Mythical and Legendary Genesis of Portugal in the Light of the First and Second Part of Bernardo de Brito's Monarchia Lusitana Cover Image

Bajeczno-mityczna geneza Portugalii w zwierciadle pierwszej i drugiej części Monarchia Lusitana Bernarda de Brito
Mythical and Legendary Genesis of Portugal in the Light of the First and Second Part of Bernardo de Brito's Monarchia Lusitana

Author(s): Anna Działak-Szubińska
Subject(s): History, Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
Keywords: Bernardo de Brito; Monarchia Lusitana; origins of Portugal; legendary history; the Iberian Union
Summary/Abstract: Tales on the origins of Portugal are based on mythological, biblical and historical motifs. They gain a large degree of resonance in the context of the Iberian Union (1580–1640). From the rich body of works developed in that period there is one that merits closer attention: Monarchia Lusitana – the history of Portugal first taken up by the Cistercians of the Santa Maria de Alcobaça monastery. Following the analysis of the work’s structure and content and by making reference to the research of, among others, Jacek Banaszkiewicz on “de origines”, the present chapter goes over the mythical roots of Por¬tugal as reflected in the first and the second part of the Monarchia Lusitana (1597 and 1609) chronicle project started by Bernardo de Brito (1569–1617).