D. João de Castro (1550-1628) : como um resistente se tornou profeta

Resumo

Everything  indicates that  D. João de Castro  was the first one to establish  the basis for myth of D. Sebastião.  Disenchanted with D. António and his pretensions to the throne of Portugal  in the year of l580, D. João made use of a vast collection of old and new prophecis  to support  the belief in  the return  of  King  D. Sebastião,  who disappeared at the  Battle  of Alcácer-Quibir. With  this  he discredited D. António 's  aspirations but  also  rejected  the  Castilian   pretensions to the  Portuguese throne.  It is interesting to notice that what started  as a simple  political strategy  soon became a strong faith  in the myth of D. Sebastião 's return.  Like in many  other  similar  situations. prophecies  tend to be used for propagandist purposes: they became  the basis for a "Sebastian ideology", which turn out to be a strong fundament  for the resistance cause.