June 10 is Portugal’s National Day. And, while most national days mark a great accomplishment or success – Think of the French Revolution and the signing of the Declaration of Independence– June 10 Celebrates the darkest day in Portuguese history. This is the story of why Portugal celebrates its worst day, ever….
First, the dark history of how June 10th became a holiday. The year was 1944. Portugal was a dictatorship, and was in the middle of a difficult balancing act as one of the few neutral nations in Western Europe during world War II The Estado Novo declared June 10th the Dia da Raça, or the Day of the Portuguese Race. An ugly term, as Portugal still held a far-flung empire from Africa to Asia. But it was a rally cry in dark times.
So, why June 10th? The dictatorship had latched on to great figures in Portugal’s long history to symbolize the nation – and certainly Luís Vaz de Camões was top of the list. Portugal’s preeminent poet, the power of his writing is breathtaking. Had he written in Italy, Camões' works would be taught today in schools across the world. His sonnets of love remain as fresh and powerful as they were in the 16th century. His life - as a soldier, poet, and adventurer - was epic. He lost an eye helping defend Ceuta, he traveled the Portuguese empire, and he was a cousin of the great Vasco da Gama. It seemed fitting that Portugal’s National Day should fall on the day that Camões was born – just one issue. No one knew for sure what day (or year ) he was born: 1524? Maybe 1525?
So, the thinking must have gone like this: Let’s make the national day the day he died. They knew that: June the 10th. But that was an awful day. And yet, that was the day they picked - those wily fascists…
So, what happened on June 10th, 1580? First, you need to understand the depth of the end of Camões’ life. Born in 1525, Camões died in obscurity in 1580. The day he died is Portugal's national day. But many facts of his life are missing. He was born to a noble family either in Lisbon or Coimbra in 1524. His father was a sea captain, killed in a shipwreck. He certainly spent time in and studied at Coimbra, the university is mentioned fondly in his poems. His uncle was a monk at the Monastery of Santa Cruz. Camões knew that 12th century church well, as the resting place of Portugal's first two kings. But Camões was part of the Portuguese seaborne empire-building--from North Africa to India to China--and he lost an eye and an arm in service to his king. Camões got a small pension and lived in poverty. A statue to Camões rises above the square named for him in Lisbon's Chiado neighborhood. Recently restored, it was paid for by popular subscription. In it the god-like image of Camões is twice the size of the other poets and writers on the base giving him a height he never had in life.
In 1572 he published what is considered the masterwork of the Portuguese language: Os Lusíadas, a 10 canto poem that follows Vasco da Gama and his fleet, as the gods help and torment him on his way to India in 1497. Os Lusíadas was in essence a letter to the King Dom Sebastião, a plea to restore Portugal to the decency and glory of da Gama's day. It is told that the poet read his poem to the king at the Royal Palace at Sintra in 1572. The king called his poem "adequate," and continued his plans to invade North Africa. Six years later, Sebastião led a massive army to Alcazar-quivir in Morocco and was crushed. Two years later, as Camões lay on his deathbed, a Spanish Army invaded and Portugal was occupied. The last known words of this poet, soldier, and dreamer were written a few days before his death, as the Spanish approached Lisbon. "All will see that so dear to me was my country that I was content to die not only in it but with it." He died June 10, 1580, as did the nation's independence for the next 60 years.
Every great nation needs a creation myth, and this was Portugal’s. But the Portugal Camões’ wrote to had become corrupt, depleted and was led by a mad bouy-king. So, the very end of his masterpiece, he wrote this:
No more, Muse, no more, that Lyre has fallen
Out of tune and its voice hushed,
And not from the song, but from seeing that I
Sing to a people who are deaf and hardened.
The favor, which lights up ingenuity
Does not shine on this country, it's stuck
I do not comprehend greed and rudeness
Of this austere, dark and vile sadness.
Eight years later, broken, penniless and forgotten, Camões lay on his deathbed. And, there was one other thing. That young king, young D. Sebastião – the king that Camões’ has once read Os Lusíadas too, had led a massive Portuguese force into North Africa in 1578, and never returned. Kingless, on June the 10th 1580, a massive Spain army massed on the frontier – Portugal had lost its warrior class, and after four centuries - the nation seemed doomed to have a Spanish king. On his deathbed, Camões wrote his final words… All will see that so dear to me was my country that I was contented to not only to die in it, but with it.
And Portugal fell to the Spanish. Let’s celebrate?
By 1640, Portugal was back. The Spanish kings were tossed out, the nation restored. Other invaders would come, amazingly hapless rulers would follow, and war clouds would form. Portugal survived. And, so – if you can survive a day as horrible as June the 10th, 1580 – then everything else seems survivable. This small nation, poor in resources and on the fringe of Europe, survived, flourished, and went on. So, perhaps not by design, but by the hand of fate, June the 10 is the Day of Portugal. And after nearly 900 years, Portugal has something to reflect on.
Camões-- the poet with two tombs and an unknown grave
Portugal's national Pantheon in Lisbon contains a magnificent tomb to the man considered to be the poet of the Portuguese expression. The name of Luís Vaz de Camões is gilded on a tomb there, but the inside is empty. Down river at the magnificent Jerónimos Monastery, built to celebrate the return of Vasco da Gama in 1498 from having discovered the sea route to Asia, is another Gothic and imposing tomb. It is next to the tomb of the great Argonaut--Da Gama himself - and it is to Camões, who was a cousin of Da Gama's. It is also empty. Camões' 10-Canto epic poem, Os Lusíadas, combines the gods of mythology, the voyage of Vasco da Gama, and the poet's own life in a moving human drama that transcends naturalism and speaks to all humanity. Where he is actually buried is unknown.