The ''História trágico-marítima'' (trans. ''Tragic History of the Sea'') is a famous 18th-century collection of narrative accounts of the travails and wrecks of several Portuguese ships, principally

carracks A carrack (; ; ) is a three- or four- masted ocean-going sailing ship that was developed in the 14th to 15th centuries in Europe, most notably in Portugal and Spain. Evolving from the single-masted cog, the carrack was first used for Europea ...

(''naus'') on the India run between 1552 and 1602, and the oft-harrowing stories of their survivors.

Publication

The accounts (some of which had been previously published as

pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a Hardcover, hard cover or Bookbinding, binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' ...

s) were collected by historian Bernardo Gomes de Brito and published in two volumes in 1735 and 1736. It is said that Brito had enough material to publish five volumes, but ended up only publishing two. The original title of Brito's collection was ''História trágico-marítima, em que se escrevem chronologicamente os naufragios que tiveram as naus de Portugal, depois que se poz em exercício a Navegação da Índia.'', published in Lisbon by the Off. da Congregação do Oratório, volume I in 1735 (4° de XVI-479 pag.) and volume II in 1736 (4° de XVI-538 pag.) Brito's original 1735-36 work contains twelve accounts, in chronological order, from 1552 to 1602.

Continuations by other writers

In the course of the 18th century, several collections of other accounts of shipwrecks were published, alleging themselves to be the 'third volume' of Brito's work. Some of these latter accounts were appended to Brito's original in a multi-volume 1904-1909 edition of the ''História'' prepared by Gabriel Pereira.

Volume I

# The wreck the great

galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships developed in Spain and Portugal. They were first used as armed cargo carriers by Europe, Europeans from the 16th to 18th centuries during the Age of Sail, and they were the principal vessels dr ...

, ''São João'', captained by Manoel de Sousa Sepulveda, off the coast of Natal, South Africa in 1552. (orig. pub. 1554) # The wreck of the nau ''São Bento'' of Fernão d'Alvares Cabral, admiral of the India armada of 1553, off the

Mbhashe River Mbhashe River is one of the major rivers in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. It flows in a southeastern direction and has a catchment area of 6,030 km. The river drains into the Indian Ocean through an estuary located near the ligh ...

mouth in 1554. (written by

Manuel de Mesquita Perestrelo Manuel de Mesquita Perestrelo (c. 1510, Santo Estêvão - c. 1580, Santo Estêvão) was a Portuguese navigator and cartographer. The Perestrelo family is traced back to Filippo Pallestrelli, from Piacenza in Lombardy. Pallestrelli settled in Li ...

, orig. pub. 1564) # The wreck of the nau ''Conceição'' captained by Francisco Nobre, off

Peros Banhos Peros Banhos, Pedro dos Banhos or Baixos de Pêro dos Banhos in old maps, is a formerly inhabited atoll in the Chagos Archipelago. Île Yeye, located at the northeastern corner of the atoll, is the island of the Chagos Archipelago that is closes ...

in 1555. (written by Manoel Rangel, prev. unpub.) # The travails of the naus ''Aguia'' and ''Garça'', carrying former governor D.

Francisco Barreto Francisco Barreto (occasionally Francisco de Barreto, 1520 – 9 July 1573) was a Portuguese soldier and explorer. An officer in Morocco during his early life, Barreto sailed to Portuguese India and was eventually appointed viceroy of the colon ...

from India in 1559 (written by Fr. Manuel Barradas, including a description of

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

, prev. unpub.) # The wreck of the nau ''Santa Maria da Barca'', captained by D. Luis Fernandes de Vasconcellos, in the

Mozambique Channel The Mozambique Channel (, , ) is an arm of the Indian Ocean located between the Southeast African countries of Madagascar and Mozambique. The channel is about long and across at its narrowest point, and reaches a depth of about off the coa ...

, on returning from India, in 1559.

rev. unpub The Reverend (abbreviated as The Revd, The Rev'd or The Rev) is an honorific style given to certain (primarily Western) Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and chu ...

# The wreck of the nau ''São Paulo'', captained by Ruy de Mello da Camera, lost off

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

in 1560 (written by Henrique Dias, including a description of

, prev. unpub.)

Volume II

# The travails of the nau ''Santo Antonio'', captained by Jorge de Albuquerque Coelho, attacked and seized by French corsairs when returning from

Pernambuco Pernambuco ( , , ) is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.5 million people as of 2024, it is the List of Brazilian states by population, ...

, Brazil, in 1565 (written by Bento Teixeira Pinto, orig. pub. 1601) # The wreck of the nau ''Santiago'', captained by Fernão de Mendonça, off the

Bassas da India Bassas da India (; ) is an uninhabited, roughly circular atoll located in the southern Mozambique Channel, about halfway between Mozambique and Madagascar (about further east) and around northwest of Europa Island. It is administered by F ...

(

) in 1585 (written by Manoel Godinho Cardozo, orig. pub. 1602). # The wreck of the nau ''São Thomé'', captained by D. Paulo de Lima, off the 'Terra dos Fumos' (southern

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

), in 1589 (written by

Diogo do Couto Diogo do Couto (Lisbon, c. 1542 – Goa, 10 December 1616) was a Portuguese historian. Biography He was born in Lisbon in 1542 to Gaspar do Couto and Isabel Serrão Calvos. He studied Latin and Rhetoric at the College of Saint Anthony the Great ...

, 1611). # The wreck of the ''Santo Alberto'', captained by Julião de Faria Cerveira, off 'Penedo das Fontes' (

Kwaaihoek Kwaaihoek is a rocky headland on the coast of Algoa Bay, at Boknesstrand near Bushman's River Mouth in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is a section of the Addo Elephant National Park. It is here that the Portuguese navigator Bar ...

, South Africa) in 1593. (written by

João Baptista Lavanha João Baptista Lavanha () (c. 1550 – 31 March 1624) was a Portuguese cartographer, mathematician and geographer in the service of the Spanish kings Philip II and Philip III. Life Lavanha was born in the middle of 16th century. His parents ...

) # The travails of the nau ''São Francisco'', captained by Vasco da Fonseca, returning from Brazil, drifted to

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

in 1596 (written by Fr. Gaspar Afonso, orig. pub. 1597) # The battles of the galleon ''Santiago'' against the Dutch at

Saint Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...

in 1602, and the nau ''Chagas'' against the English at the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

in 1594 (written by Melchior Estacio de Amaral, orig. pub. 1602) The ''História trágico-marítima'' was a popular success in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, and numerous abridgements and summaries modernizing the language were produced for Portuguese schools. English translations of some of these accounts were published by

Charles Ralph Boxer Sir Charles Ralph Boxer (8 March 1904 – 27 April 2000) was a British historian of Dutch and Portuguese maritime and colonial history, especially in relation to South Asia and the Far East. In Hong Kong he was the chief spy for the British a ...

(1959, 1968).

In the arts

The Portuguese composer

Fernando Lopes-Graça Fernando Lopes-Graça (17 December 1906 – 27 November 1994) was a Portuguese composer, conductor and musicologist. Lopes-Graça was born in Tomar, and was influenced by Portuguese popular music, which he also studied, continuing the work of ...

composed a work based on the text for

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

voice and orchestra in 1942.

Sources

* Bernardo Gomes de Brito, 1735-36 ''História trágico-marítima, em que se escrevem chronologicamente os naufragios que tiveram as naus de Portugal, depois que se poz em exercício a Navegação da Índia.'', Lisbon: Off. da Congregação do Oratório. * Gabriel Pereira, editor, 1904–09, ''História trágico-marítima, compilada por Bernardo Gomes de Brito, com outras noticias de naufragos'', 12 volumes, Lisbon: Escriptorio. * Boxer, C.R. (1959) ''The Tragic History of the Sea, 1589-1622: narratives of the shipwrecks of the Portuguese East Indiamen São Thomé (1589), Santo Alberto (1593), São João Baptista (1622), and the journeys of the survivors in South East Africa.'' Hakluyt Society. * Boxer, C.R. (1968) ''Further selections from The Tragic History of the Sea, 1559-1565: narratives of the shipwrecks of the Portuguese East Indiamen Aguia and Garça (1559) São Paulo (1561) and the misadventures of the Brazil-ship Santo António (1565)'' Hakluyt Society. * Silva, Libório Manuel (2010), A Nau Catrineta e a História Trágico-Marítima: Lições de Liderança, , Centro Atlântico, Portugal.

References

External links

Historia Trágico-Marítima, by Bernardo Gomes de Brito, in Portuguese
{{DEFAULTSORT:Historia Tragico-Maritima 1735 non-fiction books 1736 non-fiction books 18th-century history books 1904 non-fiction books History books about the 16th century History books about the 17th century Maritime history of Portugal Portuguese literature Books of maritime history