Read "Journey to Portugal" by José Saramago online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
Because of something he heard in the palace of Sintra, he started thinking of the king who was held prisoner there for nine years: Afonso by name, and the sixth of the line. Ordinary people are very touched by the fate of their kings, and the thought of a legitimate monarch stuck between four walls pacing the floor until he wears out the tiles has aroused much misplaced indignation. Afonso VI was not only half-witted but had many other failings, among them the minimum of virility needed at least to guarantee succession. These are stories of families with tainted blood, which do not improve even though they are renewed. The Aviz dynasty ended with a degenerate Dom Sebastián and a cachectic Cardinal-Infante. After them, following the death of the brilliant Dom Teodosio, all that the house of Braganza had available to put on the throne was a mentally deficient rogue.
The traveller would like to feel sorry for him, but is prevented from doing so by the memory of the dreadful palace intrigues they all indulged in: King, Queen, Infante, the French and Italian favourites, while around them the common people were born, worked and died, and paid the cost. And the traveller thinks: there have been prisoners who deserved respect. But not all are in the same category.