Pedro Daniel Oliveira
Artist and Writer António Conceição Júnior delivered a talk on Afonso de Albuquerque – Rumo ao Apogeu Militar dos Descobrimentos (Afonso de Albuquerque – Towards the Military Apogee of the Portuguese Discoveries), at Rui Cunha Foundation, on July 12. Speaking to O CLARIM, he describes a ruthless warrior with outstanding strategic vision, who played a key role on the dissemination of several miscegenation characteristics of the Portuguese in the East.
Afonso de Albuquerque was an early 16th century Portuguese military strategist. As a result of his action, he also contributed greatly to the dissemination of the Portuguese in the East. What are his best personality traits?
There are different aspects of his personality to consider, namely his enormous courage, but also the probity, the capacity of leadership and the vision that allowed for the Portuguese not only a mare clausum [closed sea], but also the opening to the East. Albuquerque encouraged the blows of the sword, but also those of love, which resulted in several miscegenation characteristics of the Portuguese.
Many of his achievements were moved by the Catholic faith. Afonso de Albuquerque had even the idea of conquering Mecca. What if he did it? What would the world be like today?
Albuquerque was a crusader out of time. In order to conquer Mecca, horses and men were lacking. He never commanded more than 4,500. I can’t answer your question with precision, because it involves a certain amount of futurology. Anyway, based on the conquered territories I don’t think so. The Portuguese were in many places in the Indian Ocean, from Ormuz to the Moluccas. And taking out rare Christian communities, everything changed in five centuries. But let me tell you that during the Crusades there was this idea of an accurate strategy that passed East through Cyprus, through Nicosia and Famagusta, famous for their battles against the Ottomans, while the strategy to the West would theoretically passed through Portugal, and would serve to dominate the Mediterranean, which in any case never came to be fulfilled.
Why do some Eastern people still have little sympathy for Afonso de Albuquerque?
Well, Albuquerque was not friendly to the people or those he wanted to take. No wonder he had created such fame that a zooide, a multi-organism, sort of jellyfish, was dubbed the “Portuguese Man-of-War.” Albuquerque’s ferocity, and that of the men he commanded became legendary.
Does Portugal pay a deserved tribute to Alfonso de Albuquerque in terms of his place in History?
It doesn’t, obviously. He was badly loved by [King Manuel I of Portugal and the Algarves] “the Fortunate.” The great Admiral [Afonso de Albuquerque] had under his command men who didn’t respect the hierarchy, and wrote directly to the King, making complaints about him. Therefore, a King treated again a man much greater than he, and who served loyally. Replacing the great Admiral [as Governor of the Portuguese India] with his worst enemy was absolutely unacceptable, and led him to die in utter dismay.
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