*Ø* Ghost king and his second coming
When will King Sebastian return?
On this day in 1578, Don (or Dom) Sebastian (King Sebastião I of Portugal; b. January 20, 1554), aged 22, was fighting (invading) the Moors in Morocco, at the Battle of Ksar el Kebir. His army was so defeated that scarcely 50 of his men made it out alive. A reckless youth, he had convinced himself that he was to be Christ’s captain in a crusade against the Muslims of Africa.
Don Sebastian invaded Morocco in support of a pretender to the Moroccan throne. Abu Marwan Abdalmalik I, ruler of Morocco, King Sebastian, and the Moroccan pretender, Muhammad, all died in the fighting.
The Moors said that they had his body and buried it at Belem, but Sebastian’s countrymen believed he had escaped and would return to lead them, a notion that developed into a long-lived cult named 'Sebastianism' ...
Despite the passage of many years, the conviction that Sebastian was still alive grew into a kind of messianic cult that persisted into the early 20th century, or at least the late 19th, passing on from one Portuguese generation to another. Its devotees believed that the rei encuberto, or ‘hidden king’, was either absent on a pilgrimage, or, like King Arthur in Avalon, was waiting on some enchanted island until the hour of his second advent ...
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with many more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date (or your birthday) when you're there.
When will King Sebastian return?
On this day in 1578, Don (or Dom) Sebastian (King Sebastião I of Portugal; b. January 20, 1554), aged 22, was fighting (invading) the Moors in Morocco, at the Battle of Ksar el Kebir. His army was so defeated that scarcely 50 of his men made it out alive. A reckless youth, he had convinced himself that he was to be Christ’s captain in a crusade against the Muslims of Africa.
Don Sebastian invaded Morocco in support of a pretender to the Moroccan throne. Abu Marwan Abdalmalik I, ruler of Morocco, King Sebastian, and the Moroccan pretender, Muhammad, all died in the fighting.
The Moors said that they had his body and buried it at Belem, but Sebastian’s countrymen believed he had escaped and would return to lead them, a notion that developed into a long-lived cult named 'Sebastianism' ...
Despite the passage of many years, the conviction that Sebastian was still alive grew into a kind of messianic cult that persisted into the early 20th century, or at least the late 19th, passing on from one Portuguese generation to another. Its devotees believed that the rei encuberto, or ‘hidden king’, was either absent on a pilgrimage, or, like King Arthur in Avalon, was waiting on some enchanted island until the hour of his second advent ...
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with many more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date (or your birthday) when you're there.
Pip Wilson posted item above at 10:50 PM | Permalink
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