Conclusion
Even bearing in mind the limitations of our approach, a number of points seem sufficiently evident allowing us to use them as conclusions of this work. First of all, one should note the prominent cultural and academic role played by the Society of Jesus in Portugal. In other European Catholic countries, the Jesuits also had a leading position, but the distinguishing feature in Portugal is that in several instances theywere largely unaffected by intellectual challenge from other institutions and thus shaped Portuguese cultural life in a profound way.
Although pursued in an Aristotelian mould that, in the long run, would create some problems toward new conceptions of nature, natural philosophy in Portugal was taught at a University level, in a speculative and flexible way. As was the case with other European Jesuit colleges, Portuguese natural philosophers discussed and gradually incorporated the latest celestial developments and their cosmological consequences into their eclectic philosophical corpus. Mathematical studies, surprisingly, were nearly disregarded at the University and when taught and practiced, it was with very practical applications in sight, or to serve the needs of a specific professional group and context, namely, the navigational problems to be solved by nautical pilots. Although one Portuguese mathematician early in this period, Pedro Nunes, rose above these limitations, this was an exception and a mathematical tradition cannot be found during this period. Perhaps the most important observation lies in the fact that by the mid-17th century in Portugal, mathematics and natural philosophy were treading very different paths. It is difficult to escape the suggestion that this wide separation of the context, aims and institutional setting of natural philosophy and mathematics would have important repercussions in the way the developments of the Nova Scientia were received in this country.
Abbreviations used in this chapter: A.R.S.I.—Archivum Romanum Societatisè Iesu B.A.—Biblioteca da Ajuda, Lisbon B.G.U.C.—Biblioteca Geral da Universidade de Coimbra B.N.L.—Biblioteca Nacional, Lisbon
This study was partially carried out as part of the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia/Centro de Estudos de Història e Filosofia da Ciència—University of Éuora research project: POCTI/HCT/37709/2001.
Financial support form the Fundação Oriente, Lisbon, is acknowledged.
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Notes
See, especially, M. Feingold, “Tradition versus Novelty: Universities and Scientific Societies in the Early Modern Period”, in P. Barker and R. Ariew (ed.), Revolution and Continuity. Essays in the History and Philosophy of Early Modern Science (Washington, 1991), pp. 45–59 and J. Gascoigne, “A Reappraisal of the Role of the Universities in the Scientific Revolution”, in D. Linberg and R. Westman (eds.), Reappraisals of the Scientific Revolution (Cambridge, 1990), pp. 207–260.
The best overview of the Jesuit enterprise in Portugal is still the massive: F. Rodrigues, História da Companhia de Jesus na Assistência de Portugal, 4 Tomes in 7 Vols. (Porto: Livraria Apostolado da Imprensa, 1931–1950). See also D. Alden, The Making of an Enterprise. The Society of Jesus in Portugal, its Empire, and Beyond, 1540–1750 (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1996).
See M. Brandão, O Colégio das Artes (Coimbra, 1924).
See R. de Carvalho, Historia do Ensino em Portugal. Desde a Fundação da Nacionalidade atée o fim do Regime de Salazar-Caetano (Lisbon, 1986), pp. 269–299 and F. Rodrigues, História da Companhia de Jesus: t. I, Vol. II, pp. 336–400.
Estatutos ordenados pelo muy alto Princepe e sereníssimo senhor Dom Anrique... pera a universidade que ordenou e fundou na cidade d’Evora, B.N.L., Cod. 8014, pp. 181–182.
Commentarii Collegii Conimbricensis Societatis Iesu In Quatuor Libros De Coelo (Lisbon, 1593), Lib. 2, cap. 3, pp. 155–197.
See R. Arriaga, Cursus Philosophicus, Antuérpia, ex Officina Plantiniana Balthasaris Moreti, 1632, Disputatio unica Caelestis, section 6, p. 507.
See Thomas Compton-Carleton, Philosophia Universa, Antuérpia, Apud Jacobum Meursium, 1649, In libros de Coelo, disp. 2, section 4, p. 404.
Indeed, according to him, “In hac conclusione est controversia inter Auctores, et huic aduersatur Auer. et alij apud Conimb.2 Coeli, cap. 3 quaest.3 et Picus Mirand. contra Astrol. qui putant esse asylum ignorantiae recurrere ad Coeli influentias ubi causa alicuius effectus sit obscura. Est tamen communior inter Philosophos, ut ostendunt Conimbr. art.2 et probatur primo...”-Niccolo Cabeo S.J., In quatuor libros Meteorologicorum Aristotelis Commentaria et Quaestiones..., Roma, Typis Haeredum Francisci Corbelletti, 1646, Lib.1, textus 5, quaest.2, p. 34.
E. Grant, “Medieval and Renaissance Scholastic Conceptions of the Influence of the Celestial Region on the Terrestrial”, Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies J 17:1–23 (1987) and J. North, “Celestial Influence—The Major Premise of Astrology”, in P. Zambelli (ed.), Astrologi hallucinati’. Stars and the end of the World in Luther’s time (Berlin, 1986), pp. 45–100.
Commentarii Collegii Conimbricensis Societatis Iesu In Quatuor Libros De Coelo, Lib. 1, cap. 2, quast. 5, art. 2, pp. 39–40.
“(...) Motus solis affert quadripartitam anni distinctionem, quae duo aequinoctia Vere et Autumno, ac totidem solistitia aestate et Hyeme complectitur.”—Diogo Lopes S.J., Compendium Totius Philosophiae..., 1623, B.G.U.C.—Ms.2314, Liber secundus Coelorum, cap. 3, quaest. 1, fl. 76.
Bento Rodrigues S.J., Caelorum liber, Generaois, et aliae simul traditur, et explicatur a sapientissimo Patre Benedicto Rois Societatis Jesu in Collegio diui Antonij eiusdem Societatis, anno domini 1664, 1664, B.A., Cód. 50—III—17, Tractatus De Caelo et Mundo, quaest. 3, art. 3, p. 24 and the following ones.
For a more detailed examination on the controversy on comets in Portugal see: L. M. Carolin, “Philosophical teaching and mathematical arguments: Jesuit philosophers versus Jesuit mathematicians on the controversy of comets in Portugal (1577–1650)”, History of Universities 16 (2001), pp. 65–95.
L. de Cerqueira S.J., Commentarii in Libros Meteorum Aristotelis, B.G.U.C., Ms. 2414, cap. 6, fls. 223-223v.
Baltazar do Amaral S.J., Doctrina Philosophica Auctore Ludovico Dias Franco, Lisboa, ex Officina Petri Craesbeek, 1618, De Meteoris, quaest. 2, cap. 3, 198. (Baltazar do Amaral published this book under the pseudonym of Luís Dias Franco).
Francisco Rodrigues S.J., Compedium Philosophycum De Metheoris, Parvis Naturalibus, De Coelo, item de Generatione, et Corruptione, De Anima coniuncta materiae et ab illa separata Denique De Ethicis traditum a..., Ullyssipone Ano Domini 162 l 9..., B.G.U.C.—Ms. 2316, Metheoris, cap. 10, fls. 4-4v.
Baltazar Teles S.J., Summa Philosophiae... Pars secunda in Libros Physicorum et in Libros de Coelo ac Meteorum, Lisboa, ex Officina Laurentij de Anveres, 1642, De Meteoris, disp. 1, section 2, p. 380.
Baltazar Teles S.J, Summa Universae Philosophiae... cit., Physica, disp. 22, sectio 4, pp. 199–201; Francico Soares S.J., Cursus Philosophicus... cit., Physica, disp. 2, sectio 6, pp. 23–25.
Francisco da Cruz S.J., Institutiones Phisicorum. 3 a Pars: De Corpore animato, s.e et anima Tradita a Sapientissimo P. M. Francisco da Crux Societatis Jesu, Accepit Simon dos Sanctos eiusdem Societatis. Anno a reparata salute 1665, 1665, B.G.U.C.—Ms. 2367, Sinopsis 1 a: Pro Mundo et Coelo, section 4, art. 1, fls. 232v–235v.
António Cordeiro S.J., Cursus Philosophicus Conimbricensis auctore... in tres partes distributus: Prima Logicam amplectitur; Secunda Physicam, cum corpoream, tum spiritualem; Tertia enucleabit Metaphysicam, Lisboa, ex Officina Regia Deslandesiana, 1714, tract. III, disp.2, quaest.2, art. 2, pp. 633–635.
See, among others, R. Ariew, Descartes and the Last Scholastics (Ithaca, 1999).
These ages were established using the Catalogi breves et triennales, A.R.S.I.: Lus. 39, fl.7; Lus. 44, II, fls. 310v, 446v, 491v, 578.
The statutes of the University of Évora state that: “Avera na universidade como fica dito quatro cursos de Artes dos quais hum comecara cada anno o segundo dia de Outubro, e durará quatro annos cada hum dos tres primeiros sera de des meses de leitura, e o quarto de seis mezes, que acabara no derradeiro de Março.” Estatutos ordenados pelo muy alto Princepe e sereníssimo senhor Dom Anrique(...), B.N.L., Cod. 8014, p. 181.
Cfr. J. P. Gomes, Os Professores de Filosofia da Universidade de Évora ( Évora, 1960), p. 41.
“(...) o oppositor de Mathematicas lerá duas lisõis de ponto, huma em Euclides e outra na Theorica dos Planetas; e na opposição da cadeira de Musiqua não averá lição de ponto, porem o tal oppositor será examinado na Theoriqua de Musiqua pollo catedratico de Mathematicas”, in S. Leite, (ed.), Estatutos da Universidade de Coimbra (1559) (Coimbra: Por ordem da Universidade, 1963), pp. 114–115.
S. Leite (ed.), Estatutos da Universidade de Coimbra (1559), p. 94.
After 1559, new University Statutes for the University of Coimbra were presented in the years of 1591, 1597, and 1654 and the corresponding texts have survived to our days. Judging by the number of new University Statutes in the period 1537–1772, the desire of the Reform movement seems to have been constant in this period. See J. F. Gomes, “Os vários Estatutos por que se regeu a Universidade Portuguesa ao longo da sua história”, Revista Portuguesa de Pedagogia 20:3–62 (1986).
In fact, of the various men that are known to have substituted Nunes in his absences—António de Sousa, Francisco Calado, Manuel de Pina, Pedro de Sousa, Pedro da Cunha, Nicolau Coelho do Amaral—only N. Coelho do Amaral published work on mathematics—a rather uninteresting Chronologia, 1554.
T. Braga, História da Universidade de Coimbra, 4 Vols. (Lisboa, 1892–1902). See esp. Vol. 2, pp. 812–835.
“Por que consta que desde o anno de 1612 até o de 1653, em que se passou o longo intervalo de 41 annos, esteve vaga a Cadeira de Mathematica sem Professor que a regesse: E que desde este anno até a prezente Reforma so fora regida por tres Professores, Gaspar de Mere, O Padre João Coning Jezuita, e o Padre Fr. Ignacio de Atayde Beneditino, havendo longas vacancias entre huns e outros; e sendo esta ultima de mais de 60 annos”. Francisco de Lemos, Relação Geral do Estado da Universidade, 1777 (Coimbra, por ordem da Universidade, 1980), p. 80.
For an authoritative explanation of the divorce between the University and the Maritime Expansion, see: Luís de Albuquerque, “A Náutica e a Cartografia em Portugal nos s’eculos XV e XVI”, in A Universidade e os Descobrimentos (Lisboa: Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda, 1993), pp. 91–101.
There is a considerable body of literature to back this assertion. A particularly penetrating analysis can be found in Francisco Contente Domingues, “Horizontes mentais dos homens do mar no século XVI. A arte náutica portuguesa e a ciência moderna”, in Viagens e Viajantes no Atlântico Quinhentista (Lisboa: Colibri, 1996), pp. 203–218.
The most irrefutable and clear destruction of this myth is W. G. L. Randles, “The alleged nautical school founded in the 15th century at Sagres by Prince Henry of Portugal, called the ‘Navigator’”, Imago Mundi, 45:20–28 (1993).
The Cosmógrafo-Mor and, in general, the problem of nautical teaching are analised in A. Teixeira da Mota, “Os Regimentos do Cosmógrafo-Mor de 1559 e 1592 e as origens do ensino náutico em Portugal”, Memórias da Academia das Ciências de Lisboa (Classde Ciências) 13:227–291 (1969).
F. Rodrigues, História da Companhia de Jesus; Luís de Albuquerque, “A Aula da Esfera do Colégio de Santo Antão no século XVII”, in Estudos de História (Coimbra: Universidade de Coimbra, 1974), Vol. 2, pp. 127–200 [Originally: Anais (Academia Portuguesa de História), 21 (1972) pp. 337–391]; U. Baldini, “As Assistências ibéricas da Companhia de Jesus e a actividade científica nas Missões Asiáticas (1578–1640). Alguns aspectos culturais e institucionais”, Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia, 54 (1998) 195–245, and U. Baldini, “L’insegnamento della matematica nel collegio di S. Antão a Lisbona, 1590–1640”, Saggi sulla cultura della Compagnia di Gesù (secoli XVI–XVIII) (Padova: CLEUP, 2000) pp. 129–167.
This does not mean that the quality of the mathematical classes was necessarily inferior to those given in Lisbon. For example, some competent mathematical teachers taught in Coimbra: J. Raston, J. Konig, A. Buckowski, A. Thomas, M. Soares, and A. Castelo-Branco.
Precise documentation on the foundation of this Aula is lacking, but all sources attribute its foundation to King D. Sebastião. Such as, for example, the opinion of a later Jesuit-mathematician, Manuel de Campos, in the preface of his Elementos de Geometria Plana e SÓlida (Lisboa, 1735).
See Luís de Albuquerque, “A Aula da Esfera do Colégio de Santo Antão no século XVII”.
On the Tienwen lüe, see P. M. D’Elia, Galileo in China. Relations through the Roman College between Galileo and the Jesuit-Scientist Missionaries (1610–1640), (Cambridge, 1960).
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Carolin, L.M., Leitão, H. (2006). Natural Philosophy and Mathematics in Portuguese Universities, 1550–1650. In: Feingold, M., Navarro-Brotons, V. (eds) Universities and Science in the Early Modern Period. Archimedes, vol 12. Springer, Dordrecht . https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3975-1_11
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