Publication of The Lusiads
Luís de Camões published The Lusiads, an epic poem in ten cantos celebrating Vasco da Gama’s voyage to India and the history of Portugal — the national epic and the greatest work of Portuguese literature.
- Date
- 1572year known
- Place
- Lisbontoday: Lisbon, Portugal · Western and Central Europe
- Participants
- Luís de Camões, Sebastian of Portugal
- Threads
- History of Portugal since the Battle of Aljubarrota
- Also known as
- Os Lusíadas; The Lusiads; Лусиады
Camões, a poor nobleman who had lost an eye while serving at Ceuta, sailed for India in 1553 and spent seventeen years in the East as a soldier and minor official. According to tradition, he saved the manuscript of the poem when shipwrecked at the mouth of the Mekong. Back in Lisbon in 1570, he obtained royal permission to print the work, dedicated to the young King Sebastian, and was granted a modest pension of 15,000 réis a year.
Written in the manner of Virgil’s Aeneid, the poem’s 1,102 stanzas in ottava rima weave the story of da Gama’s fleet together with episodes of Portuguese history and classical myth — the council of the gods, the giant Adamastor guarding the Cape of Good Hope, the tragic love of Inês de Castro and the warning of the Old Man of Restelo against the thirst for glory. Camões died in 1580, the year Portugal lost its independence; the day of his death, 10 June, is Portugal’s national day.
Connections
Related events
- Vasco da Gama’s first voyage to India8 July 1497 – between August and September 1499 · Western and Central Europeda Gama’s voyage is the main subject of the poem
- Garcia de Orta’s Colloquies on the Simples and Drugs of India10 April 1563 · South Asiathe Colloquies include a poem by Camões, Orta’s friend
- Battle of Alcácer Quibir4 August 1578 · Africathe poem was dedicated to King Sebastian, who fell at Alcácer Quibir six years later
Same place
- Expulsion and forced conversion of the Jews of Portugal5 December 1496 – October 1497 · Western and Central Europe
- Restoration of Portuguese independence1 December 1640 · Western and Central Europe
- Lisbon earthquake1 November 1755 · Western and Central Europe
- British Ultimatum of 189011 January 1890 · Western and Central Europe
- 5 October 1910 revolution — Portugal becomes a republic5 October 1910 · Western and Central Europe
- Salazar’s Estado Novo: the Constitution of 193319 March 1933 · Western and Central Europe
- Carnation Revolution25 April 1974 · Western and Central Europe
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within 25 years of this event
Eastern Europe
- Annexation of the Astrakhan Khanate26 August 1556
- Capture of Kazan23 August – 2 October 1552
- Coronation of Ivan IV as tsar16 January 1547
Africa
- Battle of Alcácer Quibir4 August 1578