João Paulo Freire e Carlos de Passos, Mafra, Col. Monumentos de Portugal, nº 1, Porto, Ed. Litografia Nacional, 1933

FOUNDATION OF THE CONVENT-PALACE

Even till today the causes of the construction of this monument have not been rigorously ascertained. Tradition imputes it to a prophecy as follows: it was in the year 1711 and Queen Mariana of Austria showed no signs of fecundity necessary for having a successor to the Crown, although she had been married for three years. This lamentable fact made the court uneasy. One day the Chaplain in ordinary Bishop D. Nuno da Cunha and a Franciscan friar Frei António de S. José chanced to meet in the palace, and conversing about the queen's sterility the bishop begged the friar (who was held to be a saint) to recommend the King to God. The friar answered in a sibylline way: "the king will have children if he wants to.» The bishop was astonished, and a few days after asked the friar for an explanation of such extraordinary words of him and received as an answer: «Iet the king promise to build a convent in the town of Mafra, dedicated to St. Anthony, and he will immediately have an heir».

As soon as king John V heard of this, he made a solemn vow to construct the convent if he should have children.

And a few weeks after the queen found herself pregnant.

It seems, however, that the friar did not work the miracle but rather created the danger to the queen of her losing the crown. It is reported the Duke of Cadaval once said to the king: «let the queen see to bearing children, for such is her duty, if not, things may turn out iII for her». In face of that threat, she may perhaps have decided to stifle her spite and melt her coldness provoked by the king's infidelity, in order to avoid a bull of divorce based on the lack of offspring, which John V would pay for handsomely.
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The initial project provided room for 13 Franciscan friars, the number of whom rose afterwards to 80, which served for sketching the plan to be competed for. Finally, in 1729 king John V decided on enlarging the construction in order to hold 300 friars, which necessitated the destruction of much of the work already done. Only three projects appeared at the competition, those of António Canevari, the Abbot Filipe de Juvara, and João Frederico Ludewig, the project of the latter being the one preferred. It is said that Juvara's was more elegant and graceful, showing the influence of the French customs of Louis XVI and the Regency, but for that very reason it did not appeal to the national spirit of the age. This latter was well known to Ludewig (or Ludovici) who had lived in Portugal from 1713, and that enabled him the better to satisfy the taste of the court. The choice of his project, however, caused a great agitation, for it was attributed to the protection of the court and the jesuits.

The first stone was laid in 1717 in the midst of imposing pomp, which cost 200.000 cruzados, that is, 400.000 francs (gold value). At first some 20.000 men of all trades worked daily, but when in 1729 the plan was enlarged to provide for 300 friars, and the king pledged himself to have the church consecrated in 1730, the said number rose to 47.000 and 52.000, guarded and policed by 7000 soldiers. Some columns weighed more than 100 arrobas (3200 Ibs); among the hugest stones were: that of the balcony of the room De Benedictione (weighing 2112 arrobas, 67.584 Ibs, which was drawn by 100 team of oxen), and that of the lantern (96 metres in circumference and 13 in height). The consecration took place on the 22^nd Oct. 1730, and was a feast remarkable for its stupendous magnificence, the most celebrated in the world, extending over eight days.

The sumptuosity imported to it and its ornamentation kept pace with its construction, Rome, Venice, Milan, Genoa, Liège, France and Holland, received frequent orders for articles relating to worship and embellishment.

The cost of the whole monument is not known. Some have / 113 / calculated it at 28, 48, and 54 millions of cruzados (56, 96, and 108 millions of francs, gold value).

It occupies the enormous area of 4 hectares and its plan is almost square. The construction is undoubtedly a heavy one, with hardly any gracefulness, but it is not sombre like the Escorial, and it forms a perfect and stately example of Italian renaissance architecture, an admirable building, well-proportioned, homogeneous and harmonious in its ensemble. Raczinsky classified it as a «grand monument régulier», and its realisation struck with amazement the Prince of Licknowsky. It contains 890 halls and rooms, 300 cells, 4500 doors and windows, 154 staircases. The foundations in some places are 5 metres wide. It is covered with brick terraces slightly convexed, after the Eastern style, from which can be enjoyed the beautiful aspect of the whole, suggestive of a Moorish city.

A few strangers, iII-advised, have sought to consider Mafra as a copy of the Escorial, although the differences between the two buildings are rather great. This error in appreciation is analogous to that of such as state the palace of Queluz to be a reproduction of that of Versailles. It seems, however, that unfavourable criticism was due more to iII-will towards the architect than to real conviction.

By reason of the departure of the royal family for Brazil on the occasion of the 1^st French invasion (1807), Mafra was abandoned. A great part of its riches were taken with him by the king when he embarked, others were plundered. Owing to these facts and to the abandonment of scores of years and the wrong application of the edifice, it is today as regards its magnificence, reduced to a mere remnant. The church, however, is still distinguished for its valuable artistic ornaments.