Re-reading the acclamation of John IV of Portugal in Cochin 1641 as urban spectacle and literary text

In October 1644 Agostinho de Almeida Gato, a member of the Ordem de Cristo and Ouvidor or magistrate of Santa Cruz de Cochin concluded his sole recorded literary work: Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal / [The] Festive triumphs held by the distinguished and noble city of Santa Cruz de Cochin to mark the joyful tidings of the glorious acclamation and extolling celebration of the King our Lord Dom John the fourth of Portugal (hereafter Triumphos festivaes). The manuscript extends to 104 folios and is organised into four parts. It begins with Gato’s dedication to King John IV (), which is followed by his “Rellação das Grandes festas geraes, e particulares que na nobre e sempre leal Cidade de Cochym se fizerão na aclamação da Magestade del Rey Dom João o quarto nosso senhor que Deos guarde [Account of the grandiose festivities, both general and particular, that the noble and ever-loyal city of Cochin held for the acclamation of his majesty John IV, may God keep him]” ().

The opening Rellação… is divided into eight chapters. The first two chapters give an account of the hardships faced by the Portuguese residents in the city and their tribulations at the hands of Dutch and Malabar “corsairs,” as well as forty days of penance that were undergone by the Portuguese residents in hope of divine assistance. As Sanjay Subrahmanyam has stated this act of piety was seemingly answered with a miracle, the coronation of John IV, and chapter three records the arrival of this news on the 30th of September 1641 in the form of letters from the king and the captains of Mangalore and Kannur (; ). Gato concludes by saying that the city authorities took the letters to the cathedral where they gave thanks to the blessed sacrament. Forty days of celebration ensued, and many individuals spent considerable sums of money on staging the festivities (). Despite these lengthy celebrations Gato provides a highly focused account that concentrates above all on four elements of the festivities. Chapter four recounts how the oath of loyalty, hereafter the juramento, was sworn on the 13th of October before the Captain of the Fort, António da Cunha in the Cathedral. John IV was symbolically represented by the royal coat of arms, and the ritual was performed in accordance with the city’s social hierarchy. It was followed by the acclamation of the king, which took the form of a parade through the streets of Santa Cruz de Cochin, also known as Cochin de Baixa or Portuguese Cochin () (; ; ). On each street the captain declared, “Real, Real, Real, por el Rey, Dom João o Quarto, Rey de Portugal, nosso verdadeiro rey natural (Hail! Hail! Hail King, Dom John the Fourth, King of Portugal, our true natural king)!” and the crowds responded: “Viva, Viva, Viva” (). No indication of the route taken is provided for this procession, but it began and ended at the cathedral which is marked number 1 on the map ().

With the stipulated rituals concluded, a series of events were then staged. They are recounted from chapter five onwards, and record how Cochin responded to the acclamation of John IV. As will be discussed, both metropolitan and local festive models were drawn on, but there is no evidence that explicit royal or viceregal instructions were being followed. Gato begins chapter five with a brief summary of the pacifying impact of the festivities, an issue returned to below, before describing a procession that concluded with a theatrical performance of King John IV giving thanks to Christ for his acclamation and swearing to rule following the virtues of Justice, Prudence, Clemency and Fortitude. Gato funded the theatrical element of this spectacle, which was held outside his house, and his account also provides the actors’ script. Chapter six offers a clear contrast in terms of its brevity. It records a procession funded by Cochin’s guarda-mor, António de Navaes, and an encamisada or procession financed by the city’s factor, Pero Vaz d’Abreu (). The latter event, which included a carriage bearing the enthroned figure of John IV, is described in the briefest of terms (). Essentially it provided an introduction to a much more grandiose emcamisada paid for by Gato, for which the centrepiece was a carriage bearing all the “legitimate” kings of Portugal, accompanied by other figures, as well as musicians, singers and dancers. Again a meticulously detailed account is given of the spectacle Gato staged, which includes transcriptions of the decorative mottos and the songs that were performed. The final chapter extols the city’s festive displays of loyalty, before turning to describe Gato’s final contribution as patron, the construction of a theatre and the performance of a play, and he concludes with a description of the former. The text of the play follows as the first of two appendices that conclude Gato’s manuscript. The play was written by Father Pedro de Aguirre e Suruga and was entitled Comedia famosa, e relação verdadeira da aclamacão e ensalçamento do muy alto e poderoso Rey Dom João o quarto de Portugal [Renowned play and truthful account of the acclamation and exaltation of the highest and powerful King John the fourth of Portugal]; a short dedication by Suruga to Gato precedes the play itself (). The manuscript ends with a second appendix this time of a legal nature (). To demonstrate the veracity of the foregoing pages two testimonies are provided. One is jointly signed by two deans of the chapter of Cochin Cathedral, Father Lourenço Gonçalves and Manoel Serrão de Nabais. The other is signed by the captain of the city’s fortress, António da Cunha de Castro. The former document was signed on 12th November 1642 and the latter on 29th November, which provides a terminus ante quem for the manuscript. The latter documents were then signed in Goa on 30th September 1644 by the desembargador [judge] and ouvidor [magistrate] Doctor Lopo de Lagares Paçanha. The manuscript contains no indications as to when it was sent to Portugal, nor whether it was read by the king or anyone else, and likewise no clues are given to its provenance before entering the Biblioteca Pública de Évora, where it is conserved today.

Aside from the absence of interventions from any readers, it is nevertheless clear that the Triumphos festivaes is the work of various authors. Apart from Gato, Suruga, and de Cunha, the two deans of the Cathedral and the Goan officials, the text also includes transcriptions of the letters received from the king and the viceroy of the Estado da Índia (Portuguese India). These letters in fact form part of the official auto or proceedings drawn up to record the celebration of the juramento and the acclamation in Cochin, and a transcription of this document provides the content of chapter four. Each of the oaths sworn was recorded verbatim, and Gato also recounts how the official proceedings were drawn up by three scribes and the various oaths were then signed. Gato’s concern for veracity and procedure is also underscored by his assurance that his transcription is accurate (). In addition to his inclusion of the auto, Gato’s text includes the script of the theatrical performance he describes in chapter five, as well as a song that accompanied it. No author is given for this, just as no author is cited for his transcription of the inscriptions used to adorn the triumphal carriage described in chapter seven, which was also accompanied by further songs, three of which were transcribed. Furthermore, it may be asked who was actually responsible for inventing the spectacles financed by Gato. As will be discussed local and metropolitan festive traditions clearly provided a framework, but it may be suggested that the festivities Gato described were a collaboration between the authorities - such as da Cunha, who provided soldiers as actors, and Father Lourenço Gonçalves, who participated in Gato’s first theatrical event - and anonymous authors, as well as artisans, who designed and created triumphal arches, festive carriages, stages amongst other elements of early modern festive spectacle. Gato did not claim to have invented these, but as he reminds us, he paid for them.

Rather than pursue the elusive question of authorship, the evident collaborative dimensions of Triumfos festivaes may instead be read as evidence of Cochin’s elite intellectual culture. To do so, and drawing on the critical framework set out by Ângela Xavier and Catarina Santos in their study of the colonial elites’ intellectual culture, a dual focus must be developed. Firstly, attention must be devoted to the spectacle described by Gato, with its anonymous literary contributions. Secondly, consideration must be paid to its material dimensions, which Xavier and Santos have identified as “part of the processes of [cultural] signification.” () The next section examines these two facets of the three visual-literary spectacles staged by Gato, but as will become clear further research is needed on the specific performative elements of the festivities, above all music, song and dance, for which the work of David Irving provides a valuable frame of reference (). Secondly, Triumfos festivaes must be read in light of Curto’s study of the accounts of the acclamation festivals held in Rio de Janeiro and Macau, which he has identified as a “textual reality” that imposed its “own legibility on the events” that took place ().

As a text, it may be argued that Gato’s text, addressed to the king, presents the festivities as an effective “mechanism” used by what Xavier and Santos term the “imperial elite” for the “construction and imposition of its own political, economic and cultural system” (). By exploring the spatial dimensions of the spectacle staged in Cochin, as well as those encapsulated in Gato’s text, in terms of the socio-historical context of Cochin circa 1640 it is argued that Triumfos festivaes testifies to the “interweaving of the destinies” of the “imperial and colonial elites,” as well as that of the “indigenous” elite represented by Raja Godo Rama. While the indigenous elite may be clearly distinguished, the distinction between the “imperial” and “colonial” elites is more opaque. Xavier and Santos identify the “colonial elite” with members of families who had lived in Cochin for more than one generation, whereby it may be identified with the casados-“settlers at Portuguese fortresses, and at Indian Ocean littoral ports who were of Portuguese origin, or owed allegiance to the Portuguese crown”-who Subrahmanyam refers to as being represented by the Cochin City Council (). Given Gato’s prominence in Cochin society he may also be identified with this established Portuguese colonial community. Xavier and Santos also underscore the “elasticity and dynamism” of the “colonial elite,” and these characteristics can be traced in Gato’s text: the spectacle he staged and described articulated an imperial discourse, while clearly addressing the concerns of the colonial elite.

Cochin’s collective contribution to the festive spectacle created for John IV, involving a range of agents - the cupula of local power and its three elites albeit to a varying degree, and the lower social strata who built the ephemeral architecture and attended the events - may be read as a micro-historical example of what Bethencourt has discussed as the “nebula” of colonial power (). More recently Biedermann, drawing on theoretical discussions of political networks, underscored how the Portuguese territories were structured by “hierarchically ordered, dynamically interacting networks of pulsating political centres;” a key aim of this study is to examine the interactions and dynamics of the acclamation celebrations held in Cochin, as well as trace the local, regional and international networks they reveal (). Thus, Triumfos festivaes is analysed in the pages that follow concerning three key political nodes: Cochim de baixa or Portuguese Cochin, and in so far as can be discerned its connections to Cochim de Cima, from where Raja Godo Rama ruled, and finally, Lisbon. Thereby Triumfos festivaes, as a deployment of festival culture and writing, is read as an engagement with the polycentric “complex geometry” of the “multi-territorial” Iberian monarchies (). Cardim, Herzog, Ibáñez and Sabatini have argued that this spatial structure, “mostly depended on a general adhesion to a discourse of loyalty to King and religion,” and studies such as those by Curto, Ferreira and Krass, amongst other authors, have demonstrated how the acclamation of John IV provides a paradigmatic case study to examine the role of festival culture within the dynamic nodes and networks that structured Portugal’s overseas territories. Gato’s account, with its wealth of detail and rhetorical veneer, permits still closer scrutiny of the politically charged festive “pulsations” that were staged in Cochin and transmitted to Lisbon ().

READING THE TRIUMFOS FESTIVAES AS SPECTACLE

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As Curto, Ferreira and Krass have discussed Triumphos festivaes is part of a corpus of the manuscript and printed documents that were written to provide a testimony of the celebration of the juramento and acclamation rituals held for John IV; in certain cases the festivities that followed were also described (Vasconcelos, 1929Vasconcelos, F. de (1929) “A Aclamação de D. João IV em Macau.” Separata do Boletim da Agência Geral das Colónias, 53. Lisbon: Agência Geral das Colónias.; Curto 2011, 259-274Curto, D. R. (2011) Cultura política no tempo dos Filipes, 1580-1640. Lisbon: Edições 70.; 2020 pp. 161-166Curto, D. R. (2020) Imperial Culture and Colonial Projects: The Portuguese-Speaking World from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Centuries. Oxford: Berghan Books.; Ferreira, 2011Ferreira, J. M. M. (2011) A Restauração de 1640 e o Estado da Índia. Agentes, espaços e dinâmicas. MA thesis. Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa. Available at: https://run.unl.pt/handle/10362/7181 [Accessed 17 Nov. 2021].; 2012Ferreira, J. M. M. (2012) “«Decadencia» y «Tiranía»: Textos, lenguajes y representaciones de la proclamación de D. João IV en el Estado de la India.” Espacio Tiempo y Forma. Serie IV, Historia Moderna, 25, pp. 187-197. doi: https://doi.org/10.5944/etfiv.25.2012.11952 ; 2013Ferreira, J. M. M. (2013) “«A feliçe acclamação del Rey Dom João o IV»: cerimónias e cultura política na Goa seiscentista.” Revista de História da Sociedade e da Cultura, 13, pp. 231-248. doi: https://doi.org/10.14195/1645-2259_13_10 ; Krass, 2017aKrass, U. (2017a) “Loyalty made visible: pyrotechnics and processions for King John IV in Macao in 1642.” In: U. Krass, ed., Visualizing Portuguese power: the political use of images in Portugal and its Overseas Empire (16th-18th Century). Zurich, Berlin: Diaphanes, pp. 141-171.; 2017b, pp. 115-80Krass, U. (2017b) Bilderwelten 1640 Die globale Visualisierung der portugiesischen Restauration. Habilitationsschrift, Fakultät für Geschichts und Kunstwissenschaften, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. ; Mínguez et al., 2018Mínguez, V., Chiva Beltrán, J., González Tornel, P. and Rodríguez Moya, M. I. (2018) La fiesta barroca: Portugal hispánico y el imperio oceánico. Castelló de la Plana: Universitat Jaume I.). It is beyond the scope of this study to discuss the events that led up to the acclamation of John IV on 1st December on the streets of Lisbon.³ A range of studies has been devoted to the acclamation of John IV and the Portuguese War of Restoration that took place as a result, including the studies devoted to the reigns of John IV (Costa and Cunha, 2008) and Afonso VI (Xavier and Cardim, 2008), and broader studies such as those by Valladares (1998) and Ames (2000), which focuses on Portuguese India. However, the foundational moment for the rituals and festivities described by Gato was the juramento sworn by John IV and his subjects on the 15th of December 1640, and the juramento sworn to Prince Theodosius as the royal heir during the celebration of the Cortes on the 28th and 29th of January 1641, an event which Cardim has stated added further legitimisation to John IV’s status (Cardim, 1992, p. 6Cardim, P. (1992) “Ceremonial and ritual in the Cortes of Portugal (1581-1698).” Parliaments, Estates and Representation, 12 (1), pp. 1-14. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/02606755.1992.9525807 ). These events and the autos published to mark them establish a point of departure for mapping the series of rituals that then took place (Anon. e, 1641Anon. e (1641) Autos do levantamento e juramento, que por os grandes, titulos seculares, & pessoas que se acharão presentes, se fez a el Rey Dom Joam o IV. nosso senhor, na Coroa, & Senhorio destes Reynos, & do que elle fez às mesmas pessoas na Cidade de Lisboa, em os quinze dias do mes de Dezembro do Anno de 1640. E da ratificaçam do juramento, que os tres Estados destes Reynos a El Rey N. S. D. Joam o IV… E das Cortes, que fez aos tres Estados do Reyno el Rey D. Joam o IV. deste nome N. S. na mesma cidade de Lisboa em os 29. do dito mes de Janeiro do mesmo anno de 1641. Lisbon: António Alvarez.). Acclamation rituals and celebrations took place across Portugal, and accounts were written recording these events in Coimbra for example (Anon. c, c. 1640Anon. c (c. 1640) Demonstrações que fez o Colégio da Companhia de Jesus e das artes da cidade e universidade de Coimbra pela feliz aclamação do … d. João iv de Portugal. Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo (ANTT), PT/TT/MSLIV/2147, fols. 1r-124v.; Anon. d, c. 1640Anon. d (c. 1640) “Procissão que se fez na Universidade de Coimbra na aclamação de El Rey D. Joao Nosso Senhor.” In: Documentos produzidos por instituições e individualidades portuguesas, ou sobre Portugal, com datas compreendidas entre 1574 e 1707. Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal, COD. 10768. ; Braga, 1940Braga, A. V. (1940) “Festas da aclamação.” Revista de Guimarães, special volume devoted to the centenary of the Restauração de Portugal, pp. 175-188.; Cruz, 1982Cruz, L. (1982) “Algumas contribuições para a história da Restauração em Coimbra - Reinado de D. João IV.” Separata from Arquivo Combrão, 29-30.; Marques, 1991Marques, J. F. (1991) “Festa barroca: as celebrações do Colégio das Artes na aclamação de D. João IV.” In: Actas do I Congresso Internacional do Barroco. Porto: Universidade do Porto, vol. I, pp. 515-530.). Messengers were then sent to the overseas territories. Ferreira has provided the most detailed account of the rituals and celebrations that successively took place across the Estado da Índia and he has provided a detailed chronology of the receipt of the royal instructions as well as the authorities’ swift compliance. Ferreira records how fifteen of Portugal’s praças or fortified cities had sworn allegiance by the end of 1641, and Macau, Muscat and Mombasa then did so by the end of the following year (Ferreira, 2011, p. 20Ferreira, J. M. M. (2011) A Restauração de 1640 e o Estado da Índia. Agentes, espaços e dinâmicas. MA thesis. Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa. Available at: https://run.unl.pt/handle/10362/7181 [Accessed 17 Nov. 2021].). Amongst the sources used by Ferreira are the letters sent by the authorities of each city to the king informing him that his instructions had been carried out; these are today conserved in the Torre do Tombo’s collection of documents the Livro de Monções. With regard to Cochin the brevity of the letter sent by da Cunha provides a stark contrast to the elaborate account provided by Gato; the conventions of official correspondence evidently excluded the need for detail and he merely recorded his efficient compliance with the orders he had received (ANTT, Livros das Monções, lv. 49, f. 211). Aside from this official correspondence more extensive accounts of the celebrations, such as Gato’s, were written in Rio de Janeiro, Goa and Macau, and these were published, respectively, in Lisbon in 1641, in Goa in 1643 and in Lisbon in 1644.

Ferreira’s meticulous chronology of the acclamation celebrations held in the Estado da Índia corroborates the narrative of John IV’s enthusiastic acclamation across Portugal recounted in the first history of the restoration of the Portuguese Monarchy, João de Vasconcelos’sVasconcelos, J. de (1643) Restauração de Portugal prodigiosa. Lisbon: António Alvarez. Restauração de Portugal Prodigiosa. The exchange of letters between the king and his officials, and the latter’s celebration of the stipulated rituals, offers an example of the Jeroen Duindam’s conceptualisation of “the spatial dimension” of early modern political authority as a “series of concentric circles, gradually proceeding outwards from the throne and its incumbent” (2009, p. 62Duindam, J. (2009) “Palace, City, Dominions: The Spatial Dimension of Habsburg Rule.” In: M. Fantoni, G. Gorse and M. Struts, eds., The Politics of Space ca. 1500-1570. Rome: Bulzoni.). Duindam himself notes that even within Europe “the model of the concentric circles around the ruler is stretched to its breaking point” (2009, p. 82Duindam, J. (2009) “Palace, City, Dominions: The Spatial Dimension of Habsburg Rule.” In: M. Fantoni, G. Gorse and M. Struts, eds., The Politics of Space ca. 1500-1570. Rome: Bulzoni.), yet in the case of the acclamation of John IV, the ripple effect of power was seemingly unhindered. However, the narrative of these displays of loyalty to the centralised seat of power, and evidence such as Gato’s, needs to be subjected to close critical reading. The discernment of the tensions that preceded the acclamations in Rio de Janeiro, Goa and Macau clearly signal a more complex situation than dutiful and jubilant loyalty (Boxer, 1932, p. 24Boxer, C. R. (1932) A aclamação del rei D. João IV em Goa e em Macau: relações contemporâneas reeditadas e anotadas. Lisbon: José Fernandes Júnior.; Curto, 2020, p. 164Curto, D. R. (2020) Imperial Culture and Colonial Projects: The Portuguese-Speaking World from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Centuries. Oxford: Berghan Books.; Ferreira, 2011, pp. 91-93Ferreira, J. M. M. (2011) A Restauração de 1640 e o Estado da Índia. Agentes, espaços e dinâmicas. MA thesis. Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa. Available at: https://run.unl.pt/handle/10362/7181 [Accessed 17 Nov. 2021].).

Concerning Cochin, Subrahmanyam, Malekandathil and Tavim have noted how the celebrations were accompanied by tensions concerning a decline in trade, as well as political disputes with Goda Varma, the raja of Cochin who ruled from Cochim de Cima (Subrahmanyam, 1990, pp. 218-231Subrahmanyam, Sanjay (1990) The Political Economy of Commerce Southern India, 1500-1650. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ; Malekandathil, 2001, pp. 452-456Malekandathil, Pius (2001). Portuguese Cochin and the Maritime Trade of India, 1500-1663. New Delhi: Manohar.; Tavim, 2002, pp. 175-177Tavim, José Alberto Rodrigues da Silva (2002) “A cidade portuguesa de Santa Cruz de Cochim ou Cochim de Baixo. Algumas perspectivas.” In: Luis Filipe Thomaz ed., Aquém e além do Trapobana. Estudos Luso-Orientais a memoria de Jean Aubin e Denys Lombard, Lisbon: Centro de História d’Aquém e d’Além-Mar, pp.135-189.). Tavim cites Gato’s account of the disorder caused by the raja during a visit to Cochim de Baixo when he demanded the release of prisoners. The chronology of when the raja made his visits is not clear from Gato’s account. However, he goes on to record how it befell him to release “all” the prisoners being held as part of the acclamation celebrations, and this is perhaps the clearest indication of how the festivities in Cochin involved “acts of celebration” that were concerned with the tensions between the city’s colonial and indigenous elites, and that had nothing to do with any imperial compliance with instructions from Lisbon or Goa (Gato, 1644, f. 16Gato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.).

Gato’s account also clearly indicates that relations had soured considerably since the time of Philip II, when the prince of Cochin and the raja’s officials “were present for the function of expressing allegiance to the new king of Portugal [Philp I]” (Malekandathil, 2001, p. 165Malekandathil, Pius (2001). Portuguese Cochin and the Maritime Trade of India, 1500-1663. New Delhi: Manohar.). Gato makes no mention of any representative of the raja attending the ritual juramento, but the release of the prisoners clearly calmed tensions. He comments on how the festivities took place unafflicted by violence between rival groups, who Tavim identifies as fugitive criminals residing under the raja’s protection (Gato, 1644, f. 15vGato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.; Tavim, 2002, p. 164Tavim, José Alberto Rodrigues da Silva (2002) “A cidade portuguesa de Santa Cruz de Cochim ou Cochim de Baixo. Algumas perspectivas.” In: Luis Filipe Thomaz ed., Aquém e além do Trapobana. Estudos Luso-Orientais a memoria de Jean Aubin e Denys Lombard, Lisbon: Centro de História d’Aquém e d’Além-Mar, pp.135-189.). Still more significantly, as Tavim notes Gato also stated that it was not just the Christians who celebrated the acclamation, but festivities were also held by the “Gentiles, Moors, [and] vassals of the King of Cochin did the same in Cochim de Cima,” where “luminarias and other jubilant festivities” were held (Gato, 1644, f. 38vGato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.; Tavim, 2002, pp. 169-170Tavim, José Alberto Rodrigues da Silva (2002) “A cidade portuguesa de Santa Cruz de Cochim ou Cochim de Baixo. Algumas perspectivas.” In: Luis Filipe Thomaz ed., Aquém e além do Trapobana. Estudos Luso-Orientais a memoria de Jean Aubin e Denys Lombard, Lisbon: Centro de História d’Aquém e d’Além-Mar, pp.135-189.). The celebrations staged in Cochim de Cima are especially significant, and indicate that the raja was willing to acknowledge John IV as king from afar. It is this contribution from the “indigenous elite” that is the clearest indication of the “interweaving of the destinies” of Cochin’s three elites during these festivities. Gato’s decidedly muted reference to these celebrations is in tune with the highly selective account given in Triumphos festivaes, yet his silence may also reflect the deterioration in relations with the raja since 1641, for example acts of iconoclasm were inflicted on Christian images committed in August 1642, when Gato may have been concluding his text (Malekandathil, 2001, pp. 453-5Malekandathil, Pius (2001). Portuguese Cochin and the Maritime Trade of India, 1500-1663. New Delhi: Manohar.). However, concerning the events of autumn 1641 Gato, along with Cochin’s other wealthy patrons and the civic and ecclesiastical authorities, sought to exploit the moment of calm in the city to project a potent image of the new Portuguese king, a triumphant spectacle that represented John IV as divinely ordained, powerful, just, and committed to the defence of his territory and interests.

Before examining the “image” of John IV funded by Gato, its perspicuity and legibility must be considered. With regard to the acclamation ceremony in Macau, Curto has argued that “the ceremony is, above all, affirming the presence of the group that presents it and not so much communicating some message” (Curto, 2020, p. 165Curto, D. R. (2020) Imperial Culture and Colonial Projects: The Portuguese-Speaking World from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Centuries. Oxford: Berghan Books.). As has been discussed above and is explored below, Triumfos festivaes records how the festivities provided a clear affirmation of the Portuguese imperial elite, meanwhile the concerns to assuage relations between Cochim de Baixo and Cochim de Cima suggests how both the colonial and indigenous elite sought to use the festivities to their own ends.

Curto has also highlighted the risk of overdetermining the significance of these rituals and their accompanying festivities, suggesting they could be “a form of rite devoid of any belief.” In the case of Triumfos festivaes it may be argued that the festivities staged by Gato were intended to redress any such lapse in credibility, whether that be due to Castilian sympathies amongst the imperial and colonial elites, or else due to the social, economic and ideological conditions that prompted some to forge ties with the raja’s indigenous elite. Furthermore, the festivities were addressed to the lower social strata, or povo, and Gato records how they too swore the oath of loyalty, and as is argued below the spectacle staged by Gato highlight the significance of the oath they swore. Gato’s text provides a veneer of legibility and an account of a seamlessly staged spectacle, when in reality it seems probable that for the indigenous elite and the povo on the streets of Cochin the celebrations may not have been received with the same degree of lucidity. Furthermore, it is not clear who had access to the two “theatres” that Gato had built; they were perhaps restricted to those with the language skills and education to understand their cultural references. Nevertheless, there can be little doubt that the pomp and bombast of the spectacle staged by Gato was intended to establish an overarching discourse of magnificence and authority that would have been apparent to all.

There were barely two weeks between the arrival of the instructions to acclaim John IV as king and the celebration of the juramento, whereby the efforts made by Cochin’s patrons, writers, musicians and craftsmen testify to Curto’s claims that each of the acclamation celebrations held across Portugal and its empires was “an adaptation of practices [such as dances], […] festive cycles and the configuration of the interests of each place” (Curto, 2011, p. 266Curto, D. R. (2011) Cultura política no tempo dos Filipes, 1580-1640. Lisbon: Edições 70.). With regard to the festive practices adopted in Cochin thus far no evidence has come to light of the celebrations held in Cochin for the acclamation of Portugal’s Habsburg kings. However, Ferreira has highlighted how the festivities held for John IV in Goa in 1641 followed the model established for Philip III of Portugal as instructed by the viceroy in 1623 (Ferreira, 2011, p. 62Ferreira, J. M. M. (2011) A Restauração de 1640 e o Estado da Índia. Agentes, espaços e dinâmicas. MA thesis. Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa. Available at: https://run.unl.pt/handle/10362/7181 [Accessed 17 Nov. 2021].). Whereby it may be argued that the same was done in Cochin, and the predominant similarities revealed by the published accounts of the acclamation festivals held in Rio de Janeiro, Goa and Macau suggest this to be the case, although as Curto has noted there were some variations in the ceremonial used (Curto, 2020, p. 164Curto, D. R. (2020) Imperial Culture and Colonial Projects: The Portuguese-Speaking World from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Centuries. Oxford: Berghan Books.). However, Ferreira and Curto’s discussion of this point focuses on the specific political ritual of the juramento and the acclamation, in contrast the practices addressed in the pages that follow are the festivities that were held to mark the occasion, and in each location they took a different form.

To address the acclamation festivities, as opposed to the political rituals, a synchronic analysis can be pursued by contrasting Gato’s manuscript to the published accounts of the acclamations held in Rio de Janeiro, Goa and Macau. However, the insight provided by the first two sources is limited due to their brief description of the festivities (Anon. f, 1641, ff. 6-8Anon. f (1641) Relaçam da aclamação qve se fez na Capitania do Rio de Ianeiro do Estado do Brasil, & nas mais do Sul, ao Senhor Rey Dom Ioão o IV. por verdadeiro Rey, & Senhor do seu Reyno de Portugal, com a felicissima restituiçaõ, q[ue] delle se fez a sua Magestade que Deos guarde, &c. Lisbon: Jorge Rodrigues.; Mesquita, 1643, p. 38Mesquita, Manuel Jacome de (1643) Relacam do que socedeo na cidade de Goa e em todas as mais cidades; & fortalezas do estado da India, na feliçe acclamação del Rey Dõ Ioão o IIII de Portugal Nosso Senhor; e no juramento do Principe Dom Theodosio, seu muito prezado, & amado filho conforme a ordem, que a hua, & a outra couza deu o Conde de Aveiras Ioão da Silva Tello e Menezes V Rey & Capitão Geral do mesmo estado. Goa: Colégio de S. Paulo.). In both cases an emphasis is placed on jubilant celebrations in the streets as opposed to the political spectacle which is the predominant feature of Gato’s account, although it should be noted that a play was staged in Rio de Janeiro just as was done in Cochin (Anon. f, 1641, f. 7vAnon. f (1641) Relaçam da aclamação qve se fez na Capitania do Rio de Ianeiro do Estado do Brasil, & nas mais do Sul, ao Senhor Rey Dom Ioão o IV. por verdadeiro Rey, & Senhor do seu Reyno de Portugal, com a felicissima restituiçaõ, q[ue] delle se fez a sua Magestade que Deos guarde, &c. Lisbon: Jorge Rodrigues.). Moreira’s account of the festivities in Macau provides an insightful contrast to Gato’s, as a living representation of John IV accompanied by four allegorical figures was paraded through the streets with a triumphal carriage, as was the case in Cochin. However, as Curto and Krass have discussed there were also significant differences in Macau, such as the firework spectacle that was staged by the Jesuits with a sculpture of John IV at its centre, and paintings and statues were also displayed in the Jesuit church (Moreira, 1644, ff. 8-26vMoreira, J. M. (1644) Relação da magestosa, misteriosa, e notavel acclamaçam, que se fez a Magestade d’El rey Dom Joam o IV. nosso Senhor na Cidade do nome de deos do grande Imperio da China, & festas… Lisbon: Domingos Lopes Roza.; Curto, 2020, 161-6Curto, D. R. (2020) Imperial Culture and Colonial Projects: The Portuguese-Speaking World from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Centuries. Oxford: Berghan Books.; Krass, 2017aKrass, U. (2017a) “Loyalty made visible: pyrotechnics and processions for King John IV in Macao in 1642.” In: U. Krass, ed., Visualizing Portuguese power: the political use of images in Portugal and its Overseas Empire (16th-18th Century). Zurich, Berlin: Diaphanes, pp. 141-171.).

A key distinction between Gato’s account and Moreira’s is that the latter provides a day-by-day account of the festivities and no one event is singled out for a more extensive description. In contrast, and as was indicated above, Gato focuses on the three events he staged, and the role of other patrons, whether secular or religious are all but overlooked. In this regard perhaps the most apparent contrast encountered in Gato’s text is the very limited description of any role played by the religious orders, and no mention is made of a single sermon being given to mark the occasion, nor for that matter any contribution from the Jesuits (Gato, 1644, f. 16vGato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.). Nevertheless, the wealth of detail Gato provides, albeit at the expense of describing the festivities as a whole, provides a rich description of the political spectacle that was created in Cochin. An analysis of his description reveals how the festivities were used to create a threefold theatrical propagandistic spectacle that was intended to underscore the ritual display of loyalty of the juramento and the acclamation.

On the Sunday after the city swore loyalty to their new king, the 20th of October, a procession was held. It left the cathedral and included dances, entremeses, carriages bearing images of saints, members of the religious orders and confraternities. There was music and singing, and as will be seen the songs themselves were used to elucidate the significance of the festive spectacle. The centre piece to this procession was “a grandiose triumphal carriage” bearing a living representation of John IV upon a throne beneath a canopy. It was followed by a pallium beneath which was carried the sacrament (Gato, 1644, f. 16vGato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.). The procession went all around the city along a route marked by triumphal arches, beneath which there was “music and declamations represented in the heroic manner.” Five of these triumphal arches were commissioned by the city, and the rest by individuals, including Gato; he states that his was bigger and superior to the rest. It was set up in front of his house, but no mention is made of where he lived. The arch is not described in detail, although we are told that he adorned the street with silk cloths, rugs, medals, panels, and statues (Gato, 1644, ff. 17-17vGato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.). To the right of the arch was an altar with an elaborate altar cloth, upon which the sacrament was displayed, as well as ‘many, many’ holy images, silverware, a gold-edged crimson canopy. To the left of the arch was a “theatre” adorned with carpets and silk panels, which was the setting for a “falla” or performance.

Before turning to this theatrical performance, the procession merits closer scrutiny. Gato’s succinct account of the seven or more triumphal arches that were built is one of the clearest indications of the highly selective nature of his account. For the reasons given above, it is hard to discern whether the inclusion of these arches might have formed part of a local tradition for acclamation festivals, or was a novelty created in response to the specific international and local political conditions circa 1640. On the other hand, there are a series of clear precedents from the Estado da Índia for the triumphal carriage. In 1611 A triumphal carriage bearing the “Gloria Portuguesa” was staged by the Jesuit College of São Paulo in Goa to welcome the new viceroy, Jerónimo de Azevedo. It made its way to the Jesuit’s Church of São Paulo where ten allegorical “teatros” were staged, two at the entrance and eight more inside (Pinto, 2008, p. 254Pinto, P. (2008) “Um olhar sobre a decoração e o efémero no Oriente: a relação dos bens embarcados em Goa em 1559 para o Reino, o inventário dos bens do Vice-rei D. Martim Afonso de Castro, falecido em Malaca, em 1607, e a relação da entrada do Vice-rei D. Jerónimo de Azevedo em Goa, em 1612.” Revista de Artes Decorativas, 2, pp. 237-254.). Thirteen years later in 1624, the Jesuits created a procession of eight triumphal carriages to mark the canonisation of St Ignatius Loyola and St Francis Xavier (Arellano and Torres, 2010, pp. 30-31Arellano Ayuso, I. and Torres Olleta, M. G. (2010) “Emblemas en fiestas jesuíticas portuguesas.” In: I. Arellano Ayuso and A. Martínez Pereira, eds., Emblemática y religión en la Península Ibérica: (Siglo de Oro). Madrid: Iberoamericana Vervuert, pp. 27-52). The latter two festivals clearly demonstrate the strong tradition of staging spectacular festivals in the Estado da Índia, and it may be argued that these practices informed the festivities staged in Cochin.⁴ A further example of the use of this mode of spectacle in Mexico in 1610 is provided by Pérez de Ribas, 1896, vol. 1, pp. 242-261. Gato’s account indicates that this festive practice was by no means the exclusive preserve of the Jesuits, and likewise Moreira states that the triumphal carriage created in Macau was a Dominican incentive (Moreira, 1644, f. 7vMoreira, J. M. (1644) Relação da magestosa, misteriosa, e notavel acclamaçam, que se fez a Magestade d’El rey Dom Joam o IV. nosso Senhor na Cidade do nome de deos do grande Imperio da China, & festas… Lisbon: Domingos Lopes Roza.; Curto, 2020, p. 162Curto, D. R. (2020) Imperial Culture and Colonial Projects: The Portuguese-Speaking World from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Centuries. Oxford: Berghan Books.). Moreira also highlights how there was an awareness of and an effort to rival European precedent; he states that the decorations displayed in the Jesuit’s church “vanquished in terms of beauty the finest of Europe” (Moreira, 1644, f. 8Moreira, J. M. (1644) Relação da magestosa, misteriosa, e notavel acclamaçam, que se fez a Magestade d’El rey Dom Joam o IV. nosso Senhor na Cidade do nome de deos do grande Imperio da China, & festas… Lisbon: Domingos Lopes Roza.). In this regard, it may be proposed that the creation of the triumphal arches was intended to emulate those created for European royal entries, such as that of Philip II of Portugal into Lisbon in 1619.⁵ See Lavanaha, 1622. There is extensive literature on the ephemeral architecture created in 1619, see Torres Megiani, 2004; Alves, 1986; Soromenho, 2000. Indeed it may be argued that this first festivity was essentially an illusory “royal entry” for which Gato and those who assisted him overcame the king’s absence by staging his fictional presence in Cochin, and it is this element of the festivity that Gato devotes his attention to through his description of the “falla.”

The figure of John IV, dressed in lavish purple robes, wearing a crown and holding a sceptre stood upon the stage, and as the host arrived, a curtain was pulled back to reveal the virtues: Justice, Prudence, Clemency and Fortitude. The figure of Fortune then knelt before the king, with her wheel in fragments and she was accompanied by Francisco de Almeida (c. 1450-1510), the first viceroy of India, and Afonso de Albuquerque (1452-1515), the first governor of India. One of the most insightful aspects of Triumphos… is the detailed account of this performance, which is an aspect of visual culture rarely recorded in detail.

The practice of staging such representations may be traced back to medieval tableaux vivants. Eichberger has stated that the protagonists of tableaux vivants “would represent a certain scene without any movement or speech,” whereby the first spectacle staged by Gato may be clearly identified as a theatrical representation (Eichberger, 1988, p. 43Eichberger, D. H. (1988) “The Tableau Vivant: an Ephemeral Art Form in Burgundian Civic Festivities.” Parergon, 6, pp. 37-64. doi: https://doi.org/10.1353/pgn.1988.0003 ). Evidently seeking to avoid any “enigmatic obscurity,” Gato used speech, song and music to highlight the range of symbolism that the meticulous analysis of art historians, such as Joanna Woodall, has discerned in the silent, static painted portraits of kings (Woodall, 2007, pp. 346-367Woodall, J. (2007) Anthonis Mor: art and authority. Zwolle: Waanders Publishers.). The use of a staged representation to portray John IV in both Cochin and Macau may be read as a response to the impossibility of acquiring or producing a painted portrait, such as was adorned with flowers and poetry by the Jesuits in Coimbra (Anon. c, 1640, f. 115rAnon. c (c. 1640) Demonstrações que fez o Colégio da Companhia de Jesus e das artes da cidade e universidade de Coimbra pela feliz aclamação do … d. João iv de Portugal. Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo (ANTT), PT/TT/MSLIV/2147, fols. 1r-124v.). Yet a painting would not have sufficed for what the organisers of the former two festivities had in mind; its mute, two-dimensionality would have ruptured the intended illusion of the quasi-royal entries staged in each city.

In the absence of any portrait, it is not clear what effort was made to draw on any known likeness of John IV, and it is most likely that recourse was made to the generic decorum of kingship seen in printed images such as the series of portrait engravings of the Portuguese kings by Pedro Perret (c. 1555-1625) and Cornelis Galle (1576-1650), published by Brito (1603)Brito, B. de (1603) Elogios dos Reis de Portugal com os mais verdadeiros retratos que se puderaõ achar. Lisbon: Pedro Crasbeeck. and Vasconcelos (1621)Vasconcelos, A. (1621) Anacephalaeoses id est, summa capita actorum Regum Lusitaniae. Antwerp: Pierre & Jean Bellère. respectively.⁶ On the use of these models about royal portraits and festive spectacle see Roe, 2019, p. 35; 2020a, p. 667). In any case, as the aforementioned examples of the Goan celebrations make clear the public were accustomed to these living portraits, and this is corroborated by the those staged in Lisbon for the Jesuit canonisations, in Coimbra for the canonisation of St Elizabeth of Portugal and in Lisbon once more for the canonisation of St Andrea Cursino (Anon. a, 1620Anon. a (1620) Trivnfo com qve o Collegio de S. Antam da Companhia de Iesv da Cidade de Lisboa, celebrou a beatificação do Santo Padre Francisco Xauier da mesma Companhia: Celebrou se este Triunfo sesta feira 4. do mez de Dezembro de 1620. Annos. Lisbon, Ioão Rodriguez.; Anon. b, 1625Anon. b ([1625] 1936) Relação das grandiosas festas, que na cidade de Coimbra, hoje por novo titulo cidade ditosa, fez o illustrisssimo senhor dom João Manoel bispo conde a canonização de sancta Isabel rainha de Portugal. Coimbra: Nicolau de Carvalho. Republished by G. da Rocha Madahil in: O Instituto, 90:1 (1936) 4-63.; Chagas, 1632Chagas, M. (1632) Festas que o Real Convento do Carmo de Lisboa, fes à canonizaçaõ de S. Andre Cursino… Lisbon: Pedro Craesbeeck.). A theatrical spectacle was also used in Coimbra as part of the acclamation festivities held by the university; the figureheads of the ousted Castilian regime, including Philip IV (1605-1665), the Count Duke of Olivares (1587-1645), Miguel de Vasconcelos (1590-1640) and Diego Soares (1570-1649), were impersonated and accompanied by allegorical images and inscriptions alluding to their perceived failings and vices⁶ On the use of these models about royal portraits and festive spectacle see Roe, 2019, p. 35; 2020a, p. 667). (Anon. d, c. 1640Anon. d (c. 1640) “Procissão que se fez na Universidade de Coimbra na aclamação de El Rey D. Joao Nosso Senhor.” In: Documentos produzidos por instituições e individualidades portuguesas, ou sobre Portugal, com datas compreendidas entre 1574 e 1707. Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal, COD. 10768. ; Oliveira, 1990, p. 266Oliveira, A. de (1990) Poder e Oposição Política em Portugal no Período Filipino (1580-1640). Lisboa: Difel.). Further research remains to be undertaken on this mode of festival culture, above all to discern the conventions governing this form of spectacle, and in particular for the representation of the reigning king.⁷ A range of studies have explored the portrayal of the king in the context of Spain’s Latin American territories (Curcio-Nagy, 1996a; 1996b; 2009; Fee, 1996; Flinchpaugh, 1996; Osorio, 2017). To date, I am unaware of any studies concerning the performance of the king’s presence. Decorum would have been of the essence, and the figures who took the stage in Cochin would have emulated the “great propriety” of those staged for the viceroy in Goa in 1611 (Pinto, 2008, p. 254Pinto, P. (2008) “Um olhar sobre a decoração e o efémero no Oriente: a relação dos bens embarcados em Goa em 1559 para o Reino, o inventário dos bens do Vice-rei D. Martim Afonso de Castro, falecido em Malaca, em 1607, e a relação da entrada do Vice-rei D. Jerónimo de Azevedo em Goa, em 1612.” Revista de Artes Decorativas, 2, pp. 237-254.).

In addition to the feigned presence of the king, the host was carried by Father Lourenço Gonçalves, and this sacred symbol also formed part of the celebrations held in Macau; Moreira refers to king and sacrament as the “two majesties, divine, & human”⁸ An American example of the display of the sacrament during festivities held in 1610 is provided by Pérez de Ribas, 1896, vol. 1, pp. 249-253. (Moreira, 1644, f. 7vMoreira, J. M. (1644) Relação da magestosa, misteriosa, e notavel acclamaçam, que se fez a Magestade d’El rey Dom Joam o IV. nosso Senhor na Cidade do nome de deos do grande Imperio da China, & festas… Lisbon: Domingos Lopes Roza.). Gato’s description of the proceedings in Cochin reveals how the host was not merely part of the procession but also visually and discursively integrated into the theatrical spectacle. The performers made several references to Christ’s providential role in the restoration of John IV as a reaffirmation of the establishment of the Portuguese monarchy, which was communicated to Portugal’s first king, Afonso Henriques in a vision witnessed on the eve of the battle of Ourique in 1139; Christ announced to the future king: “I want you and your descendants to found me an empire” (Brito, 1602, f. 126Brito, B. de (1602) Primeyra parte da Chronica de Cister. Lisbon: Pedro Craesbeeck.). After 1640, proponents of the restoration monarchy, such as Sousa de Macedo, and also the Goan Franciscan author, António de São Thiago, both cited and illustrated, in engravings and drawings respectively, this foundational moment, and the Portuguese monarchy’s subsequent fulfilment of it to defend the legitimacy of the John IV and his descendants as kings (Macedo, 1645, pp. 96-99Macedo, A. S. de (1645) Lusitania liberata ab injusto Castellanorum dominio: Restituta legitimo Principi, Serenissimo Joanni IV. London: Richard Heron.; Roe and Xavier, 2020, pp. 411-415Roe, J. and Xavier, Â. B. (2020) “A Vision of Political Discourse in Goa c. 1659, and Two Episodes in the Circulation of Illustrated Manuscripts.” In: A. S. Wilkinson, ed., Illustration and Ornamentation in the Iberian Book World, 1450-1800. Leiden: Brill, pp. 407-445. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004447141_019 ).⁹ This event was illustrated in several images, see Roe and Xavier, 2020, pp. 411-415; Xavier, 2016, pp. 11-12. With specific regard to John IV, and as will be discussed below, the uprising and call for John IV to take the throne in Lisbon on the 1st December 1640 was accompanied by a miracle performed by a sculpture of the crucified Christ, and this was understood as a reaffirmation of Afonso Henriques’s vision (Marques, 1983, vol. 1, 586-595Marques, J. F. (1983) A Parenética Portuguesa E a Restauração, 1640-1668: A Revolta E a Mentalidade. Porto: Instituto Nacional de Investigação Científica: Centro de História da Universidade do Porto. ). Further allusions and invocations of providentialism recur in the subsequent two festive spectacles funded by Gato. It is beyond the scope of the present article to diverge from the analysis of the spectacle staged in Cochin and analyse the treatment of this key theme of Portuguese political discourse in Cochin, but Ferreira’s insightful analysis of the topoi of decadence and tyranny invoked by Gato and the other authors compiled in his text has initiated this line of enquiry¹⁰ There is extensive literature on Portuguese political discourse, including Torgal, 1981; Marques, 1983; Curto 1988; 2011; Lima, 2010; Marcocci, 2012. (Ferreira, 2013Ferreira, J. M. M. (2013) “«A feliçe acclamação del Rey Dom João o IV»: cerimónias e cultura política na Goa seiscentista.” Revista de História da Sociedade e da Cultura, 13, pp. 231-248. doi: https://doi.org/10.14195/1645-2259_13_10 ). Furthermore, given the absence of any sermons or other literary works concerning the restoration by authors from Cochin, further study of the political discourse articulated in Triumphos festivaes provide a basis to develop João Francisco Marques’s landmark analysis of preachers’ engagement with the messianic and prophetic facets of Portuguese political discourse, as well as the recent studies by Lima (Marques, 1983, vol. 1, pp. 439-486Marques, J. F. (1983) A Parenética Portuguesa E a Restauração, 1640-1668: A Revolta E a Mentalidade. Porto: Instituto Nacional de Investigação Científica: Centro de História da Universidade do Porto. ; Lima, 2010Lima, L. F. S. (2010) O império dos sonhos: narrativas proféticas, sebastianismo e messianismo brigantino. São Paulo: Alameda.).

Once the king and the allegorical figures were on stage the host was brought in with due ceremony, at which point the king knelt down, the virtues removed his crown and sceptre, and he gave a speech addressed to Christ declaring his reverence, joyful devotion and gratitude for Christ having made him king (Gato, 1644, f. 18vGato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.). On concluding his speech, the dean placed the sacrament on the altar, and the king was returned his sceptre and crown. Then while the dean censed the sacrament he was addressed by the allegorical and historical characters (Gato, 1644, ff. 18r-26rGato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.).

Justice stated that John has been chosen by Christ to ensure “true justice governs his [Christ’s] so beloved kingdom.” She went on to state that she will act as the king’s light and guide. She handed him her mace of justice to ensure he is feared as a king, “because, however, much the people love [their king] it is always appropriate that there be an element of fear… the people’s amity always depends on reward and punishment in equal measure” (Gato, 1644, ff. 19-19vGato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.). The words of Prudence tempered the severe tone by stating that her absence endangers any endeavour, and that there would have been no lack of Alexanders in the world had her advice been followed, as opposed to the “pampering” of fortune (Gato, 1644, f. 20Gato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.). Clemency similarly modulates the strict opening tone, and she calls for the rigours of justice to be accompanied by her; her invocation of John’s clemency was echoed by the aforementioned release of prisoners (Gato, 1644, ff. 21-21vGato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.). Fortitude was the next to speak, and she invoked John as a new Achilles, David and Moses for having saved Portugal from the tyranny of Castile. She asserted that he is “now called to greater deeds, the heretic and the Turk” (Gato, 1644, f. 22Gato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.). The king then thanked the virtues and invokes them as his essential aid against the uncertainty of fortune, who in turn announced she had never presumed to harm him. Instead, she follows the command of God, who has ordered her to prostrate herself before him (Gato, 1644, f. 22vGato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.).

It was then the turn of Francisco de Almeida to speak. He expressed his congratulations but also paused to state that his “soul” has been “pierced” by how “lost” India has become due to uncaring misgovernment, and he states that it is John’s defence of India that will “grant me peace” (Gato, 1644, f. 23vGato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.). Alfonso de Albuquerque continued this theme of concern over the state of Portuguese India, He declared that “it would bring me the greatest pleasure were a road to open up that permitted me to return to this life again for you, and be able to serve you [my] King.” He concluded his speech with a stirring invocation of John IV’s prospects as king: “you [John IV] will know a thousand kingdoms as loyal, paying you eternal vassalage [and] granting you a great advantage over the kings of the world” (Gato, 1644, f. 24vGato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.). The king thanked them both stating that “their love and wishes will serve as his rutter and will do so eternally.”

The spectacle ended with the singing of the Nunc Dimittis followed by a song in Portuguese, which concluded by invoking the aforementioned providentialist discourse of Christ’s protection of Portugal, and finally a desire for peace:

Enter Sire, enter loving father who is brimming with confident hope

see the pitiful tyrannised state

of this kingdom that is your inheritance,

thus the powerful arm

of Christ signals you to seek vengeance, because

in you we foresee a thousand victories

and we will have the peace we long for (Gato, 1644, f. 26rGato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.).

A closer reading of this theatrical text cannot be undertaken here, but the foregoing analysis highlights three key factors. Firstly, it provides a literal and discursive exposition on the significance of the oath that had been sworn in the cathedral, when the king’s presence had been represented in the abstract form of the royal coat of arms.¹¹ On the symbolism of the coat of arms see Seixas, 2019; and on its ritual significance see Roe, 2020b. It may be argued that it was in the interest of Cochin’s imperial elite to stage the illusion of the king’s presence in order to reinforce the meaning of the juramento.

Secondly, it may also be argued that this fiction was not solely intended to make an abstract ritual more intelligible, but also to foreground a key facet of the juramento that was held in Lisbon: the king’s oath. Just as had been done by Philip II of Portugal in 1619, the latter was sworn by the king to his realm, and he promised to “rule and govern well and rightly” and “uphold the good customs, privileges, graces, mercies, freedoms and franchises” granted by his predecessors (Anon., 1619, f. 5Anon. (1619) Auto do juramento que el Rey Dom Phelippe nosso senhor, segundo deste nome fez aos tres Estados deste Reyno, & do que elles fizerão a sua Magestade, do reconhecimento, & aceitação do Principe Dom Phelippe nosso senhor, seu filho, primogenito. Em Lisboa a 14. dias do mes de Julho de 1619. Lisbon, Pedro Crasbeeck.; Anon. e, 1641, f. 7Anon. e (1641) Autos do levantamento e juramento, que por os grandes, titulos seculares, & pessoas que se acharão presentes, se fez a el Rey Dom Joam o IV. nosso senhor, na Coroa, & Senhorio destes Reynos, & do que elle fez às mesmas pessoas na Cidade de Lisboa, em os quinze dias do mes de Dezembro do Anno de 1640. E da ratificaçam do juramento, que os tres Estados destes Reynos a El Rey N. S. D. Joam o IV… E das Cortes, que fez aos tres Estados do Reyno el Rey D. Joam o IV. deste nome N. S. na mesma cidade de Lisboa em os 29. do dito mes de Janeiro do mesmo anno de 1641. Lisbon: António Alvarez.; Cardim, 2002, p. 355Cardim, P. (2002) “Ceremonial, Political Allegiance and Religious Constraints in Seventeenth-Century Portugal.” In: J. P. Paiva, ed., Religious Ceremonials and Images: Power and Social Meaning (1400-1750). Coimbra: Palimage, pp. 351-368.). Apart from his assurance to take the “love and wishes” of Almeida and Albuquerque as his guide, the figure of John IV made no explicit commitment to the spectators in Cochin, which perhaps signals a limit to the words that can be ascribed to a living king in this type of theatrical spectacle. Nevertheless, the approval given by the fictional figure of John IV to the virtues of Justice, Prudence, Fortitude and Clemency may be read as an allusion to the traditional oath made in Lisbon to rule and govern well and lawfully, while respecting customs and privileges. Thereby, the dual juramento as sworn in Lisbon was, in as far as possible, staged in Cochin.

Finally, it may also be argued that this propagandistic spectacle was not only addressed to the loyal residents of Cochin who swore the juramento, but also to the members of the colonial and indigenous elite whose loyalty to the new king may have been undecided. In this sense the references to the strict exercise of justice tempered by clemency may be read as a reminder that the authorities in Cochin would uphold the law following the change of regime. Furthermore, the aspirational emphasis placed on the king’s strength and the allusions to a new and reinvigorated policy towards the Estado da Índia inspired by the spirit of the sixteenth-century Portuguese territorial expansion was intended to claim John’s acclamation as the start of a new era, one that would break with the perceived misgovernment of the Habsburgs. By staging this optimistic view of John IV’s yet to be announced imperial policy, Gato sought to assuage the concerns of the colonial elite over Cochin’s decline and perhaps also send a message to the raja that political change was underway. In light of the historical study of the shifting balance of power between the Indian rulers, the Portuguese authorities and, the Vereenigde Oost Indische Compagnie (Dutch East India Company) these aspirations might seem naïve in hindsight, but in 1641 the confidence of Gato and his peers was evidently buoyed by the prospect of the start of a new royal dynasty. To lend further weight to the confident claims made about John IV, a grandiose triumphant tableau vivant was staged celebrating John IV and the virtues accompanied by all the “legitimate” kings of Portugal.

On the eve of the Marian feast of Nossa Senhora do Bom Sucesso, the 29^th of October, Gato staged a triumphant procession of the Portuguese monarchy, and while there was no strictly ritual component, it was an exercise in pomp, bombast and magnificence on a major scale. Its centrepiece was “an imposing carriage” decorated in blue, gold and crimson pulled by eighty people, with ten steps leading up to a platform upon which were sat the kings of Portugal and John IV all clad in armour with their shields bearing the royal arms. All the characters remained seated and silent. Once more it is likely that generic notions of royal and noble likenesses, defined the “portrayal” of the figures on this triumphal carriage, and the armour and shields borne by each figure would have enhanced the effect, as would the songs and music performed by the choir and six musicians. Furthermore, recourse was made to a series of inscriptions in Portuguese to summarise the significance of each figure.

There was no explicitly religious or ritual dimension to this procession, but the repeated display of the royal arms invoked the aforementioned messianic discourse of the Portuguese monarchy, and this was underscored by the inscription that accompanied the figure representing Afonso Henriques:

By God I was chosen as King

And Christ gave me the [coat of] arms with which I conquered the Kingdom

which is his divine wounds¹² Ibidem. (Gato, 1644, f. 31rGato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.).

On the top level of the carriage there was a throne upon which sat John IV, wearing a crown, which we are told had a cross above it “in the fashion of those worn by the [Holy] Roman Emperors,” and this design is also represented in the illustrations to the aforementioned works by Sousa de Macedo and São Thiago (Macedo, 1645, p. 560Macedo, A. S. de (1645) Lusitania liberata ab injusto Castellanorum dominio: Restituta legitimo Principi, Serenissimo Joanni IV. London: Richard Heron.; Roe and Xavier, 2020, pp. 422-423Roe, J. and Xavier, Â. B. (2020) “A Vision of Political Discourse in Goa c. 1659, and Two Episodes in the Circulation of Illustrated Manuscripts.” In: A. S. Wilkinson, ed., Illustration and Ornamentation in the Iberian Book World, 1450-1800. Leiden: Brill, pp. 407-445. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004447141_019 ). The king held a sceptre and carried a shield with the royal arms and its inscription echoed that of Afonso Henriques: “I was confirmed King of Portugal by Christ: and thus bring tyranny to an end I have liberated the kingdom” (Gato, 1644, f. 34vGato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.).

John IV was accompanied by two Guardian Angels, who held swords and torches. Each bore two inscriptions: “Fortitudo Dei” [Strength of God]; “Induet pro thorace justitiam” [Wisdom 5:19 “He will put on justice as a breastplate”] (Gato, 1644, f. 29r-vGato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.). These words echoed the theme of the theatrical spectacle analysed above, and the enthroned John was accompanied by the same four virtues, whose inscriptions succinctly summed up the advice they gave to the king. Fortune knelt before the King, and her inscription highlighted her aforementioned subservience, A survey of all the inscriptions cannot be undertaken here, however, they succinctly alluded to the Portuguese kings’ exercise of the aforementioned virtues of Justice, Prudence, Fortitude and Clemency. Almeida and Alburquerque were not present on this monumental representation of the Portuguese monarchy. However, the inscriptions of Manuel I and John III referred to the former’s “discovery of the Oriental world” and how they latter “sent St Francis Xavier to Oriental India” (Gato, 1644, f. 33vGato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.).

The three Habsburg kings, Philip I, II and III of Portugal, were absent from this representation of the Portuguese monarchy, and this ephem eral damnatio memoriæ clearly articulated the city’s unequivocal support for John IV. Henry I was followed by Catherine of Portugal, Duchess of Bragança (1540-1583) and Theodosius, Duke of Bragança (1568-1630) as the “progenitors” of John IV (Gato, 1644, f. 34-34v, 96vGato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.). The inscriptions provided for the latter presented the three Castilian kings as illegitimate rulers and tyrants. In contrast the view that John IV had freed the kingdom from tyranny was underscored by the inscription that accompanied the royal standard hanging from the front of the carriage:

While the Castilians

Had oppressed me until recent

the strong Lusitanians

will now grant us freedom (Gato, 1644, f. 30r-vGato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.).

Gato also records two of the many songs that were performed, one of which was entitled “Questions that the archbishop of Lisbon asked the kingdom of Portugal and its estates.” Each of the three orders is asked whether they want to live under a new more benevolent monarch, before the king is presented as the beloved and sought-after king; his “bandeira”-the royal coat of arms they swore loyalty to-must be understood as a “truthful prophecy.” Yet, it may be argued that this grandiose spectacle represented the idea that in Cochin loyalty had not just been sworn to John IV, but also to the monarchy established by Christ.

Despite Gato’s account of the predominantly Portuguese focus of this procession, it was in fact a much more hybrid affair. It included

more than thirty dances, with many entremeses by all the nations of Europe, and the Orient, such as the French, English, Dutch, Germans, Castilians, Italians, Portuguese… and two from the Orient, there were many others from […] China, Japan, Bengal, and many other from all the nations that inhabit the imperial parts of the Orient, such as Kaffirs, Abyssinians, Arabs (Gato, 1644, f. 28r-vGato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.).

For a brief moment, a chink appears in Gato’s highly selective account offering a glimpse of the festivities as being richer and more interculturally complex than the propagandistic projection of John IV he focused on. Gatos’ reference to this international display of jubilation was intended to inform the king that his authority was accepted by Cochin’s diverse colonial and indigenous elites and lower strata. On the other hand, this short passage makes it clear that any reading of Triumfos festivaes as a source for the festive spectacle that was staged in Cochin is hindered by Gato’s highly selective account; his focus on the spectacle of John IV’s entry in Cochin is what Curto has termed the “textual reality” of this celebration. Thus, it may be argued that this festival was not exclusively concerned with a defence of the centralised power of the monarchy as Gato would have us believe. Albeit brief, and assuming Gato’s is not exaggerating this display of cultural hybridity, this passage, as well as the celebrations held in the raja’s own territory, suggests that the numerous days of festivities overlooked by Gato may have served to bring together Cochin’s elites and the lower strata they represented.

Whatever expressions of cultural diversity emerged during the celebrations, the concluding celebration, Surrgua’s play, turned attention firmly to Portugal. By staging a play, Gato followed a practice used in the festivities held for Philip II of Portugal, and the Jesuit canonisations in Lisbon and Goa, as well as other Hispanic colonial cities (Mimoso, 1620Mimoso, J. S. (1620) Relacion de la real tragiocomedia con que los padres de la Compaia de Iesus en su Colegio de S. Anton de Lisboa recibieron a la magestad catolica de Felipe II. de Portugal, : y de su entrada en este reino, co[n] lo que se hizo en las villas, y ciudades en que entrò. Lisbon: Jorge Rodriguez; Arellano, 2013Arellano Ayuso, I. (2013) “Elementos Teatrales y Parateatrales en Fiestas Hagiográficas Barrocas (Las Fiestas Jesuitas).” Revista chilena de literatura, 85, pp. 101-125. doi: https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-22952013000300005 ). As has been mentioned a play was also staged in Rio de Janeiro for the acclamation of John IV, but we know nothing about its subject. A detailed discussion of Suruga’s play cannot be undertaken here, but for the purpose of this study three aspects of the play are of relevance to the discussion. Firstly, this is in many senses a historical play and it is perhaps the earliest theatrical representations of the acclamation of John IV.¹³ On Portuguese theatre from the restoration period see: Valladares, 2002; Camões and Sousa, 2016; Sousa, 2016. The online resource created by the latter two scholars: http://www.cet-e-seiscentos.com/ [accessed 15 Feb. 2022]. Secondly, it documents how news of events in Portugal circulated to Cochin, was perceived there, and represented to propagandistic effect. Finally, it may be argued that the play served to underscore the view of John IV discussed above. The staging of the death and defenestration of Miguel de Vasconcelos, the secretary of state to the final Habsburg vicereine of Portugal, Margaret of Savoy, provided an emblematic display of harsh justice, even though this was not ordered by John IV himself (Gato, 1644, ff. 54-5Gato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.). On the other hand, clemency is shown to the vicereine, as well as a number of Castilian prisoners (Gato, 1644, ff. 83-83vGato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.). The play draws to a close with displays of John IV’s fortitude in the form of his forthright response to Castilian military retaliation, which is accompanied by the detailed account of his “prudent” policy of court appointments-including the appointment of Rui Fernandes de Almada as “provedor” to the “Casa da Índia, which is so poor and so ruined”-and international diplomacy. In addition, he declares his pious gratitude to God for his providential aid (Gato, 1644, ff. 55, 90v-93vGato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.). The play also recounts how the king “swore the customary oaths” on the 15th of December (Gato, 1644, f. 90Gato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.). However, all these events are recounted rather than performed.

Suruga’s script does not give many clues as to what took place on the stage that Gato described in detail (Gato, 1644, ff. 38v-40Gato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.). It included a majestic altar with candles and holy images. On the altar’s upper step, there was a crucifix, which we are told performed the miracle that took place in Lisbon, as was discussed above, “with great subtlety” (Gato, 1644, f. 39vGato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.). For this scene, a procession was performed on stage, whose characters included the archbishop of Lisbon, and Alvaro de Abranches, who played a key role in the acclamation, and on stage, he carried a flag with the royal coat of arms (Gato, 1644, ff. 61-61vGato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.). Their entrance into the theatre was announced by the tolling of bells and firing of artillery salvos. In this rewriting of history, the archbishop addressed the crucifix asking for a sign of Christ’s approval for John as King of Portugal. In response the crucifix moved its hand, and the actors shouted “miracle, miracle, long live King John,” their “viva” echoing the one the people had shouted during the acclamation. The significance of the miracle is underscored by the archbishop:

See that this Lord is showing

Such love to this afflicted kingdom

And your king elect is confirmed.

A thousand thanks we give to this great lord:

And then to the King Elect he accepts,

The longed-for king we celebrate

And to King Dom John we cheer with joy (Gato, 1644, f. 62rGato, Agostinho de Almeida [1644] Triumphos festivaes da insigne e nobre Cidade Santa Crux de Cochim, nas alegres nouas da gloriosa aclamação e ensalçamento del Rey nosso Senhor Dom Ioão o Quarto de Portugal. Codex CXVI/1-23, Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.).

A final insight into the spectacle provided by Gato’s description of the stage is that it included a majestic throne raised on a stepped dais, adorned in crimson and gold. It would seem likely that the actor playing John sat on this throne for the final scenes, whereby the concluding scenes of the play would have lucidly echoed the two “triumphal” entries staged by Gato, however in this final case John IV was represented in Lisbon rather than the fictional triumphant entries staged in Cochin, whereby the king’s real presence at court was underscored.

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1	The manuscript is conserved in the Biblioteca Pública de Évora, Cod. CXVI/1-23. See Rivara, 1850, vol. 1, pp. 274-275Rivara, J. H. da C. (1850) Catalogo dos manuscriptos da Bibliotheca Pública Eborense. 4 Vols. Lisbon: Imprensa Nacional.. Thus far no further information has been traced on Gato life, nor the other individuals cited in the manuscript. Further insight may be provided by José Miguel Lume’s thesis (1994Lume, J. M. R. (1994) Portugueses em cargos, ofícios e funções no Estado Português da Índia (1580-1640): contribuição para o seu inventário. MA thesis, Universidade de Lisboa.), but it has not been possible to consult this.
2	To fully engage with the literary and intellectual dimensions of this manuscript a comparative study of contemporary texts is required. Subrahmanyam and Ferreira’s studies, along with Marques’s analysis of sermons, provide a foundation for such a study. However, further study is needed on the specific literary, intellectual and religious thought in Cochin. In this regard Queiroz’s life of the Jesuit Pedro Basto (1689Queiroz, F. (1689) Historia da vida do veneravel irmaõ Pedro de Basto Coadjutor temporal da Companhia de Jesus. Lisbon: Miguel Deslandes.), which has been studied by Biedermann (2011)Biedermann, Z. (2011) “Um outro Vieira? Pedro de Basto, Fernão de Queiroz e a profecia jesuítica na Índia portuguesa.” In: P. Cardim and G. Sabatini, eds., António Vieira, Roma e o Universalismo Das Monarquias Portuguese e Espanhola. Lisbon: Centro de História de Alem-Mar, pp. 145-173., offers one line of enquiry, above all about his visions concerning the acclamation of John IV (Roe, 2020b, pp. 451-452Roe, J. (2020b) “The aura of the Quinas: ritual and representation in Triumfos festivaes held in Cochin 1641.” Armas e Troféus: Revista De História, Heráldica, Genealogia e Arte, 22, pp. 439-464.). An additional literary work that merits close scrutiny is the manuscript, Diálogo latino lusitano de S. Vito & Modesto martyres, feito em Cochim no Collegio da Compa de Iesv, & offerecido ao Illtmo sõr Aires de Saldanha visorei da India qüdo chegou do reyno, Hispanic Society of America, B3546.
3	A range of studies has been devoted to the acclamation of John IV and the Portuguese War of Restoration that took place as a result, including the studies devoted to the reigns of John IV (Costa and Cunha, 2008Costa, L. F. and Cunha, M. S. de (2008) D. João IV. Lisboa: Temas e Debates.) and Afonso VI (Xavier and Cardim, 2008Xavier, Â. B. and Cardim, P. (2008) D. Afonso VI. Lisbon: Temas e Debates.), and broader studies such as those by Valladares (1998)Valladares, R. (1998) La Rebelión de Portugal: Guerra, Conflicto y Poderes en la Monarquía Hispánica, 1640-1680. Valladolid: Junta de Castilla y León, Consejería de Educación y Cultura, 1998. and Ames (2000)Ames, G. J. (2000) Renascent empire? The House of Braganza and the quest for stability in Portuguese monsoon Asia c. 1640-1683. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press., which focuses on Portuguese India.
4	A further example of the use of this mode of spectacle in Mexico in 1610 is provided by Pérez de Ribas, 1896, vol. 1, pp. 242-261Pérez de Ribas, A. (1896) Corónica y Historia Religiosa de La Provincia de La Compañía de Jesús de México. Mexico City: Imp. del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús. .
5	See Lavanaha, 1622Lavanha, J. B. (1622) Viage de La Catholica Real Magestad Del Rei D. Filipe III. N.S. Al Reino de Portugal, Madrid: Tomás Junta.. There is extensive literature on the ephemeral architecture created in 1619, see Torres Megiani, 2004Torres Megiani, A. P. (2004) O rei ausente: festa e cultura política nas visitas dos Filipes a Portugal (1581 e 1619). São Paulo: Alameda.; Alves, 1986Alves, A. M. (1986) As entradas regias portuguesas. Lisbon: Livros Horizonte.; Soromenho, 2000Soromenho, M. (2000) “Ingegnosi ornamenti. Arquitecturas efémeras em Lisboa no tempo dos primeiros Filipes.” In: J. Castel-Branco Pereira, A. P. Rebelo Correia, J. Carvalho Dias and A. C. Cardoso da Costa Gomes, eds., Arte efémera em Portugal. Lisbon: Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, pp. 21-38..
6	On the use of these models about royal portraits and festive spectacle see Roe, 2019, p. 35Roe, J. (2019) “Between Erudition and Affect: The Portrayal and Veneration of John IV.” Portuguese Studies Review, 27 (2), pp. 27-65.; 2020a, p. 667Roe, J. (2020a) “The Identification and Ennoblement of ‘Hybridity’ during the Iberian Union 1580-1640.” Renaissance Studies, 34 (4), pp. 650-668. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/rest.12593 ).
7	A range of studies have explored the portrayal of the king in the context of Spain’s Latin American territories (Curcio-Nagy, 1996aCurcio-Nagy, L. A. (1996a) “Introduction: Spectacle in Colonial Mexico.” The Americas, 52 (3), pp. 275-281. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/1008002 ; 1996bCurcio-Nagy, L. A. (1996b) “Native Icon to City Protectress to Royal Patroness: Ritual, Political Symbolism and the Virgin of Remedies.” The Americas, 52 (3), pp. 367-391. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/1008006 ; 2009Curcio-Nagy, L. A. (2009) “Commemorating the Conquest: Local Politics and Festival Statecraft in Early Colonial Mexico City.” In: M. Fantoni, G. Gorse and M. Struts, eds., The Politics of Space ca. 1500-1570. Rome: Bulzoni, pp. 171-189.; Fee, 1996Fee, N. H. (1996) “La Entrada Angelopolitana: Ritual and Myth in the Viceregal Entry in Puebla de Los Angeles.” The Americas, 52 (3), pp. 283-320. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/1008003 ; Flinchpaugh, 1996Flinchpaugh, S. G. (1996) “Economic Aspects of the Viceregal Entrance in Mexico City.” The Americas, 52 (3), pp. 345-365. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/1008005 ; Osorio, 2017Osorio, A. B. (2017) “Courtly Ceremonies and a Cultural Urban Geography of Power in the Habsburg Spanish Empire.” In: Morzé, L. von, ed., Cities and the Circulation of Culture in the Atlantic World: From the Early Modern to Modernism. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 37-72. doi: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-52606-9_3 ). To date, I am unaware of any studies concerning the performance of the king’s presence.
8	An American example of the display of the sacrament during festivities held in 1610 is provided by Pérez de Ribas, 1896, vol. 1, pp. 249-253Pérez de Ribas, A. (1896) Corónica y Historia Religiosa de La Provincia de La Compañía de Jesús de México. Mexico City: Imp. del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús. .
9	This event was illustrated in several images, see Roe and Xavier, 2020, pp. 411-415Roe, J. and Xavier, Â. B. (2020) “A Vision of Political Discourse in Goa c. 1659, and Two Episodes in the Circulation of Illustrated Manuscripts.” In: A. S. Wilkinson, ed., Illustration and Ornamentation in the Iberian Book World, 1450-1800. Leiden: Brill, pp. 407-445. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004447141_019 ; Xavier, 2016, pp. 11-12Xavier, Â. B. (2016) “Looking through the Vizão Feita por Xpo a El Rey Dom Affonso Henriques (1659) Franciscans in India and the Legitimization of the Braganza Monarchy.” Culture & History Digital Journal, 5 (2), pp. 1-19. doi: https://doi.org/10.3989/chdj.2016.012 .
10	There is extensive literature on Portuguese political discourse, including Torgal, 1981Torgal, L. R. (1981) Ideologia política e teoria do estado na Restauração. Coimbra: Biblioteca Geral da Universidade.; Marques, 1983Marques, J. F. (1983) A Parenética Portuguesa E a Restauração, 1640-1668: A Revolta E a Mentalidade. Porto: Instituto Nacional de Investigação Científica: Centro de História da Universidade do Porto. ; Curto 1988Curto, D. R. (1988) O discurso político em Portugal, 1600-1650. Lisbon: Centro de Estudos de História e Cultura Portuguesa.; 2011Curto, D. R. (2011) Cultura política no tempo dos Filipes, 1580-1640. Lisbon: Edições 70.; Lima, 2010Lima, L. F. S. (2010) O império dos sonhos: narrativas proféticas, sebastianismo e messianismo brigantino. São Paulo: Alameda.; Marcocci, 2012Marcocci, G. (2012) A consciência de um Império: Portugal e o seu mundo (sécs XV-XVII). Coimbra: Imprensa da Universidade..
11	On the symbolism of the coat of arms see Seixas, 2019Seixas, M. M. de (2019) Quinas e castelos: sinais de Portugal. Lisbon: Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos. ; and on its ritual significance see Roe, 2020bRoe, J. (2020b) “The aura of the Quinas: ritual and representation in Triumfos festivaes held in Cochin 1641.” Armas e Troféus: Revista De História, Heráldica, Genealogia e Arte, 22, pp. 439-464..
12	Ibidem.
13	On Portuguese theatre from the restoration period see: Valladares, 2002Valladares, R. (2002) Teatro en la guerra: imágenes de príncipes y restauración en Portugal. Badajoz: Diputación de Badajoz.; Camões and Sousa, 2016Camões, J. and Sousa, J. P. (2016) Teatro de autores portugueses do século XVII: lugares (in)comuns de um teatro restaurado. Lisboa: Centro de Estudos de Teatro.; Sousa, 2016Sousa, J. P. (2016) “Teatro e Poder: A Restauração de 1640 na dramaturgia de autores portugueses do séc. XVII.” In: J. Masi, J. P. Serra and S. Frade, eds., Théâtre: esthétique et pouvoir De l’antiquité classique au XIXe siècle. Paris: Le Manuscrit, vol. 1, pp. 87-100.. The online resource created by the latter two scholars: http://www.cet-e-seiscentos.com/ [accessed 15 Feb. 2022].
14	The consulado was a form of customs duty levied on commodities introduced by Philip I in 1592 (Bluteau, 1714-1728, II, p. 487Bluteau, Rafael (1712-1728) Vocabulario portuguez e latino, aulico, anatomico, architectonico, bellico, botanico, brasilico, comico, critico, chimico, dogmatico, dialectico, dendrologico, ecclesiastico, etymologico, economico, florifero, forense, fructifero… autorizado com exemplos dos melhores escritores portugueses, e latinos. 10 volumes. Coimbra: Collegio das Artes da Companhia de Jesu.).
15	The use of festivals themselves as a form of petition is noted in John Rupert Martin’s study of Jan-Gaspar Gevaerts’s (1593-1666) Pompa introitus…, which recounted the entry of the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand into Antwerp on 17 April 1635. He notes how the city magistrates initially proposed to build just two arches and four stages ‘to show the present poor state of the country and of the city, and to induce His Highness to institute some remedy’ (1972, vol. 1, p. 27Martin, J. R. (1972) The Decorations for the Pompa Introitus Ferdinandi. London: Phaidon.). On the rhetorical dimensions of colonial festivals see Lisa Voigt’s study (2011Voigt, L. (2011) “Imperial Celebrations, Local Triumphs: The Rhetoric of Festival Accounts in the Portuguese Empire.” Hispanic Review, 79, pp. 17-41.).

Re-reading the acclamation of John IV of Portugal in Cochin 1641 as urban spectacle and literary text

Una relectura de la aclamación de João IV de Portugal en Cochin 1641 como espectáculo urbano y texto literario

READING THE TRIUMFOS FESTIVAES AS SPECTACLE

CONCLUSION: TRIUMPHOS FESTIVEAS AS TEXTUAL REALITY

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

NOTES

PRIMARY SOURCES

REFERENCES