"On the 26th of November, leaving Évora by Montemor, a beautiful castle surrounded by olive trees, through the countryside for sixteen leagues and along the sea for three leagues, we arrived finally at the famous city of Lisbon. It is on a very high mountain, on whose peak are two royal fortresses. And below them, the whole mountainside is inhabited, full of houses, monasteries and other churches. It has another mountain to the west, whose eastern part is totally inhabited, and in the middle a very populated large level area that extends to the sea. It is bigger than Nüremberg and much more heavily populated, because in each individual house there are, in general three, four, or five inhabitants. It is more three cities than two. The Jews have three neighborhoods to themselves, below the castle, at the foot of the mountain; the gates to these are closed every night. Saturday (vigil of St. Andrew), I entered their synagogue, and I never have seen its equal. In front of the synagogue there is a large structure, that is covered by a great vine, whose trunk was four palmos in circumference. Oh, what a beautiful place and seat from which to preach, like those in mosques! In the synagogue, ten great chandeliers blazed, and in each one, fifty or seventy lamps, without counting other smaller lamps. The women had their own synagogue, in which there were also many lamps burning. The Jews of Lisbon are very rich, and they receive so much royal tribute that they have bought the king. They are very insolent to Christians and they have a profound fear of exile, because the King of Spain ordered Portugal to exterminate their marranos, as well as their Jews, or he will go to war against him. The King of Portugal, following in the conduct of the King of Spain, proclaimed that before the festival of the Nativity of Our Lord, all the marranos must leave; the latter have hired a beautiful ship, the Regina, and they will depart for Naples in the middle of December. As for the Jews, the King has conceded them a treaty of two entire years for them to leave Portugal at their leisure. Taking this into consideration, the Jews are continually departing and looking for new places to live. The Saracens also have their own houses and a mosque next to the city walls, below the castle; where we went….
On the mountain facing the castle there is a monastery of Carmelites, superbly constructed by the Prince Enrique, that you would think it was a fortress. I climbed the tower and looked at the surroundings of that part of the city, and it was very pleasing. On the same mountain are the Monasteries of Santa Trinidad and that of the minor brothers, where we saw an enormous crocodile hanging in the choir, and a big tree called a Dragon Tree, which produces a red sap like dragon's blood. In the monastery of Saint Augustine, which is located above the castle, there are also three other dragon trees.
We went up to the castle and saw two savage lions, more beautiful than any I've seen, and a well-painted map of the world, and a very large gilded table, whose diameter measured fourteen palmos. It is a truly regal castle, with its pavilions, rooms and other things…
In the port, they were selling all sorts of victuals in great abundance and produce, like hazelnuts, walnuts, lemons, almonds, figs, etc., and apples that you can't imagine. I have never seen wholesaled so many apples, not even in Nüremberg in the autumn and the beginning of the winter, which is when they are customarily sold. Oh, and such a variety of fish, of herrings, that they call sardines. And this is not even mentioning tuna, dolphin, and other fish.
We had our lodging in a grand and significant house of the King, in the bedroom of the son-in-law of don Martín Behaim, called don Jodocus of Hurder, of Bruges, noblemen and Captain of the islands of Fayal and Pico. The house is on the main plaza, and on a very wide plot of land near the monastery of Saint Dominic. We were treated exquisitely.
[The Port of Lisbon]: Half a mile below Lisbon are two mountains, each a quarter mile distant from the other, through whose gap the sea enters towards the north east for fifteen leagues, its width being in some places three leagues and in others, less. In the suburbs of Lisbon, even in the wildest storms, the ships find complete security."
What Münzer Saw:
Lisbon had already become a major Atlantic trading center. Portuguese explorers had already rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and would soon reach India by sea. The great overseas Portuguese trading enterprise was just taking off, and Münzer was amazed by the harbor of Lisbon, and was able not only to board some German trading vessels, but to see the King’s warehouse of imported goods. With the exception of the Castle, now known as the Castle of St. George, virtually all the buildings that Münzer visited, though they may survive in name, do not survive in their original construction. This is not only because of later construction in the boom years of the 16th and 17th centuries, but because Lisbon suffered the Mother Of All European Earthquakes in 1755 that destroyed virtually everything, except for very strong stone structures.
He had the chance to visit the Jewish community, though is somewhat confused between Spanish refugees and the local Jews, who were protected by the King, and were only expelled after King João’s death from Spanish pressure. There are presently two Jewish synagogues in the city, and we present the portrait of a Portuguese Rabbi in Nuno Gonçalves’ mid-15th century depiction.
What Münzer Could Have Seen:
Münzer’s interests in Portugal seemed to be commercial reporting and an interest in mapmaking and navigation. Models of some of the ships he might have seen are in Lisbon’s Maritime Museum. Lisbon is still an important port, but like Málaga it’s mostly container ships now, also ferries and pleasure craft.
Münzer may or may not have visited Lisbon’s Cathedral, which is mostly Romanesque—it was probably too old to pique his interest.
What Münzer Never Would Have Seen:
Lisbon is a major European city with a population of over half a million. It was a major port in Münzer’s day, but of much smaller dimensions, of course. In the Saint George Castle, the only lions are now stone ones.
Our lodgings weren’t so grand, either, but it was a pretty good hotel. And there are still sardines: I ate some.
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