Padre Oliveira's Outburst (2001)

PadreOliveira'sOutburst HAROLD LIVERMORE CharlesBoxer'sPortuguese SeaborneEmpire,1415-1825,publishedin 1969,isregarded as thebestone-volume workinEnglish onthesubject. To gonofurther backthanPortuguese Studies Reviewfor1999,Francis Dutra styles it so and Douglas Wheelercalls it Boxer'smagnum opus and his 'classic'.Boxer'sreputation as scholar andfriend isstrong enough tostand somenecessary rectifications. He devotesa coupleofpagesto Fernando OliveirawhiledealingwithPombal,callinghim'one ofthefewcritics of theslave-trade inPortugal (orinEuropeforthatmatter) [. . .] a singularly outspoken cleric', whodevoted anentire chapter toa violent denunciation oftheslave-trade.1 He statedflatly thatthere was no suchthing as a just waragainst Muslims, Jews orheathens whohadnever beenChristians and whowerequiteprepared totradepeacefully withthePortuguese. To attack their landsandtoenslavethem was 'manifest tyranny': itwas no excuseto saythattheyindulged intheslavetradewitheachother:if therewereno Europeanbuyers therewouldbe no African sellers.' "We weretheinventors ofsucha viletradenever previously usednorheardof amonghumanbeings", wrote theindignant padreina passagewhich does morecredit tohisheart thantohishead'.2 Oliveira didnotusethewords'European'and'African'. Thecomment showsthatBoxerwas awareoftheincorrectness. The tradeinslaveshad existedsinceearlytimes.Aristotle inhisPolitics had thought someofus naturalslaves.Christians thought us all children of God, but allowed forced labour.Muslimsresolved theproblembymakingus all slavesof God,rather thanservants. Slavery was a convenient form ofpunishment, andMediterranean naviescouldhardly existwithout it.The discovery of America had raisedtheissuein acuteform. Manyoftheconquistadores werenotpolitemenand abusedthenativesinevery way.At Christmas 1511 theDominicanMontesinosdenouncedtheirsinswithvehemence: thosewho enslavedIndianscould no morebe saved thanMuslimsor Turks.He was disownedby his Order,but the King ruledthatthe Spaniards wereencomenderos, ortrustees, whomight makeIndianswork butmustprotect andteachthem. The Laws ofBurgosof1512setoutthe rights anddutiesofbothparties. The Indianswerenotobdurate infidels, butonlyignorant. SinceMoses hadwarnedtheCanaanitesbefore Joshua madewaronthem andenslaved them, Indiansshouldfirst be'required' to listen: onlyifthey didnotheedwaswaragainst them just.Fewwouldnow 1C. R. Boxer,Portuguese SeaborneEmpire(London:Hutchinson,1969),p. 263. Boxer,p. 264. PADRE OLIVEIRA^ OUTBURST 23 regard thisas an acceptablesolution. Vastnumbers ofclergy andendless timewouldhavebeenneededto reasonnativesocietiesout ofconstant warfare, cannibalismand ritualbloodshed,consideredoutrageousby Christians. Thegreat Dominican Fray Bartolomé delasCasas believed that a modelcolonyofselected Europeanfarmers couldsolvetheproblem by setting anexample.Itfailed in1521,whenIndianskilledsomeofhisfriars andtheSpanishgovernor insisted onretaliation. Las Casas decidedtorely on preaching alone without colonists, and triedagain in Guatemalain 1537Thoughthiswasa Spanish problem, Fernando Oliveirawasawareofit. He spentsometwelve formative yearsatEvorawiththeDominicans, who included suchdifferent figures as Montesinos, CardinalTorquemada,the proponent oftheSpanishInquisition, and thetireless idealist, Bartolomé de las Casas. Ifanything was different inPortugal, itwas thetransport of Africans to Brazil.African dealersdid not traffic exceptfortheirown advantage, and Africa had producedno one sinceSt Augustine withthe ideas of Oliveirato limittheirgreed.In the sixteenth century it was supposed that tomakeBrazilian Indians workinstead ofeating oneanother was a vastand pressing problem.Africans received somebenefit froma superficial baptismby a processtheeighteenth century had learnedto deride.BoxerplacesOliveira'scomment notinthesixteenth century, but intheeighteenth withreference toPombal.Elsewhere heexpresses hisown viewofthesixteenth century differently. Something like150,000 negro slaves were probably secured bythePortuguese between 1450and1500, andasthese slaves were often obtained from theinter-tribal warsinthe interior, thegrowth of theslave-trade presumably worsened theexisting stateof violence - oratanyrate didnothing tohelplessen it.TheAfrican chiefs andheadmen werethosewhobenefited mostfrom trading withthePortuguese and(as mentioned above)most ofthem were always willing partners intheslave-trade. He adds: butarmed conflicts wererelatively few, andcontacts inthewholeremained friendly sincetheconduct oftheslave-trade involved theactiveparticipation oftheAfrican chiefs andtheco-operation ofthelançados asintermediaries.3 Oliveira'sobservations wereconfined to theworldhe knew.He was probably bornin1507,andwasalivein1581.He left twopublished books, Grammatica da linguaportuguesa (1537),and theArteda guerra do mar (1555).TheLivroda fábrica das naus,left incomplete, waspublished only in1898from theautograph manuscript intheBiblioteca Nacional,Lisbon. He also wrotea LatinArsNautica,preserved inmanuscript atLeiden;the Primeira partedo liuroda antiguedade, nobresa, liberdade e imunidade do 3 Boxer,pp. 31and 32. 24 HAROLD LIVERMORE reyno dePortugal, withhisHistoriadePortugal, recolhida. . .pelolicenciado Fernamd'Oliveyra,capelão dos reisde Portugal do seu tempo;an incomplete translation of De re rusticaof Columella;and a Viagemde Fernãode Magalhães,published in 1937and 1976.BoththePortuguese grammar and thebook on shipbuilding arethefirst published workson their subject.Ifnothing else,Oliveirawas a bold spirit and a combative andvehement pioneer. SomeLatinhexameters thatpreface theArsnauticasaythathisparents begothimin 'Aviger': theywereofequestrian rank,modeststationand smallmeans.In his Grammar, Chapter31, he saysAviger was a terra, wherethere dwelta bird-catcher, caçadorde aves,nicknamed 'o Aveiro'. Perhaps Aveiro was thedistrict. His first crieswereheardat Gestosa,and hewas baptizedat Mosteirointhechurch ofSantaComba.Gestosais in theValedeCambra:theseatoftheconcelho wasMacieira,onwhich King Manuelbestoweda foralin 1514.Luisde Matos confirms thatthecouto do Mosteirohad a parishchurch ofSt Columba.The coutobelonged to the diocese of Coimbra.4At ten or elevenhe was placed with the Dominicansat Evora,and remained thereuntiltheage oftwenty-five in 1532.He mentions thathewasteasedbecauseofhisBeiranaccent. The DominicanCollegeat Evora was nota university, butthegreat scholarMagisterAndréResende,taught theInfantes Henryand Duarte there andgaveclasseswhich Oliveira attended. He learned...