The Rhetoric of Prophecy in Portuguese Renaissance Literature

Field: Arts and Humanities (Social Sciences)

TheRhetoric ofProphecy inPortuguese Renaissance Literature HELDER MACEDO I shallbedealing with a cultural periodfalling between twodynastic crises, in 1383 and in 1580,whichthreatened Portugal'sindependence. The different outcomesof thesecriseselicitedtwo opposingperceptions of history. The first isconveyed through a metaphor, usedbythechronicler, FernäoLopes, in themid-fifteenth century: he sees history as prophecy fulfilled. The secondperception is thatoftheseventeenth-century Jesuit, Father AntonioVieira:itis a visionofprophecy as history-to-be-fulfilled, thehistory ofthefuture. Viera'sworkfallsoutsidemyperiod,andI shall not be considering it in anydetail.But I wantto call attention to the antithetical symmetry between thetwoperceptions, likemirror imagesof oneanother, sinceitsuggests thattheprecedence between plausibility and credibility hadbeenreversed inthecourseoftheintervening years, which broadly coincide with thePortuguese Renaissance. Theprocess wasnot,of course,a linearone, sinceeach of theopposingpoles presupposesits opposite.This diagrammatic formulation does not, however,belie its complexity. FernäoLopeswrotehischronicles at thebehest oftheking, D. Duarte, whosefather, D. Joäo I, had founded thedynasty ofAvizbyaccedingto thethrone after a revolution inwhichmaster craftsmen, merchants, lower nobility, minorclergyand thecommonpeople had unitedagainstthe interests ofthearistocrats andthetechnically legitimate claimsoftheking ofCastileto thePortuguese throne. The implicit purposeofD. Duarte's commission, which FernäoLopesfulfilled withsuperb literary skill, wasto transform thefactual sequenceofPortugal's history uptothetimeofKing Joäointoa demonstration ofthehistorical legitimacy ofthenewpolitical order. The semantic centre ofFernäoLopes's monumental work,PartOne of Crónicade D. Joäo /,is thehistory of a kingdom withouta king:the chronicle oftherevolution of1383-85,during which,as ina tumultuous cocoon,theoldfeudalorderdisintegrated andwas metamorphosed intoa newnationalorder.The dynastic crisisthatledtotheelection ofD. Joäo inPortugal coincides chronologically withtheevents inEngland thatledto thedeposing ofRichard II byD. Duarte'sfirst cousin,Henry Bolingbroke. Butitwouldhavebeenmorelikethecommunal revolts inItaly, giventhe opposingsocialforces involved, iftheserebellions had also had a wider nationalcharacter. Portugal entered a neweraand was soonto be inthe technological vanguard ofRenaissanceEurope,beginning theprocessof IO HELDER MACEDO overseas expansion thatwoulddetermine theshapeofthemodern world. A new intellectual class of 'Letrados' (menof letters or scholars)corresponding to theHumanistsin Italy- transformed theemerging national awareness intotheconsciousness ofa newuniversal order initiated byPortugal. The visionary element inherent inthisconcept was,however, rootedintheconcrete, linking thought andaction.Inother words,itwas anhistoric projection rather thana prophetic speculation. Thesocialcomposition oftheintellectual éliteofthe'Letrados'reflected, in its diversity, the hierarchical reorganization set in motionby the revolution. Atthetopofthesocialscalewefind theAviz princes themselves: D. Duarte,thephilosopher-king; hisfavourite brother (andfuture regent) D. Pedro- thelegendary 'Príncipe das SetePartidas', stillcelebrated by GuillaumeApollinaire as 'roamingtheworldon his dromedary' - an original thinker in thetradition ofSenecaand Ciceroand,possibly, the true initiator ofthepolicy ofmaritime expansion andtrade;and,ofcourse, D. Henrique, knowntoBritish history as 'PrinceHenrytheNavigator' in recognition ofhisenormous contribution tothesuccessofthatpolicy.But thisélitealso included FernäoLopes,a literary genius whocamefrom the oppositesideofthesocial scale,the'Letrado'oflow birthwho was to bringa new dimensionto the medievalchronicle, makingit into a pioneering exampleoftheRenaissance epicthatanticipated notonlythe chivalrous epicofBoiardoandAriosto, butalsotheCamonianconcept of epicas anexpression ofcollective national identity. Thechronicles ofFernäoLopesarepossibly themostvisualandconcrete works inPortuguese literature, evenwhenthey incorporate intotheir broad narrative structure whatcritics havecharacterized as a 'prophetic level' whichallowsthechronicler topresent theelection ofD. JoäoI as anevent prefigured bysupernatural signsandhiscauseas a divinely justified war. Theuseofprophecy ina medieval chronicle, ora Renaissance oneforthat matter, isnotintheleastsurprising. Whatissurprising inFernäoLopesis thathisuseofprophecy is partofa literary strategy ofverisimilitude, in whichtherealremains real,factsarefacts, andveracity is presumed. His workcontainsno portents, miraclesor prophetic dreamsthatare not realistically presented as opinions, comments, interpretations or,at most, as inexplicable mysteries, untiltheyfinally converge in a greattotalizing metaphor, expressly characterized as a metaphor, a rhetorical device,in whichthe authorhimself('como quernjoguetae per comparaçom'), assumestheprophetic voice to say thattheeventsculminating in the election ofD. Joäocan be understood as theadventoftheSeventh Age. This was indeeda bold claim:the first six ages of medievaltradition covered thetime from thecreation oftheworldtothecoming ofChrist. In a preceding passage,with'a brief andsolacing comparison' - thatis,with another metaphor - FernäoLopeshadalready compared D. Joäoandhis THE RHETORIC OF PROPHECY II supporters to JesusChristand hisdisciples, preaching through arms'o evangelhoportugués'.But the greatest daringlies in the non-religious meaning ofthemetaphor, sincethepurposeis notto prophesy thefuture buttocharacterize thepresent ofthenewsocialorderas theSeventh Age. Inthisage,hewrites, Selevantou outro mundo, e nova geraçao degentes, porque filhos d'homens detam baixa condiçom quenom cumpre dedizer, por seubom serviço etrabalho neste tempo foram feitos cavaleiros, chamando-se logodenovas linhagens e apelidos. (Crònica de D.Joäo /, i,Chapter CLXIII) The biblicalechoesinthecharacterization oftheseanonymous inheritors oftheearthareobvious,theFranciscan influence probable,and a certain millenarianism surely implicit. FortheSeventh Age,he concludes, 'shall lastuntil theendofthecenturies, oruntil God wishes, having created them all'. The Seventh Ageisthusa...