Documental Anthology

BOOK ON CITIES AND FORTRESSES*

Anonymous

Frontespiece. In: (Anonymous). Livro / das Cidades, e / Fortalezas. / que à Coroa de Por- / tvgal tem nas Par-/ tes da India, è das / Capitanias, e ma - / es Cargos que ne-/ las há, e da Im-/ portancia del-/ les., ca 1582. Portuguese Manuscript in deposit at the Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid (National Library of Madrid), Spain.

[INTRODUCTION]

This book, which has remained in manuscript form until quite recently, is a long report on Portuguese possessions in the Orient, prepared in around 1582 by an official with vast experience in overseas matters. One can deduce that the author intended to inform King Felipe II of Spain (Filipe I of Portugal) [°1527-r. 1554(S)/r.1580(P)-+1598] on the situation of Portuguese interests in those far away places, at the time when the Spanish monarch ended up taking possession of the Portuguese throne. The anonymous writer based his work on accounts of those regions written by fellow countrymen, and also on "[...] information from men far more practical than any of them [...]," and prepared an extremely valuable synthesis on the different geography of settlements belonging to the Portuguese Crown and on the intricate officialdom which insured the survival of the [Portuguese] State of India. He complemented all this by supplying even more valuable accounts of an ethnographical nature, like detailed indications about the most important journeys or rather trade routes, controlled by the Portuguese on the Oriental seas. Assuming that it was a little contrived, in keeping with the style of the time, it did not abstain from making particular criticism of the management of overseas enterprises, even proposing alternative solutions for certain irregularities in the system. The logic of the way of distributing cargo was a subject which especially called his attention.

The description of Macao was concise, restricting itself to a few elementary observations. Also the basic administration of the inhabitants and the trading network which had Macao as its epicentre warranted being pointed out. It is interesting to take note of the curious reference to "[...] cidade de Machau [...]"("[...] city of Machau [...]" which appeared in the chapter's title, some years before that Portuguese settlement had obtained that status. This work seem to be the oldest 'official' description of Macao which still survives today.

Folio Iiiiro. Cargos de Amboyno (Posts of Amboina). Capitvlo Decimo Qvinto da Ilha e Cidade Machao (Chapter Fifteen of the Island and City of Macao).

In: (Anonymous). Livro / das Cidades, e / Fortalezas, [.../,ca 1582. Reproduced in: BARRETO. Luís Filipe coord., Macau: Cartografia d o Encontro Ocidente-Oriente, Comissão Territorial para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos

Portugueses, [n. d.], p.113.

*MS., Lisbon, ca 1582.

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