Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
P
EDRO
I, emperor of a sovereign Brazil. Por-
tugal's colony thus joined the wave that
was already sweeping Spanish America.
The adroit House of B
RAGANÇA
had, how-
ever, avoided the process that transformed
Spain's colonies into republics. Instead, an
imperial Bragança dynasty planted the
exotic flower of monarchy in American soil,
where it flourished until 1889. Although
Pedro I would pass on the Portuguese suc-
cession to his daughter M
ARIA
II, he even-
tually returned to Portugal to play a role in
his homeland's politics. His son, Emperor
Pedro II, ruled Brazil throughout a long life
with a facile mixture of Brazilian patriotism
and European sophistication. It was not
until the end of the 19th century that a
bloodless revolution introduced a republic
and marked the true end of Portugal's colo-
nial presence in Brazil.
man, the prince of Orange (head of the
Dutch Republic) to surrender. The cere-
mony of capitulation, in which the count
handed the keys of the city to the Spanish
general A
MBROGIO
S
PINOLA
was immortal-
ized in D
IEGO
V
ELÁZQUEZ
's famous painting,
The Capitulation of Breda.
The two noblemen
are seen in postures of mutual respect
before a backdrop of Spanish soldiers,
whose tall lances held at rigid attention
resemble a forest of weapons, giving rise to
the painting's popular name,
Las Lanzas
(The lances). The capture of Breda, which
came after a series of military setbacks,
raised Spanish pride and self-confidence,
but it proved a false dawn.
Buero Vallejo, Antonio
(1916-2000)
Spanish dramatist
A young painter of considerable talent,
Buero left his art studies to join the Repub-
lican forces during the S
PANISH
C
IVIL
W
AR
,
in which he served as a medical orderly. At
the end of the conflict in 1939 he was pre-
vented from resuming his career by a term
of confinement in a Nationalist prison. By
1949, when he was again at liberty, he had
turned his interests to drama and debuted
his first play,
Historia de una escalera
(Story
of a staircase), which won him the distinc-
tion of the Lope de Vega Prize. He contin-
ued to write for the stage throughout the
period of the Franco dictatorship and on
into the era of democratic revival, winning
the National Drama Prize in 1980 and the
Miguel de Cervantes Prize in 1986. Having
been opposed by Nationalists, who resented
the success of a man who had fought against
them, and in later years by Republican
exiles, who suggested that he had “sold
out” by continuing to work under the
Breda, siege of
(1625-1626)
The city of Breda, long a center of Nether-
landish opposition to Spanish rule, had
remained in control of the Dutch rebels
when the Twelve Years' Truce was signed in
1609. This cessation of hostilities between
Spain and the Dutch Republic ended in
1621, when the new king, P
HILIP
IV, aban-
doned the peaceful policy of his father and
attempted to reimpose Spanish rule over
the Low Countries. Breda became a sym-
bolic target of his initially unsuccessful plan.
His forces laid siege to the city in 1625,
employing bombardment and blockade to
reduce it and thereby break the will of the
rebels. The Dutch defenders resolutely
endured a siege of more than 10 months,
finally capitulating in 1626. The com-
mander of the garrison, Count Justin of
Nassau, was finally authorized by his kins-
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