João V

coloquial marchand de sable

(1502-1557)

   Portugal's most talented and accomplished monarch of the late Renaissance period. João III was the 15th king of Portugal, the son of King Manuel I. Well-educated by brilliant tutors, including the humanist Luís Teixeira, João at age 12 was introduced to the study of royal governance by his father. During his reign, Portugal reached the apogee of its world imperial power at least in terms of coastal area and number of different continents over which the scattered territories were spread. Portugal had a tenuous hold on various Moroccan cities, and during João's reign was forced to abandon most of the North African fortresses, due to Muslim military pressures. It was to the colonization and exploitation of giant Brazil, though, that João turned imperial attention. In diplomacy, no other monarch during the Aviz dynasty was as active; negotiations proceeded with Spain, France, and the Holy See. In domestic affairs, João III reinforced absolutist tendencies and built up royal power. It was João, too, who introduced the Inquisition into Portugal in 1536, after lengthy negotiations. The king encouraged a flowering of humanist culture as well, and among favored intellectuals were the great writers Gil Vicente and Damião de Góis.

   João III's reign was a vital turning point in the history of Portugal's first overseas empire (1415-1580). He found the empire at its zenith, yet when he died it was showing grave signs of weakness not only in Morocco, but in Asia, where rival European powers and the Turks were on the move. Portugal's very independence from Spain and even the royal succession were under a cloud when João III died in 1557 without a son to succeed him. Following tragic deaths of his children, João's only indirect heir was Sebastião, a grandson, who succeeded to rule a menaced Portugal.

(1385-1433)

   An illegitimate son of King Pedro I (r. 1357-1367), João I was the founder of the Aviz dynasty of Portuguese kings and master of the Order of Aviz. João's reign was essential in furthering the cause of Portugal's independence from a threatening Castile ( Spain), and Joao's armies, with the assistance of England, defeated the Castilian pretenders in 1385 at the great battle of Aljubarrota. To show gratitude to God, João ordered the beginning of the construction of the great abbey at Batalha. João's marriage to the English princess, Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt, was another vital element in the strengthening of the monarchy and a prelude to overseas empire. Philippa gave João six children, among them the scholarly prince Dom Pedro and his brother, the Infante Dom Henrique or Henry of Aviz, known to history outside Portugal as "Prince Henry the Navigator."

(1604-1656)

   The duke of Braganza who headed the revolution of 1640 to restore Portugal's independence from Spain. He became King João IV, the first of the Braganza dynasty to rule. Under the so-called "Babylonian Captivity," Portugal was ruled by the Phil-lipine dynasty of Spain during 1580-1640. The rebellion of Catalonia against Spain in mid-1640 and restiveness in Portugal provided the occasion for the small country to organize a revolution and overthrow Spanish rule. João, duke of Braganza, was an heir of the Aviz dynasty and Portugal's most formidable noble and largest landowner. His power base was in the Alentejo province, his palace at Vila Viçosa. The revolution of the First of December 1640, a day that remains a national holiday in Portugal, was successful. Portugal recovered its independence, and João was proclaimed João IV of Portugal.

   With slim national resources to repel reassertions of Spanish control, King João IV built an effective administration and fought a series of wars with Spain. He was aided in the effort by Portugal's oldest ally, England, and was able to repel subsequent Spanish invasions. An important Anglo-Portuguese treaty that renewed the alliance was signed in 1654, but the king died only two years later and did not live to see the signing of the decisive 1668 Luso-Spanish treaty that formally ended Spain's efforts to take back Portugal. In Portuguese history, João retains the title of "The Restorer," and is a central figure in the Restoration era.

(1689-1750)

   The son of King Pedro II and Maria Sofia Neubourg, João was acclaimed king in 1707. By any measure, his long reign (43 years) had a significant impact on Portuguese government, arts, and culture. The early period was consumed with anxiety over continental European affairs, especially the menacing War of Spanish Succession, which ended in 1714. João then shifted his emphasis to the commercial and political interests of the Atlantic empire, to the Catholic Church and religious affairs, and to reinforcing the Anglo- Portuguese Alliance. Under João, there was intensive development of colonization and exploitation in Portuguese America, namely Brazil.

   In spite of the state's usual fiscal woes, the monarchy and the nobility garnered considerable wealth from Brazilian diamonds, gold, and other materials. Large amounts of revenue were expended on royal palaces, houses, churches, chapels, and convents, and, despite the Lisbon earthquake's impact in 1755, a considerable portion of this conspicuous consumption survives in historic monuments. Most outstanding is the great Mafra Palace and Convent, a baroque monstrosity, one of the largest buildings in Europe, which was constructed during João's reign. Through his acts of piety and bribery, João was declared "Most Faithful" Majesty by the pope. Under royal largesse, Portuguese arts and culture were cultivated, and Italian opera was introduced in Lisbon.

(1767-1826)

   The second son of Queen Maria I and King-Consort Dom Pedro III, João was proclaimed heir to the throne in 1788, following the untimely death of his older brother Dom José.

   Although unprepared for the role, he was destined to rule Portugal during one of the country's most turbulent and difficult eras. His mother went insane in 1792, so Prince João had to assume greater responsibilities of governance. In 1799, he was officially named regent, but he was proclaimed king only upon his mother's death in 1816. By nature amiable and tolerant, he presided over a regime that was supposedly absolutist in an age of revolution. His reign occurred during the French Revolution and its many international consequences: Napoleon's invasion and conquest of Portugal; the flight of the royal family and court of Portugal by sea to Brazil in 1808, where they remained until 1821; civil strife in Portugal between constitutional monarchists and absolutists; and the independence of Brazil in 1822, a great blow against Portugal's overseas empire. When, in 1821, King João was obliged to return to Portugal after residing in Brazil for 13 years, he was forced to accept a constitution, which limited royal powers. A seesaw conflict between constitutionalists and absolutists, the latter faction led by his son, Prince Miguel and his Spanish wife, Carlota Joaquina, and the intervention of the military on behalf of one faction or another marked this turbulent era. When King João died in 1826, Portugal faced an uncertain political future as the country struggled to adjust to the new era of constitutional monarchy and liberal politics, following the nearly catastrophic loss of the richest overseas colony, Brazil.

m рзг см joão-fernandes

[ʒoãwnĩg‘ẽj] sm jean-foutre. Pl: joões-ninguém.

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homme de rien; moins que rien

(1455-1495)

   Known in Portuguese history as "The Perfect Prince," he ruled Portugal from 1481 to 1495. The son of King Afonso V and Dona Isabel, his life and reign reflected Portugal's ongoing struggle with Castile, a suppression of Portugal's more powerful nobility in order to reassert royal authority, and a continuation of Portugal's search for an all-water route to India around the coast of Africa. During his reign, two further exploratory steps were taken in this overseas strategy: the key voyages of Diogo Cão (as far south as the coast of Angola) and of Bartolomeu Dias, who rounded the Cape of Good Hope and entered the Indian Ocean in 1488. As part of Portugal's quest to find and help "Prester John," supposedly a Christian king in Africa or Asia, King João also encouraged the departure in the late 1480s of Afonso de Paiva and Pero de Covilhã, at least one of whom reached Ethiopia, on an expedition overland in Africa.

1) сон, спячка

2) вялость

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les Évangiles selon saint Matthieu, saint Marc, saint Luc et saint Jean.