Three revolts in images: Catalonia, Portugal and Naples (1640-1647)

Abstract

The dissertation “Three revolts in images: Catalonia, Portugal and Naples (1640-1647) is about the role of political visual communication during the revolts of 1640-1647 in Catalonia, Portugal and Naples. Visual sources played an important part in the development of these conflicts, since a high percentage of the population was illiterate. Images such as engravings and paintings were commissioned to local and international artists in order to reproduce the different messages of the two parties in conflict and displayed in public places and in ceremonies. Often, a third part –such as France – participated in the image making process, contributing with her own visual arguments. In my dissertation I aim to answer such questions as: who commissioned these images? Who was their intended audience? Which reactions did they provoke? Which messages can we perceive in them? And how did the visual communication contribute to these conflicts? I argue that it was important to study these three revolts as part of a common event, the Thirty Years’ War. By doing so, one presupposes that the revolts were not isolated conflicts, and therefore they might present similar characteristics when it comes to legitimating arguments, causes, policies and consequences. Indeed, the comparative approach allowed me to detect possible common intersections and interpret the three revolts as part of the same cultural and political conjecture. Despite the dangers of this methodology and the inevitable constant tension that it creates between generalizations and idiosyncrasies, it enabled me to establish that visual arguments were not exclusive to a certain territory. Indeed, I identified traces of a common culture as well as three general strategies employed in all the cases examined: the construction of a hero, the use of religious images (which obtain a new political dimension) and the employment of narrative images. My findings show that two significantly different characters such as D. João de Braganza, a member of the most important aristocratic house in Portugal, and Masaniello, a humble fisherman from Naples, were transformed into heroes by using the same arguments (nobility of character, bravery, etc.). Regarding Catalonia, it was significant to discover that a similar protagonist could not be found. The early and ambiguous death of Pau Claris, the responsible for proclaiming the Catalan republic under the protection of France in 1641, prevented the Catalan authorities from publicizing his heroic image. In addition, the religious arguments were common to all three territories, as the local saints were politicized and converted into legitimating arguments for rebellion. I also focused my research around questions concerning the rituals and behavior of the populations affected by the revolts. Was the violence justified? Did it obey to a certain code? How did the people react to the events? Are there similarities in the three territories? For example, acts such as the defenestration of the secretary Miguel de Vasconcelos in Portugal responded to a political culture and to a code of punishment, to which people knew how to respond. In Naples, the violence perpetrated by Masaniello was composed by several ritual elements that could be identified by Neapolitans.

Esta tesis tiene como objetivo analizar el papel de la comunicación política visual durante las revueltas de 1640-1647 en Cataluña, Portugal y Nápoles. Las fuentes visuales han jugado un papel de gran importancia en el desarrollo de los conflictos armados, sobre todo si tenemos en cuenta que un elevado porcentaje de la población no sabía leer ni escribir. Imágenes, entre las cuales grabados y lienzos, eran encargados a artistas locales e internacionales de forma a reproducir los mensajes de las dos partes participantes en el conflicto. Éstas eran a menudo exhibidas en lugares públicos y durante las ceremonias. Por veces, una tercera parte – como por ejemplo Francia – participaba en el proceso de producción y difusión de imágenes contribuyendo con sus propios argumentos. En esta tesis he querido responder a preguntas como: ¿quién encargaba las imágenes? ¿Quién era el público? ¿Qué reacciones provocaron? ¿Qué mensajes contenían y cómo fueron percibidos? ¿Cómo contribuyó esta forma de comunicación a los conflictos en causa? Argumento también la importancia de estudiar las tres revueltas como parte de un evento único, la Guerra de los Treinta Años. Al hacerlo, uno va más allá de asumir que se tratan de conflictos aislados y que, como tal, pueden presentar características parecidas en lo que dice respecto a los argumentos que legitimaban las causas, políticas y las consecuencias de las insurrecciones. Este abordaje comparativo me permite detectar posibles intersecciones e interpretar las revueltas como compartiendo una cultura común y de una misma conjetura política. Pese a los posibles peligros de esta metodología y a la inevitable tensión que crea entre generalización e idiosincrasias, me permitió establecer hasta qué punto ciertos argumentos eran – o no – específicos a un territorio. Por fin, me dedico también a analizar cuestiones relacionadas con ritual y comportamiento por parte de las poblaciones afectadas. ¿Era la violencia justificada? ¿Obedecía a un ritual previamente establecido? ¿Cómo reaccionaban las gentes? ¿hay similitudes entre los tres territorios?