Writing and Secrecy. The love letters exchanged by a lady of the aristocracy during the early years of the Portuguese Restoration War

Abstract

Love letters were introduced as a literary genre in the Renaissance. Deemed authentic, they contained nonetheless some margin of illusion and deceit for its authors and readers.

The literary view aside, genuine love letters conceal secrets, unveil the process of falling in love and evoke empty lives, as perceived by one of the couple individuals. Hence, the letters that D. Joana de Vasconcelos de Meneses sent her husband, on military assignment in Alentejo, describe the tempestuous scenario of the early Restoration War years, inform us about some intriguing details of life in the royal court and reflect expected features of gender definition, against a backdrop of multiple family, sexual and social relations.

As an essential element of cultural identity, the letters of D. Joana de Vasconcelos e Sousa reveal that, at a time when the art of gallantry and gallant love begins to sprout, some ladies of the Portuguese aristocracy enjoy actual freedom in love and play a leading social and political part in the Court backstage.