PORTUGUESE
DISCOVERY MARKERS.
Chapter 6
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(1) CASA DA INDIA or House of India -- on the right-- where all secret
discovery documents were kept. It was destroyed by the Lisbon earthquake of 1755.
The house on the left, with four towers was the Palace of the Corte
Reais.
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(2) National archives building of Portugal--Torre do Tombo--where the primary and secondary documents of the Corte Reais voyages are kept.
PORTUGUESE DISCOVERY MARKERS
Landmarkers:
FIRST PERIOD
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(3) First period. High cross type
During the first period of the discoveries (1415-1460) Portuguese navigators used as a landmarker, a wooden cross — (high type-cross) — characterized by a high stem. By implanting these high stem wooden crosses, the navigators laid claim to new lands for Portugal. This procedure was also of an essentially devout character and in accordance with the first motive of the explorations: The spreading of the Christian faith.
SECOND PERIOD
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(4) Second period: Engraving of the cross and other
Portuguese symbols on rocks. (Yellala rock near the Congo River.)
During the second period of the discoveries the navigators marked the new possessions for Portugal by inscribing on rocks along the shores the following four elements:
(I) The Portuguese Royal Coat of Arms;
(2) The Portuguese Cross of Order of Christ;
(3) The Name of the Captain of the Expedition;
(4)
The Date of the Discovery. Dighton Rock belongs to this period.
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on photo for larger view.
(5) Third period: Stone pillars called Padrões with all
the symbols of the discoveries.
THIRD PERIOD
In the third period of the discoveries, the navigators took with them stone
pillars called Padrões, about 10-12 feet high, with the following four
characteristics:
(1) The Portuguese Royal Coat of Arms; surmounted by
(2) the Portuguese Cross of Order of Christ (made either of stone or iron) ;
(3) The Name of the Captains
(4) The Date of Discovery. The navigators left Padrões along the Coast of Africa, South America, and Asia.
Prince
Henry and later the Kings of Portugal gave instructions to the navigators to
bring back to them some material evidence that they had found new lands. Thus,
different leaves, fruits, specimens of wood, birds, animals, and even natives
were brought to Portugal.
Before we analyze the inscriptions on Dighton Rock (or any other Portuguese land marker) we should review schematically the history of:
(1) The Portuguese Royal Coat of Arms;
(2) The Cross of Order of Christ;
(3) Type of lettering and numerals used during the Portuguese Discoveries.
HISTORY
OF THE PORTUGUESE FLAG
The history of the Portuguese flag is one and the same with that of the
Portuguese Royal Coat of Arms which is inscribed in the center of the flag. The
Portuguese flag reveals in a clear and unique form the entire history of the
country. It is the national anthem of Portugal in color.
FIRST
FLAG
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(6) First flag of Portugal
When Portugal became independent in 1139 the first King, Afonso Henriques, adopted as the first flag: a single blue cross on a white background.
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(7) Second flag of Portugal with the 5 Quinas
The next major change in the Portuguese flag occurred after King Afonso Henriques astonishingly defeated five Moorish Kings at the Battle of Ourique (1139). To commemorate such a great victory, the Portuguese Mon arch decided to divide the original blue cross into five escutcheons, each one signifying a defeated Moorish King. Within each escutcheon was placed five bezants representing the five wounds of Christ.
The Portuguese flag is also called Bandeira das Quinas or Flag of Quinas. If one counts all the bezants vertically and horizontally (counting the one in the center twice) a total of thirty bezants (or coins) would be found, representing the thirty pieces of silver for which Christ was sold.
The great Portuguese poet, Luis de Camões describes the flag in this way: (1572)
Canto III — Estância LIII
And now he charged on his virgin shield
what still assures this well-won Victory.
five noble in escutcheons azure-hued,
signing the Moorish Five his sword subdued.
Canto III — Estância LIV
“He paints with bezants five each escutcheon,
the thirty silvers wherewith God was sold,
and various tinclures make His mem’ory known,
whose grace and favor did his cause uphold.
Painted on every cinque is shown;
and, that the thirty may be fully told,
count eth for two the one that central lies
of the five azures
painted crossy-wise.
PORTUGUESE
COAT OF ARMS
The Portuguese Coat of Arms, called Escudo, which means shield, evolved from the
shield which, with the sword and spear, constituted the soldier’s armor.
Consequently, the form of the national Coat of Arms always followed the changes
in the shape of the shield. The original style of the shield which terminated in
a point, therefore V-shaped, was the form of the first Portuguese Coat of Arms.
Later the V-shaped shield was used interchange ably with a U-shaped shield (with
round base)
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(8) Escutcheon + Bezants = Quina
One may also find a shortened version of the Portuguese Coat of Arms: A V-shaped shield, within another, with one bezante in the center.
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(9) Abbreviated Quina
ADDITION
OF CASTLES
In 1249 King Afonso III conquered the Moorish Province of Algarve, establishing
once and for all the boundaries of Continental Portugal as we know it today. To
commemorate that conquest, the King added to the national flag nine castles
lined in a U-form and representing the same number of fortresses captured from
the Moors.
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(10) Third flag of Portugal with the addition of
Castles.
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(11) Fourth flag of Portugal with U shaped coat of arms.
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(12) Portuguese coat of arms: "V" and
"U" shaped are used in these shortened forms in coins, navigational
charts and landmarkers.
It was during the time of King John I that the U-shaped Coat of Arms began to be used more frequently than the V-shaped form, although they continued to be used interchange ably. Later, King John II reduced the number of the castles to seven, and we find that same number in the flag today.
ADDITION OF ARMILLARY SPHERE
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(13) Fifth flag of Portugal: Addition of Armillary
sphere
After Magellan circumnavigated the globe in 1522, thereby proving the earth to
be round, the armillary sphere was added to the Portuguese flag to commemorate
this accomplishment.
Since the period of the discoveries, the only other major change that the
Portuguese flag has undergone, occurred at the founding of the Portuguese
Republic in 1910. Red and green background was added to surround the center of
the flag, which had remained the same since the discoveries.
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on photo for larger view.
(14) Sixth and present flag of Portugal
The red represents the fiery incandescent sun as it rose and sank over bows and sterns of brave Portuguese sailing ships whose empire, for the first time in the history of the world, was the entire globe. (Popular belief ascribes the meaning of red to the blood of the Portuguese saints and heroes) . The green represents the color of the high seas, which the Portuguese were the first Europeans to navigate. (Popular belief also ascribes to green the color of the valleys of Portugal)
THE
HISTORY OF THE CROSS OF THE ORDER OF CHRIST
The Cross of the Order of Christ, more than any other symbol, characterizes the
great period of the discoveries when it was displayed on the sails of the
caravels and used as a religious decoration by the Knights of the Order of
Christ. It became a national emblem which appeared and still appears on the
official documents, coins, charts, landmarkers. and monuments of Portugal and
her territories.
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on photo for larger view.
(15) The mature form of the cross of the order of
Christ.
The Cross of Order of Christ is unique because of the shape of its arms. Its extremities terminate in an isosceles trapezoid, with the larger base facing out, showing acute angles of 45 degrees (plus or minus) at the branches.
Among a variety of more than 300 crosses used as symbols of different religious sects, or as honorary decorations by various nations, the Portuguese Cross of Order of Christ is the only one in the world that has its extremities at 45 degree angles.
Both the Britannica and Americana Encyclopedias give the origin, form, and history of 79 different crosses, but make no reference whatsoever to the Portuguese Cross of the Order of Christ, despite the fact that it is considered the highest and most exclusive of all the six Pontifical decorations.
The papal decoration of the Order of Christ is of Portuguese origin. The Pope chose the Cross of Order of Christ to be the highest ranking decoration that he could award, inspired by the fact that the Portuguese navigators caused this Cross to be universally recognized in all the islands and continents they explored. Pope Paul VI, in 1966, restricted awards of this decoration to heads of state who professed the Catholic religion.
TOMAR: HEADQUARTERS OF THE CROSS OF ORDER OF CHRIST
The Order of Christ, with headquarters in Tomar, a city in the center of Portugal, supplied large sums of money to build the first naus and caravels, and contributed from its ranks the first courageous navigators.
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(16) The exterior of the Charola Tower of the Convent of
Tomar.
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(17) The Chapter House window of the Convent of Tomar
with the cross of the order of Christ.
In 1417 Prince Henry the Navigator, at the age of 23, became the Administrator (and exerted the functions of Grand Master) of the Order of Christ. He began immediately to de vote all the resources of this military-religious order to realize his twofold dream of exploring the unknown Atlantic and finding the water route to India.
ORIGIN
OF THE CROSS OF THE ORDER OF CHRIST
The Order of Christ evolved from the Order of Templars. This order was so called
because of its headquarters at Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem. It was founded
during the Crusades in 111 8, as a religious-military order to protect the
pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land. The Popes granted special indulgences to
those who participated in the Eastern Crusades. Because the Arabs were in
possession of the Iberian Peninsula, the Pope granted the same indulgences to
those who joined the Western Crusades.
The Templars were the first crusaders to appear in the Iberian Peninsula. Even before the independence of Portugal, the knights had established themselves in Braga, in 1126. They played a decisive role in the independence of Portugal and also in the conquest of a large portion of territory from the Moors.
It was in 1160 that the Templars began constructing the Castle of Tomar, inspired by the style of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, which was characterized by a round, eight-arch main altar.
The Portuguese Templars also adopted as their Cross one with extremities terminated by four convex arcs radiating from the center of the circle. This type of Cross is typical in the original construction of the Convent of Tomar.
(18)
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From Templar Cross to the first Cross of the Order of Christ
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(19) Cross Of Portuguese Templars, 1160
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(20) Cross of the order of Christ, 1357 with straight
base extremity
After the Crusades, the Order of Templars had become very rich and powerful, posing a political threat to certain European sovereigns, especially the King of France. Philip the Fair, obtained by intrigue, the bull "Regrans in Coelis"(1308) from Clement V abolishing the Order of Templars.
When news of the Papal decision arrived in Portugal, it was not well received. The Portuguese Templars had been the back bone of the fight for national independence and were exemplary in their morals.
King Dinis, with shrewd maneuvering, convinced the Pope that a new military order was needed for Castro Marim, in the southeast frontier of Portugal, because the Moors from Granada posed a constant threat to the Christians. Pope John XXII therefore gave the Portuguese king permission to form the new Order of Christ by issuing the bull “Ad ea Exquibus” On March 14, 1319.
The newly formed Order of Christ actually was comprised of the former members and property of the Order of Templars Further more, this new order paid homage and money tribute to the king rather than to the Pope as the Templars were obliged. To justify their existence, the Order made its headquarters in the Castle of Castro Marim but in 1 357. King Pedro I moved them permanently to Tomar.
Today, the Order of Christ is the oldest order of knighthood in the world with the president of Portugal as its grand master.
When the Knights of the Order of Christ built extensions at the Convent of Tomar, they adopted a new Cross derived from the Cross of the Templars. They cut off the convex arcs from the extremities of the Templars Cross.
By the end of the fourteenth century, the extremities of the Cross of Order of Christ went through another transformation. The branches began to take the angular form, terminating with concave arcs.
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(21) Order of Christ with concave base. 1400
The final metamorphosis of the Cross of the Order of Christ consisted in the establishment of the 45 degree extremities Also, the concave arcs became straight lines.
After 1460 this fully developed form could be seen engraved tombs and documents years before the Corte Reais made their voyages to North America, They were simultaneously used on the different Portuguese landmarkers. As we shall demonstrate later, the Dighton Rock has inscribed on it the final trapezoidal form of the Cross.
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(22) Second cross of the order of Christ (with concave
base) 1400
(23) Click on photo for larger view.
(24) Click on photo for larger view.
Both types of the Cross of the Order of Christ
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(25) Portuguese navel training ship, SAGRES, showing the
Cross of the Order of Christ on its sails.
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(26) XV century Portuguese carvel showing 45 degree Cross on
its sails
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(27) Detail of a 45 degree Cross on a tomb (Gonçalo de
Sousa, 1469)
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(28) Tower of Belém in the harbor of Lisbon. Erected on
the spot from which all the navigators sailed for the unknown lands. It is ornated
with Crosses of the Order of Christ with extremities at 45 degrees.
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(30) Facing the mouth of the Tagus River. Veranda of the
Tower of Belém with Cross of The Order of Christ terminating with a concave arc
(second type)
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(31) Facing Lisbon: Veranda of Tower of Belém with 45
degree Cross of The Order of Christ (third type)
LETTERING
By the year 25 B.C. the Romans had completed the conquest of Lusitânia, the
western part of the Iberian peninsula, and the future territory of Portugal. The Roman alphabet was adopted by the peoples of the whole peninsula. Despite
the invasion of the Visigoths in 415 A.D. and of the Arabs in 711, the people
of Lusitânia continued to use the Roman alphabet.
The Romans adopted 21 letters from the Greek alphabet. Later they added the letter G (derived from C), Y (derived from V). The letters, J, U, and W were not used by the Romans at all. Because the Roman alphabet did not have the letter U, V was used instead during the Middle Ages.
During the discoveries, the Portuguese stone cutters had always preferred the V over the letter U. Even today, we see on libraries and civic buildings, the letter V carved in place of the U. (Ex.: PVBLIC LIBRARY).
The Roman alphabet contained only capital letters as we use them today. However, during the Middle Ages, the different scribes adopted the shape of the letters which suited their national styles, such as, the Uncial, Caroline (small letters) and Gothic forms.
The evolution of these different styles did not have a fixed pattern in Portugal. During the period of the discoveries, we find mixed lettering in four different styles: Roman, Uncial, Caroline, and Gothic.
As we shall demonstrate later, the name of Miguel Corte Real was inscribed on
Dighton Rock in capital letters of the Roman, Uncial, and Gothic types.
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(39)
THE NUMERAL
The
Arab conquerors of the Iberian Peninsula (711 A.D.) gave to Europe the
numerical
system we use today. It was on the Iberian Peninsula that the 1-lindu-Arabic
numerals were first used in Europe. The earliest document in Iberia written with
Hindo-Arabic digits is dated 976 A.D.
Numbers went through striking changes before they attained their present form. Be cause we will be examining the carved dates of 1501 and 1 5 11, we will limit ourselves to the study of the transformations that occurred in the digits 1, 5, and 0.
More important, we have to know the form of these numerals during the
discoveries.
NUMBER I: The digit 1, as used in 16th century Portugal was written slightly shorter than
other numbers with two serifs at the ends.
NUMBER 5: Of all the numbers, digit 3 went through the greatest number of transformations. Initially, it looked like a 4 and later was similar to an h. Next, it took the form of an inverted 5. In 16th century Portugal, it took the shape of a capital S. This S-shaped 5 appears in churches, tombs, and landmarkers throughout Portugal.
THE SYMBOL OF ZERO: Zero represents emptiness or void. To better convey the idea of zero, the Arabs wrote it in a smaller size in relation to the other numerals. This manner of writing the zero was adopted by the Portuguese.
Knowing that numerals used in Portugal had the definite forms already described, one would expect to find on Portuguese landmarkers the year 1501 written as 1So1 and 1511 as IS11 (The numeral 5 was written like a capital S today).
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(40) Tombstone at the Archeological Museum in Lisbon
showing the numeral 5 like a capital "S"