Luís de Sousa (writer)

Frei Luís de Sousa (Manoel or Manuel de Sousa Coutinho) (1555 – 5 May 1632), a Portuguese monk and prose-writer, was born at Santarém, a member of the noble family of Sousa Coutinho.

In 1576, he broke off his studies at Coimbra University to join the order of Malta, and shortly afterwards was captured at sea by Barbary pirates and taken prisoner to Argel, where he met Cervantes. A year later, Manuel de Sousa Coutinho was ransomed, and landing on the coast of Aragon passed through Valencia, where he made the acquaintance of the poet Jaime Falcão, who seems to have inspired him with a taste for study and a quiet life.

The national disasters and family troubles increased his desire, which was confirmed when he returned to Portugal after the Battle of Alcácer Quibir. Between 1584 and 1586, he married a noble lady, Dona Magdalena de Vilhena, widow of Dom John of Portugal, the son of the poet Dom Manuel of Portugal, to whom Camões had dedicated his seventh ode.

Settling at Almada, on the Tagus opposite Lisbon, he divided his time between domestic affairs, literary studies and his military duties as colonel of a regiment. His patriotic dislike of the Philippine Dynasty grew stronger as he saw Portugal exploited by her powerful partner, and it was ultimately brought to a head in 1599. In that year, to escape the pest that devastated Lisbon, the governors of the kingdom for Philip II decided to move their quarters to his residence; thereupon, finding his protest against this arbitrary resolution unheeded, he set fire to his house, and to escape the consequences of his courageous act had to leave Portugal.

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