel Puga’s article entitled “A Mitificação Negativa de Beresford e a Representação Carnavalesca de Interesses Anglo-Portugueses em Felizmente Há Luar! (1961), de Sttau Monteiro”. Also by the same author there are two reviews of works which fall within the scope of Anglo-Portuguese Studies and deal either partly or wholly with the figure of Beresford. Firstly, there is O Cemitério dos Ingleses, Elvas (2019), in which there is a chapter devoted to the intervention of the British Field-Marshal in Portugal and secondly, the recent and much-awaited biography entitled Marshal William Carr Beresford: ‘The Ablest Man I Have Yet Seen With the Army’ (2019), written by Marcus de la Poer Beresford. The review of the biography underlines the fact that, contrary to the version generally accepted in Portuguese historiography, and more specifically in Sttau Monteiro’s dramatisation of the events, Marcus Beresford argues that his illustrious forbear had no part in the arrest of Gomes Freire de Andrade and the death penalty which followed. In a happy coincidence, Marcus de la Poer Beresford has honoured this issue with an article of his own – “Marshal William Carr Beresford and the Return to Portugal of the Portuguese Royal Family (1814-1830)” – in which he defends this thesis, arguing that Beresford was not responsible for the death of the conspirators. The article adds much which is new on Beresford’s relationship with Portugal, especially concerning his return to the country in 1820, the mutual trust he shared with the King and the relations he maintained with both absolutists and liberals up to the outbreak of the Civil War, which up to a certain point characterised the attitude of London towards Lisbon over the same period. The liberal regime inaugurated in 1820 was badly received by the more conservative sectors of the population who demanded a return to absolutism. Heading the discontented faction was the Queen, D. Carlota Joaquina and her son D. Miguel, who refused to swear allegiance to the Constitution of 1820. Consequently, when an absolutist uprising took place in the North of the country in 1823, it encouraged the supporters of the Queen and the Prince to revolt. The so-called “Vila Francada” took place on the 27th May 1823, accompanied by cries of support for the absolute monarchy, and it is clear that the Queen and her son planned to force the abdication of the King, D. João VI, who remained faithful to his oath to defend the Constitution. D. Miguel was obliged to submit to the King’s authority, however, but Parliament dispersed, several liberal politicians departed for exile and the absolutist regime was reinstated, although the King prevented the most radical faction from taking power and succeeded in maintaining a relatively liberal stance. D. Carlota and D. Miguel and their supporters continued to conspire, however, and less than a year later another absolutist revolt broke out – the “Abrilada”, so called because it took place on April 30th 1824, which ended with D. Miguel’s exile in Vienna whilst D. Carlota was confined to the Palace of Queluz. After his father’s death in March 1826, D. Miguel returned to Portugal, where he reigned between 1828 and 1832. The events which took place between 1823 and 1826 are fictionalised in a British historical novel based on the life of D. Carlota Joaquina which is the subject of an article by Gabriela Gândara Terenas entitled “Never a Saint: D. Carlota Joaquina Protagonista de Episódios das Lutas Liberais num Romance Histórico Britânico”. In a review of a recent book by Malyn Newitt, entitled “The Braganzas. The Rise and Fall of the Ruling Dynasties of Portugal and Brazil, 1640-1910. (London: Reaktion Books, 2019)” the same author pays particular attention to the members of the Braganza dynasty whose lives are included in the period under study in this issue: D. João VI and his sons, D. Pedro and D. Miguel.
In “Tomás Guilherme Stubbs (1776-1844), Oficial do Exército Português de 1800 a 1844”, a biographical sketch of a previously unknown, heroic Anglo-Portuguese officer who was devoted to the liberal cause, Rui Moura recalls some of the more important episodes in the period under study from the viewpoint of Anglo-Portuguese relations. These include the defence of the city of Oporto in 1826, with British support, when royalist regiments which had deserted to Spain attempted to restore absolutism; Stubb’s participation together with other emigrés in Britain in the “Belfastada” in 1828, and the part he played at the side of Saldanha in the siege of Oporto in 1833. The failure of the “Belfastada” obliged many of the liberals who had taken part in this attempt to restore the Constitutional regime to return to exile in Britain. Amongst them was Pereira do Lago, whose exile in England is the subject of Maria Zulmira Castanheira’s article entitled “Exílio e Escrita de Viagem ao Tempo do Liberalismo: a Experiência do Brigadeiro António Bernardino Pereira do Lago em Inglaterra: Ver e Aproveitar”, which focusses on the particular way he experienced his stay, which he relates in the form of a travel account in which he expresses his great admiration for the freedom which prevailed at the time in the country which had given him refuge, in comparison with the oppressive regime imposed by D. Miguel in Portugal.
In addition to the articles which are specifically devoted to the theme of the present issue of REAP/JAPS, we are delighted to present Teresa Pinto Coelho’s review of Cláudia Pazos Alonso’s book, Francisca Wood and Nineteenth-Century Periodical Culture. Pressing for Change (Oxford: Legenda, 2020) and Miguel Alarcão’s project under the heading “As Cartas de Inglaterra (1973) de D. Pedro Homem de Mello (1904-1984)”. The former review covers the activities of an Anglo-Portuguese woman, Francisca Wood, in the Portuguese press in the second half of the nineteenth century. Although this writer has previously been studied within the scope of Anglo-Portuguese Studies, Teresa Pinto Coelho underlines the fact that in Cláudia Pazos Alonso’s work Wood is portrayed as belonging to the first wave of feminism in Europe, having dealt in her editorials with subjects such as the relationship between the sexes, women’s education and the political rights of women. Revealing previously unknown information discovered by Pazos Alonso on the life of the Woods in Lisbon and on Francisca’s journalistic career, the author emphasises the fact that this Anglo-Portuguese writer belonged to a trans-national network comprising European and North American figures who were involved in the defence of women’s rights. Miguel Alarcão’s project reveals new work to be carried out in the area of Anglo-Portuguese Studies, involving the analysis of fifty-one poems by Pedro Homem de Melo, which are evocative of British personalities, places and environments as well as the origins of the teaching and learning of the English language in state and private schools in Portugal and Anglistic studies, taking as its point of departure the British Institute in Portugal, with whose foundation Homem de Melo was associated.
This issue is dedicated to the memory of our dear and sadly-missed colleague António Bernardo Lopes, of the University of theAlgarve, who left us suddenly and far too soon. A regular contributorto REAP/JAPS and a member of its editorial board, as well as an activeparticipant in several of the research groups belonging to CETAPS,António Lopes will be remembered, as an enthusiastic supporter ofAnglo-Portuguese Studies, but above all, as an excellent colleague anda first-class researcher. He has left his colleagues with fond memoriesand the promise of a remarkable academic career.
October 2020
Gabriela Gândara Terenas
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