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| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | Foreigners | ||||||||||||||
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Other texts, of erudite nature, such as the one he dedicated to murrine vases ( História e Memórias... , tome XII, 2nd part, 1839, pp. 1-151); to Greek language and literature in Portugal during the reign of King Duarte, 1853 ( Memórias da Academia das Ciências... , new series, 1854, tome I, 1st part, pp. 1-168); as well as the answer to the questions on the Academy's library and communications regarding "the religious doctrines of Persia" ( Actas da Academia Real das Ciências, tome I, 1849, pp. 124-138, 239-249 and 300-321). In 1835, Macedo revisited the topic he had addressed in 1819 in his Aditamentos à primeira parte da Memória... [Additions to the First Part of the Memoir], focusing once again on the so-called beginning of the Portuguese discoveries in medieval times. To this end, he uses the manuscript of Boccaccio published in 1827 by Sebastiani Ciampi in Florence, which he believes confirms, a posteriori , what he himself had surmised sixteen years earlier ( História e Memórias... , tome XI, 2nd part, pp. 178-179 and no. 1). As Sérgio Campos Matos noted, Costa de Macedo historically struggled to substantiate the claim of Portuguese primacy in reaching the Canary Islands. Macedo thus played a secondary role in one of the most significant Luso-French scientific and historiographical controversies of the 1830s and 1840s: the debate over which European nations were the first to achieve nautical feats, advance the science of seamanship, and complete the cartographic documentation of the African coast, including the adjacent archipelagos. Other key figures in this debate included the Viscount of Santarém, Marie-Armand-Pascal d'Avezac, Alexander von Humboldt, and Edme-François Jomard. It was at this precise moment in history, at the crossroads of science, myth, and nationalism, that related subject areas such as geography, cartography, and the history of discoveries experienced new developments—though not all of them were positive. In fact, even today, the true value of the theses proposed during this time is still debated, particularly those concerning the discovery of the Canary Islands and Guinea. Macedo's speech, which complements those of Cardinal Saraiva and the Viscount of Santarém, challenges a widely held image of Portugal that gained traction in France after 1830. This perception was particularly influenced by the translated works of José Liberato and figures such as Talleyrand, Hyde de Neuville, and Roussin, who depicted Portugal, both historically and in contemporary times, as a tyrannical, barbaric, and backward nation. Macedo sought to refute this negative portrayal. |
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This work is financed by national funds through FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P, in the scope of the projects UIDB/04311/2020 and UIDP/04311/2020. |
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