Teresa Margarida da Silva e Orta and the Portuguese Enlightenment

Teresa M argarida da Silva e Orta andmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCB the Portuguese Enlightenment M O N IC A LETZRIN G gfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Although the Portuguese Luzes were as concerned as the rest of enlightened Europe with the issue of good government, few of their writings on the subject were published in the eighteenth century, and, of those few, fewer still were published in Portugal.1 Thus, despite the fact that it was widely read in manuscript form, Dom Luis da Cunha's RQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA T e s t a m e n t o P o lit ic o (1747-49), addressed to Dom Jose, who was soon to succeed his father to the throne, did not actually appear in print until 1812, when the colony of Portuguese expatriots in En­ gland adopted da Cunha as their master and published it serially in their I n v e s t ig a d o r P o r t u g u e z e m I n g la t e r r a (1812-16). The anti-absolutist A v e n t u r a s d e D io fa n e s of Teresa Margarida da Silva e Orta is then es­ pecially significant because it is the only work of its kind representing Portuguese ideas on enlightened government to be published in Por­ tugal in the eighteenth century, and, as the dates of the four early editions suggest, corresponding as they do with current political crises, it was considered to be specifically relevant to political issues. The A v e n t u r a s , furthermore, stands out in eighteenth century Portuguese literature for its feminist stance.2 Teresa Margarida da Silva e Orta (1711/ 12-1793) was not, strictly speaking, Portuguese, but Brazilian, daughter of an exceptionally wealthy Paulista who emigrated to Portugal when she was five years old and there added prestige and power to his wealth in the post of Superintendent of the Mint in Lisbon. She and her sister were placed 111 112 / LETZRINGgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA in the Convent das Trinas do Mocambo, one of the best convents available for the education of girls. Whether through the efforts of the nuns of the Convent das Trinas or through her own, Teresa Margarida received an education exceptional enough to lead Barbosa Ma­ chado to remark in his RQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA B ib lio t e c a L u s it a n a on her accomplishments in the "linguas mais polidas da Europe,"3 at a time when knowledge of European languages, especially French, was a special mark of culture in Portugal, and when Portuguese women were generally illiterate.4 She herself, in the "Prologo" to the A v e n t u r a s , alludes to her knowl­ edge of Spanish, French, and Italian literary works as well as a num­ ber of classical works. Through her own and her husband's family as well as through her friendships, she was in touch with individuals and offices of consid­ erable power. Her father was a familiar of the Holy Office, her fatherin -law, Judge of the Court of Appeals, and her brother-in-law, a pros­ ecutor of the Court of the Holy Office of the Inquisition. Alexandre Gusmao, private secretary to the king, Joao V, was a close friend and godfather of one of her twelve children; the Infante D. Manuel was godfather of another. Correspondence published by her biographer, Ernesto Ennes, indicates that even Pombal (then the Conde de Oeiras) enlisted her to write for his campaign against the Jesuits. Some of these connections, especially those in the Holy Office, were no doubt useful when she was ready to publish her book. The A d v e n t u r a s d e D id fa n e s is a loose, instructive narrative carrying, as its first title { M d x im a s d e V ir t u d e e F o r m o s u r a ) suggests, maxims on conduct and morality. As its model, Fenelon's T e le m a q u e , it provides at the same time lessons on enlightened...