The Pillory, also popularly known as "picota" in Portugal, is a stone column placed in a public place in a town or village where they exposed and punished criminals in old days. The pillory was also a evidence and instrument of feudal jurisdiction given to bishops, and monasteries.
The pillories were, at least since the late fifteenth century, considered the standard or symbol of municipal liberty.
It seems that before the fifteenth century some executions were done in pillories. But thereafter there is no evidence, at least in relation to executions, which were done in the gallows after having exposed the "criminal" in the pillory for people's knowledge.
In Portugal, the pillories were located always in front of the village city hall, since the twelfth century. Many had, at the top, a small house-shaped gatehouse, made of iron bars, where criminals were exposed to public shame. In other towns, the prisoners were tied to the iron rings and flogged or maimed, depending on the seriousness of the offense and the customs of the time.
Portugal is know alongside with all the wines
and it’s typical Mediterranean cuisine also by the sweets and desserts…
if you want to loose weight this can be the hell on earth to you! (Or
for many a sugar heaven)!
Speaking on Heaven there is
some special deserts that are call “doces conventuais”,in English:
conventual sweets. Why this name?! Well all because they were originated
from convents and monastery around the country! Some of this sweets
have often the name of saints or of the convent that originally made
then.
The convents welcomed for ages inside of its walls the
daughters of the nobility and from the wealthiest families, who apart
from their dowries of significant income, brought also eating habits and
family recipes that given rise to an exquisite culinary preparations
and desserts rich and sometimes complicated.
Until 1834 the
Convents and Monastery had in Portugal another income that came from the
state and many convents and monastery were built by Kings during the
History of the Country... but at this date all of that was gone, and the
many Religious Orders came to an end! So they had to find a new way of
surviving without the state benefits, one of the ways found was to make
that special sweets and sell then at fairs and other places.
Zealously the secrets of the compositions and methods of preparation
were kept , the recipes were property of the convent and the nuns
undertook a great deal, almost a vow , to conceal them for a lifetime.
But like all the secrets in the world there is always "leaks" and some
of the more easy ones (and also the cheaper) came to the knowledge of
the main public and entered to the Portuguese traditions of classic
seasonal desserts such as: “Arroz Doce” - sweet rice, “Pão de Ló” -
bread-cake, “Aletria Doce” - sweet vermicelli and so many others.
By then the Portuguese sweets it won quite a reputation in Europe,
sweets that are abundant in sugar and eggs. (calories alert!!! But soooo
yuuummmmiii!!!) For nearly seven hundred years, this knowledge was
accumulating inside the convents and evolving with new ingredients, a
thousand-and-one experience and long practice of the nuns who devoted
endless hours they work, patience and devotion.
Today thanks to
the research of many scholars who "translated" the handwritten notes of
many files of the monasteries, came out to the public domain the
wonders (and endless drooling) of conventual desserts.
The Portuguese guitar or Portuguese guitarra
is a plucked string instrument with twelve steel strings, strung in six
courses comprising two strings each. It is most notably associated with
Fado Music.
The origin of the Portuguese guitar is a subject
of some debate. Fado historians argued that the guitarra is directly
descended from the citterns imported from England in the 1700s. Other
say that is a evolution on the Moorish medieval lute.
Throughout the 19th century the Portuguese guitar was being made in
several sizes and shapes and subject to several regional aesthetic
trends. A sizable guitar making industry flourished in Coimbra by the
late 19th century, propelled by the Portuguese guitar's popularity among
the students of the city. Eventually the developments of the local
luthiers led to the modern model, named after the city.
Maria da Fonte, or The Revolution of Minho,
was the name given to a popular revolt that occurred in the spring of
1846 against the Chartist government chaired by António Bernardo da
Costa Cabral. The revolt resulted in social tensions remnants of the
liberal wars, exacerbated by the great popular discontent generated by
the new laws that followed forced military recruitment higher taxes and
the prohibition of burials within churches. It began in the area of
Póvoa
do Lanhoso (Minho) by a popular uprising that was progressively
extending throughout the north of Portugal. The initial instigator of
the riots have been a commoner woman named Maria, a native of the parish
of Fontarcada, so she would be known by the nickname of Maria da Fonte.
As the initial phase of the insurrection movement had a strong female,
turned out to be the name given to the revolt.
During the
Revolution of Maria da Fonte, maestro Angelo Frondoni wrote a popular
hymn that became known by the name of Maria da Fonte Anthem or Hymn of
Minho, work that breathes enthusiasm belligerent and that long war was
the corner of the Progressive Party .
Even today, the anthem of
Maria da Fonte remains the music with which are greeted the Portuguese
ministers, being used for civic and military ceremonies. Hymn of Maria da Fonte
Long live Maria da Fonte With pistols in her hands To kill the Cabrais That are false to the nation
Forward Portuguese Forward without fear For the Holy Freedom Triumph or perish
Long live Maria da Fonte At horse back without falling With the pistols on her belt Playing to gathering
Freedom already dawned The nation's add-in Glory to Minho where first Her cry sounded
"A Portuguesa", is the national anthem of
Portugal. It was composed by Alfredo Keil and written by Henrique Lopes
de Mendonça during the resurgent nationalist movement ignited by the
1890 British ultimatum to Portugal concerning its African colonies.
Used as the marching song of the failed republican rebellion of January
1891, in Porto, it was adopted as the national anthem of the newborn
Portuguese Republic in 1911, replacing "O Hino da Carta" the anthem of the
deposed constitutional monarchy. At the same time, Portugal's flag
suffered changes, the old monarchy symbols gave space for the colours of
the republicans, red and green.
The "Cantiga de amigo" or "Cantiga d'amigo"
(Old Galician-Portuguese spelling), literally means a "song of friend"
that means obviously a boyfriend or a lover, is a genre of medieval
erotic lyric poetry, apparently rooted in a song tradition native to the
northwest quadrant of the Iberian Peninsula, been this way not just a
particular Portuguese thing but common to Portugal and Galicia, and this
study in high school all over the country.
What mainly distinguishes the "cantiga
de amigo" is its focus on a world of female-voiced communication. The
earliest examples that survive are dated from roughly the 1220s, and
nearly all survived 500 were composed before 1300. "Cantigas d'amigo"
are found mainly in the Cancioneiro Colocci-Brancuti, now in Lisbon's
Biblioteca Nacional (National Library), and in the "Cancioneiro da
Vaticana", both copied in Italy at the beginning of the 16th century
(possibly around 1525) at the behest of the Italian humanist Angelo
Colocci.
The main authors known of this genre are: Martin
Codax, Johan Airas de Santiago, Johan Garcia de Guilhade, Juião
Bolseiro, Johan Baveca , Pedr' Amigo de Sevilha, Johan Zorro, Pero
Meogo, Bernal de Bonaval, Meendinho and the Portuguese King Dom Dinis,
know as the best medieval Portuguese poet and one of the best troubadour
of is time.
The characters involved in the songs are: - A
girl friend, who is often a poetic voice. It is sometimes naive, other
narcissistic, other behaves so elusive or is vindictive. - The mother, who is usually the prohibitive social code. - Confidants: the mother, a girl friend, sister, other brides, nature (flowers, ocean waves), etc.. - The "friend" (meaning the lover), often absent.
The cantiga de amigo have been said to have characteristics in common
with the Mozarabic kharajat, but these may be merely coincidences of
female speaker and erotic themes.
Example of one of this songs in English:
I was sitting at the shrine of San Simeon And the waves surrounded me, how high they were, Me waiting for my friend. Sitting at the shrine, before the altar, The high waves of the sea surrounded me, Me waiting for my friend. And the waves surrounded me, how high they were: I have no boatman, nor any one to row, Me waiting for my friend. And the waves of the high sea surrounded me: I have no boatman and don’t know how to row, Me waiting for my friend. I have no boatman, nor anyone to row: And I’ll die, beautiful me, in the vast sea, Me waiting for my friend. I have no boatman and don’t know how to row, And I’ll die, beautiful me, in the sea so vast, Me waiting for my friend.
Galician-Portuguese:
Sedia-m'eu na ermida de San Simion e cercaron-mi as ondas, que grandes son, eu atendendo meu amigo. Estando na ermida ant'o altar, cercaron-mi as ondas grandes do mar, eu atendendo meu amigo. E cercaron-mi as ondas, que grandes son: non ei i barqueiro, nen remador, eu atendendo meu amigo. E cercaron-mi as ondas do alto mar: non ei i barqueiro, nen sei remar, eu atendendo meu amigo. Non ei i barqueiro, nen remador: e morrerei fremosa no mar maior, eu atendendo meu amigo. Non ei i barqueiro, nen sei remar: e morrerei eu fremosa no alto mar, eu atendendo meu amigo.
(Meendinho)
Here is a clip of a song sang in the old Portuguese-Galician language, enjoy!
Afonso Henriques (Alfonso Henry translated to
english) was the first Portuguese King and the one that ruled over
Portugal during more years, he has the longest reigning years record on
the throne in the Portuguese Monarchy history, a amazin
gly
57 years! Is beloved till today by all Portuguese and saw as the father
of the nation. Was a stubborn man that fought against all odds and all
around him (including is own mother, Lady Theresa) for a land he saw as
his own and the shy dream of a independent kingdom. A dream that became
this small land full of contrasts named Portugal.
Historians think he was born on 25 June of 1109, in the city of Guimarães or in Viseu.
He was nicknamed "O Conquistador" (The Conqueror), "o Fundador" (the
Founder) or "o Grande" (the Great) by the Portuguese, and El-Bortukali
("the Portuguese") and Ibn-Arrik ("son of Henry", "Henriques") by the
Moors whom he fought during the reconquest (Reconquista) of the Iberian
Peninsula.
He achieved the independence of the southern part of
the Kingdom of Galicia, the County of Portugal, from Galicia's
overlord, the King of León, in 1139, establishing a new kingdom and
doubling its area with the Reconquista, an objective that he pursued
until his death, in 1185, after forty-six years of wars against the
Moors.
Alfonso Henry was the son of Henry of Burgundy and
Theresa of León, the natural daughter of King Alfonso VI of León. The
pair reigned jointly as Count and Countess of "Portucale" (name the
county had before was called Portugal) until Henry's death, after which
Theresa reigned alone.
When the young Alfoso became a man (at
14 years old the adult age in the 12th century) He made himself a knight
on his own account in the Cathedral of Zamora, raised an army, and
proceeded to take control of his mother's lands, she had married a
second time with a powerful lord of Galicia and that alliance was not
seem with good yes by her son or the ones that supported him! Near
Guimarães, at the Battle of St. Mamede (1128) he overcame the troops
under his mother's second husband, exiling her forever to a monastery in
Galicia. Alfonso became this way sole ruler of the county and was known
as Duke of Portugal.
In 1179 the privileges and favours given
to the Roman Catholic Church were finally compensated. Pope Alexander
III acknowledged Afonso as King and Portugal as an independent kingdom
with the right to conquer lands. With this papal blessing, Portugal was
at last secured as a kingdom.
In spite of his great age, he
still had sufficient energy to go to battle, but he was wounded not by a
sword or spear but by a bolt of a door while riding a horse, the wound
never healed completely, and then he passed the government of the
country to his eldest son, Don Sancho.
The Portuguese revere
him as a hero, both on account of his personal character and as the
mythical founder of their nation. There are stories that it would take
10 men to carry his sword!
Afonso died, on 6 December 1185 in Coimbra.
(some parts of the text was taken from the internet)
How do the Portuguese live and how do they see what surrounds them?!
This Blog is expected to be a fun guide on Portugal and it's people, a channel created by Portuguese for the World. Each month, we hope to bring to you always a special topic! Until then we will post various weekly topics of interest for everyone!
