The dark side of the Mediterranean : expression of fear from the inquisition to the present
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2010
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Edições Universitárias Lusófonas
Resumo
Nas pedras dos seus monumentos mais famosos, Évora guarda mistérios e segredos que constituem o lado mais oculto da sua identidade cultural. Tendo sido considerada local de Património Universal, esta cidade parece preservar, no interior das suas muralhas medievais, um conhecimento precioso acerca da emoção mais universal e antiga comum a toda a humanidade: o medo. Tentando transcender muitos dos seus medos passados e futuros, alguns dos seus monumentos históricos de estilo Gótico foram edificados contra o medo da morte, o mais terrível de todos os medos, dos quais a famosa inscrição da Capela dos Ossos na Igreja de S. Francisco insistentemente nos faz lembrar, através das mais inquietantes palavras: “Nós ossos que aqui estamos pelos vossos esperamos”. Se os primeiros inquisidores trabalhavam na Europa Central (Alemanha, norte de Itália, França oriental), mais tarde os centros da Inquisição foram estabelecidos nas regiões mediterrânicas, especialmente no sul da França, Itália, Portugal e Espanha. Consequentemente, as raízes do medo em Évora são comuns a outras cidades, onde a Inquisição desenvolveu uma cultura do medo, através da qual nós podemos penetrar no lado mais negro do Mediterrâneo, onde muitas pessoas foram sujeitas aos mesmos terríveis métodos de perseguição e tortura. Este contexto geográfico e histórico comum não foi ignorado por um dos maiores mestres da ficção gótica Norte-Americana, Edgar Allan Poe. Através das páginas de The Pit and the Pendulum, os leitores obtêm imagens precisas dos temíveis instrumentos de terror que foram capazes de produzir a lenda que fez do primeiro grande inquisidor, Tomas de Torquemada, um símbolo de extrema crueldade, intolerância e fanatismo religioso, que infelizmente são ainda fontes dos nossos medos presentes, numa época em que as crenças religiosas podem ser de novo usadas como motivo de guerra e destruição. Parafraseando Krishnamurti, pode-se dizer que somente uma consciência profunda da raiz de todo o medo pode libertar as nossas mentes, pelo que será este o objetivo central deste ensaio.
Inside the stones of its most famous buildings, Évora keeps mysteries and secrets which constitute the most hidden side of its cultural identity. A World Heritage site, this town seems to preserve, in its medieval walls, a precious knowledge of the most universal and ancient human emotion: fear. Trying to transcend many of its past and future fears, some of its historical monuments in Gothic style were erected against the fear of death, the most terrible of all fears, which the famous inscription, in the Bones Chapel of the Church of São Francisco, insistently reminds us, through the most disturbing words: “Nós ossos que aqui estamos pelos vossos esperamos”. If the first inquisitors worked in central Europe (Germany, northern Italy, eastern France), later the centres of the Inquisition were established in the Mediterranean regions, especially southern France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. Consequently, the roots of fear in Évora are common to other towns, where the Inquisition developed a culture of fear, through which we can penetrate into the dark side of the Mediterranean, where people were subjected to the same terrifying methods of persecution and torture. This common geographical and historical context was not ignored by one of the most famous masters of American gothic fiction, Edgar Allan Poe. Through the pages of The Pit and the Pendulum, readers get precise images of the fearful instruments of terror that were able to produce the legend that has made the first grand inquisitor, Tomas de Torquemada, a symbol of ultimate cruelty, bigotry, intolerance, and religious fanaticism, which unfortunately are still the source of our present fears in a time when religious beliefs can be used again as a motif of war and destruction. As Krishnamurti once suggested, only a fundamental realization of the root of all fear can free our minds.
Inside the stones of its most famous buildings, Évora keeps mysteries and secrets which constitute the most hidden side of its cultural identity. A World Heritage site, this town seems to preserve, in its medieval walls, a precious knowledge of the most universal and ancient human emotion: fear. Trying to transcend many of its past and future fears, some of its historical monuments in Gothic style were erected against the fear of death, the most terrible of all fears, which the famous inscription, in the Bones Chapel of the Church of São Francisco, insistently reminds us, through the most disturbing words: “Nós ossos que aqui estamos pelos vossos esperamos”. If the first inquisitors worked in central Europe (Germany, northern Italy, eastern France), later the centres of the Inquisition were established in the Mediterranean regions, especially southern France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. Consequently, the roots of fear in Évora are common to other towns, where the Inquisition developed a culture of fear, through which we can penetrate into the dark side of the Mediterranean, where people were subjected to the same terrifying methods of persecution and torture. This common geographical and historical context was not ignored by one of the most famous masters of American gothic fiction, Edgar Allan Poe. Through the pages of The Pit and the Pendulum, readers get precise images of the fearful instruments of terror that were able to produce the legend that has made the first grand inquisitor, Tomas de Torquemada, a symbol of ultimate cruelty, bigotry, intolerance, and religious fanaticism, which unfortunately are still the source of our present fears in a time when religious beliefs can be used again as a motif of war and destruction. As Krishnamurti once suggested, only a fundamental realization of the root of all fear can free our minds.
Descrição
Babilónia : Revista Lusófona de Línguas, Culturas e Tradução
Palavras-chave
MEDO, INQUISIÇÃO DE ÉVORA, PORTUGAL, RECENSÕES CRÍTICAS, FEAR, INQUISITION, ÉVORA, PORTUGAL, CRITICAL REVIEWS
Citação
Lima , M A 2010 , ' The dark side of the Mediterranean : expression of fear from the inquisition to the present ' , Babilónia : Revista Lusófona de Línguas, Culturas e Tradução .