October 5, 2005

Food & History

A call to arms for Portugal

Jeff Cheek

The Republic of Portugal is a small country, only 36,400 square miles or about one-sixth of the Iberian Peninsula, but for three centuries Portugal played a leading role in exploration and colonization. Portugese sailors planted their flag around the globe. Brazil is a good example. It is the only country in Latin America where Portugese is the official national language. The Portugese Embassy provided a wealth of data on their national anthem for this column. Thank you!

In 1498 Vasco da Gama found a sea route to the spices of the Orient by sailing around Africa to India. One of his voyages returned a profit of 60 times the original investment. Meanwhile, Portugal was carving out a colonial empire in West and East Africa, India, Malaya, Indonesia and Brazil. The Chinese respected Portugese naval power so much that they rewarded them by giving Portugal the port of Macau in 1557.

River pirates controlled the Pearl River, cutting off Canton (now Quanzhou) from the rest of the world. The Chinese viceroy gave Portugal the seaport after Portugese warships blasted the pirates off the river, opening China to foreign trade. Over the centuries, the once-mighty Portugese Empire crumbled as other colonies declared their independence. Macau was the last to go. In December 1999, after 442 years as a Portugese colony, Macau was given back to China.

There is a strange dichotomy in Portugese history. With a limited land area, the people turned to the sea for national survival. Often, when the homeland was overrun, the seamen, overseas, maintained their national identity.

Portugese independence dates back to 1385, when King John I rebelled against the Moors who held the Iberian Peninsula. They were independent until 1581, when Spain began a 60-year occupation. The sailors in their far-flung empire guarded their national honor until independence returned in 1640.

A colonial incident and subsequent loss of national prestige are the roots of Portugal’s national anthem.

Portugal had two huge African colonies: Angola on the Atlantic and Mozambique on the Indian Ocean. For administrative purposes, they wanted to connect the two. In 1890, the British issued an ultimatum: Pull your troops out of territory we claim in Rhodesia. The already unpopular King Carlos knuckled under. The troops were withdrawn.

Outraged, Henrique de Mendonca authored a poem, calling on the Portugese people to “Pela Patria Lutar” (fight for the motherland). The poem reminds the Portugese of their glorious past as a great naval power. These powerful words inspired the people, already unhappy with a corrupt and inept sovereign. This national humiliation was the last straw. A rebellion, aimed at toppling the monarchy and establishing a republic, broke out. Composer Alfredo Weil wrote the melody for “A Portugesa” (The Portugese People), and the rebels adopted it as their anthem. The rebellion was crushed and the song banned, but the rebellion continued to simmer, underground.

In 1908, King Carlos and his heir were shot dead on a street in Lisbon. The new king, Manoel II, was driven from the throne in 1910, and the Republic of Portugal was proclaimed. The banned rebel anthem became the national anthem.

There is no recipe this week to make space for the words of the song that inspired a revolution, “A Portugesa.”

“Heroes of the sea, noble people,

Valiant and immortal nation,

Arise once more, the splendor of Portugal,

From out of the mists of memory,

O Homeland, hear the voices of your forefathers,

That shall lead you to victory!

(Chorus) To arms, to arms, on land and sea,

To arms, to arms, to fight for our Homeland,

Against the cannons, we march, we march!”