the
world.

Among the works in prose produced during this time are of especial
importance the historical writings, such as the 'Decadas' of Joao de
Barros (1496-1570), the "Livy of Portugal" and the numerous romances
of chivalry.

[Illustration: LUIS DE CAMOENS.]

_Fourth Period_ (1580-1700), Culteranistic influence. The political
decline of Portugal is accompanied by one in its literature. While
some lyric poetry is still written in the spirit of Camoens, and the
pastoral romance in the national style is cultivated by some authors,
Portuguese literature on the whole is completely under the influence
of the Spanish, receiving from the latter the euphuistic movement,
known in Spain as _culteranismo_ or _Gongorismo_. Many writers of
talent of this time used the Spanish language in preference to their
own. It is thus that the charming pastoral poem 'Diana,' by Jorge de
Montemor, though composed by a Portuguese and in a vein so peculiar to
his nation, is credited to Spanish literature.

_Fifth Period_ (1700-1825), Pseudo-Classicism. The influence of the
French classic school, felt in all European literatures, became
paramount in Portugal. Excepting the works of a few talented members
of the society called "Arcadia," little of literary interest was
produced until the appearance, at the end of the century, of Francisco
Manoel de Nascimento and Manoel Maria Barbosa du Bocage, two poets of
decided talent who connect this period with the following.

_Sixth Period_ (since 1825), Romanticism. The initiator of this
movement in Portugal was Almeida-Garrett (1799-1854), with Gil Vicente
and Camoens one of the three great poets Portugal has produced, who
revived and strengthened the sense of national life in his country by
his 'Camoens,' an epic of glowing patriotism published during his
exile in 1825, by his national dramas, and by the collection of the
popular traditions of his people, which he began and which has since
been zealously continued in all parts of the country. The second
influential leader of romanticism was Alexandre Herculano (1810-1877),
great especially as national historian, but also a novelist and poet
of superior merit. The labors of these two men bore fruit, since the
middle of the century, in what may be termed an intellectual
renovation of Portugal which first found expression in the so-called
Coimbra School, and has since been supported by such men as Theophilo
Braga, F. Adolpho Coelho, Joaquim de Vas