Messianic expectation and collective myth formation: Prophecy, society and imagination in early modern Portuga

This thesis asserts that in the late-sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries in Portugal a new collective Portuguese myth formed and solidified in the imagination of much of the Portuguese population. It is a myth of a return or appearance of a new messiah(s) rather than the Christian messiah who brings forth to Portugal a new a better future world. Further, the present study argues that this myth became part and parcel of Portuguese culture up through the present day in myth, legend, identity, politics, and in the arts. The primary argument of this work stems from exhaustive research in the archives of the Inquisition and others in Portugal.;The period discussed is characterized by an unpopular occupation by the Spanish throne (Habsburgs, 1580--1668) and the war to restore Portuguese independence (1640--1668). In such a time of chaos and unrest, a powerful and crucial hope arose for some kind of savior or messiah to bring back the popular perception of Portugal's greatness and destiny---the popular trope of the return to a Golden Age. Using Inquisition trials and other inquisitorial sources, however, the current work identifies and discusses several popular Portuguese prophets arrested and brought to trail as false prophets that defy traditional studies on early modern Portuguese messianic developments. The main thesis suggests a new paradigm for the idea of a messiah or return of a lost king from the imaginations of these prophets. Numerous sources are traced revealing a multi-faceted coming together of a uniquely Portuguese idea or myth. The present work deeply stresses the influence of Judaism and the remnants of Jewish beliefs in early modern Portugal, in addition to traditional and novel ideas such as the hidden island, the dual messiah, egalitarianism, and unique Portuguese twists, as playing a stronger role among the future-imaging population of Portugal. Thus, this unique myth of Portuguese messianic expectation is set apart from other traditional early modern European views of the world-to-come in addition to modern evaluations of the nature of the early modern Portuguese messianic experience.