Publication Date
2009
Categories
(smoke in Brazilian Portuguese) - Plant of the solanaceas family, the most common species of which are Nicotiana tabacum and Nicotiana rustica, which grew wild in almost all of the American continent when Europeans arrived, and was already cultivated by some of the Amerindian peoples. Tobacco was consumed in a vast area of the Americas, especially along the Atlantic coast, from southern Canada to the Argentinean pampas.
Europeans had contact with the "new" plant upon arrival in the New World. As early as 1492, Christopher Columbus witnessed the special fondness that the natives had for certain "dry and odiferous leaves," while members of his party noted that "many natives transported in their hands a lighted s¬tick" (the first cigars). Future expeditions, whether Spanish or Portuguese, would be better able to identify the plant and the ways it was consumed. Along with using it for magical and religious purposes, the natives of Brazil attributed therapeutic and energizing properties to tobacco, and thought that it was a cure for many diseases and a way to combat hunger and thirst. They also used it, however, for purely recreational reasons.
Tobacco use did not "catch on" immediately with the colonists in Brazil, although they were unabashedly curious. With few exceptions, settlers only adhered to tobacco consumption after the installation of the Governor-General (1548), as the population of Portuguese origin grew and relations with the natives increased. For European colonists, the attraction supposedly resided in the medicinal capacities of the plant. By 1555, not only "low men" smoked, but also individuals who were socially prominent, such as the donator of the captaincy of Espírito Santo, Vasco Fernandes Coutinho.
In the beginning, the colonists would buy their tobacco supply from the natives. This was followed by a horticulture phase. Finally, the plant was produced for exportation when the demand for tobacco reached the European market. The Recôncavo in Bahia gained particular importance, especially the fields of Cachoeira. As a result, at the start of the 17th century, tobacco became the second most important export of Brazil, after sugar. According to Damião de Góis, Luís de Góis introduced the plant in Portugal, somewhere between 1535 and 1542, as per Serafim Leite. It is likely, however, that before this date, some anonymous traveler could have brought tobacco leaves, or even seeds, from Brazil.
Known at this time by the name of "erva-santa" ("holy-herb"), tobacco was first introduced as a medicinal plant. Indeed, this was the main reason for its rapid distribution and social acceptance. For more than a century, the therapeutic properties of tobacco were unquestioned. The forms and methods of consumption were varied, but the most common was in powder form to be aspirated through the nose. Indeed, contrary to what happened in other countries of Europe, in Portugal the use of the pipe and smoking in general would be socially disparaging until the end of the 18th century.
The acceptance of tobacco as a medicinal plant stimulated its cultivation. As a result, the new plant from America began to sprout up in many gardens and yards throughout the country. Jean Nicot, French ambassador in Lisbon from 1559 to 1561, saw the tobacco plant in gardens in Lisbon and, in 1560, sent samples to the queen-mother and regent, Catherine de Medici, who suffered violent migraine headaches. At the beginning of the 17th century, nonetheless, significant changes occurred, as tobacco ceased to be seen mainly as a medicinal plant, to become an individual vice, a social habit of numerically significant segments of Portuguese society.
Quantifying consumption and consumers is virtually impossible; however, by the end of the 17th century, an official estimate for the number of users was one million (excluding the archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores), which for a population of about two million inhabitants, corresponded to practically the entire adult population. The same source calculates the average annual consumption to have been three arráteis (=1.380 kg), or as much as seven or eight arráteis. These amounts exceed the importation rates of Brazilian tobacco for the same period, which increased from about 21,000 arrobas at the end of the 17th century, to almost double that by the mid-1700s and near 90,000 arrobas by the end of the century. These are official numbers, nevertheless, and do not include contraband and local production of tobacco (which was illegal).
Once tobacco consumption became common practice in Portugal, the State monopolized sales and, according to the periods, the royal treasury would handle matters directly or lease to private merchants, under the profitable but polemical Tobacco Contract, which was en force from 1636 to 1865. At the same time, a court to handle all aspects of the tobacco business (Commission for the Administration of Tobacco) was founded in 1674, while a Tobacco Factory was created, with headquarters in Lisbon but, later, with installations also in Porto, Madeira and the Azores, and under the direct control of the contractors.
The fiscal revenue from tobacco sales was very high. In 1716, it corresponded to about 20% of royal income (more than double that of Brazilian gold); by 1730, tobacco was by far more profitable to the crown than all other products from Brazil. In that same year, for example, the mere lease of the Tobacco Contract earned the State 1,700,000 cruzados, while in 1708 it had been auctioned for 2,200,000 cruzados, under dubious conditions of payment. The monopoly of tobacco sales required the State to create one of the most repressive systems ever in Portugal, as the volume of legislation clearly attests. In the end, this was meant to prohibit the production, sale and consumption of any but Brazilian tobacco in Portugal, a prohibition which was enforced until 1792.
The Iberian peoples played a fundamental role in the spread of tobacco around the world, given that, in the 16th and 17th centuries, only they were well acquainted with the botanical and pharmacological properties of the plant, as well as the techniques for cultivation and production. The Portuguese introduced tobacco consumption to sub-Saharan Africa and made "third quality" Brazilian tobacco into one of the main bartering commodities in the slave trade along the African coast. The spread of tobacco cultivation and consumption along the borders of the Indian Ocean and in the Far East was concentrated in two main areas: along the western coast of India (by the Portuguese) and within the archipelago of the Philippines (by the Spanish). In the Indian subcontinent, tobacco was already common by the end of the 16th century. The first mention of the commerce of tobacco leaves in Japan dates from 1578-1579, while tobacco consumption had reached China by the first quarter of the 17th century.
Bibliography:
CALDEIRA, Arlindo Manuel, «O tabaco brasileiro em Portugal: divulgação e formas de consumo durante o Antigo Regime», in Portugal-Brasil: Memórias e Imaginários. Congresso Luso-Brasileiro. Actas, vol I, Lisboa, G.T.M.E.C.D.P., 2000, pp. 567-586. IDEM, "A divulgação do tabaco brasileiro na China. A miragem de um mercado", Revista de Cultura, Edição Internacional, R.A.E. de Macau, nº 21, Janeiro 2007, pp. 64-81. NARDI, Jean Baptiste, O fumo brasileiro no período colonial. Lavoura, Comércio e Administração, São Paulo, Brasiliense, 1996.
Europeans had contact with the "new" plant upon arrival in the New World. As early as 1492, Christopher Columbus witnessed the special fondness that the natives had for certain "dry and odiferous leaves," while members of his party noted that "many natives transported in their hands a lighted s¬tick" (the first cigars). Future expeditions, whether Spanish or Portuguese, would be better able to identify the plant and the ways it was consumed. Along with using it for magical and religious purposes, the natives of Brazil attributed therapeutic and energizing properties to tobacco, and thought that it was a cure for many diseases and a way to combat hunger and thirst. They also used it, however, for purely recreational reasons.
Tobacco use did not "catch on" immediately with the colonists in Brazil, although they were unabashedly curious. With few exceptions, settlers only adhered to tobacco consumption after the installation of the Governor-General (1548), as the population of Portuguese origin grew and relations with the natives increased. For European colonists, the attraction supposedly resided in the medicinal capacities of the plant. By 1555, not only "low men" smoked, but also individuals who were socially prominent, such as the donator of the captaincy of Espírito Santo, Vasco Fernandes Coutinho.
In the beginning, the colonists would buy their tobacco supply from the natives. This was followed by a horticulture phase. Finally, the plant was produced for exportation when the demand for tobacco reached the European market. The Recôncavo in Bahia gained particular importance, especially the fields of Cachoeira. As a result, at the start of the 17th century, tobacco became the second most important export of Brazil, after sugar. According to Damião de Góis, Luís de Góis introduced the plant in Portugal, somewhere between 1535 and 1542, as per Serafim Leite. It is likely, however, that before this date, some anonymous traveler could have brought tobacco leaves, or even seeds, from Brazil.
Known at this time by the name of "erva-santa" ("holy-herb"), tobacco was first introduced as a medicinal plant. Indeed, this was the main reason for its rapid distribution and social acceptance. For more than a century, the therapeutic properties of tobacco were unquestioned. The forms and methods of consumption were varied, but the most common was in powder form to be aspirated through the nose. Indeed, contrary to what happened in other countries of Europe, in Portugal the use of the pipe and smoking in general would be socially disparaging until the end of the 18th century.
The acceptance of tobacco as a medicinal plant stimulated its cultivation. As a result, the new plant from America began to sprout up in many gardens and yards throughout the country. Jean Nicot, French ambassador in Lisbon from 1559 to 1561, saw the tobacco plant in gardens in Lisbon and, in 1560, sent samples to the queen-mother and regent, Catherine de Medici, who suffered violent migraine headaches. At the beginning of the 17th century, nonetheless, significant changes occurred, as tobacco ceased to be seen mainly as a medicinal plant, to become an individual vice, a social habit of numerically significant segments of Portuguese society.
Quantifying consumption and consumers is virtually impossible; however, by the end of the 17th century, an official estimate for the number of users was one million (excluding the archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores), which for a population of about two million inhabitants, corresponded to practically the entire adult population. The same source calculates the average annual consumption to have been three arráteis (=1.380 kg), or as much as seven or eight arráteis. These amounts exceed the importation rates of Brazilian tobacco for the same period, which increased from about 21,000 arrobas at the end of the 17th century, to almost double that by the mid-1700s and near 90,000 arrobas by the end of the century. These are official numbers, nevertheless, and do not include contraband and local production of tobacco (which was illegal).
Once tobacco consumption became common practice in Portugal, the State monopolized sales and, according to the periods, the royal treasury would handle matters directly or lease to private merchants, under the profitable but polemical Tobacco Contract, which was en force from 1636 to 1865. At the same time, a court to handle all aspects of the tobacco business (Commission for the Administration of Tobacco) was founded in 1674, while a Tobacco Factory was created, with headquarters in Lisbon but, later, with installations also in Porto, Madeira and the Azores, and under the direct control of the contractors.
The fiscal revenue from tobacco sales was very high. In 1716, it corresponded to about 20% of royal income (more than double that of Brazilian gold); by 1730, tobacco was by far more profitable to the crown than all other products from Brazil. In that same year, for example, the mere lease of the Tobacco Contract earned the State 1,700,000 cruzados, while in 1708 it had been auctioned for 2,200,000 cruzados, under dubious conditions of payment. The monopoly of tobacco sales required the State to create one of the most repressive systems ever in Portugal, as the volume of legislation clearly attests. In the end, this was meant to prohibit the production, sale and consumption of any but Brazilian tobacco in Portugal, a prohibition which was enforced until 1792.
The Iberian peoples played a fundamental role in the spread of tobacco around the world, given that, in the 16th and 17th centuries, only they were well acquainted with the botanical and pharmacological properties of the plant, as well as the techniques for cultivation and production. The Portuguese introduced tobacco consumption to sub-Saharan Africa and made "third quality" Brazilian tobacco into one of the main bartering commodities in the slave trade along the African coast. The spread of tobacco cultivation and consumption along the borders of the Indian Ocean and in the Far East was concentrated in two main areas: along the western coast of India (by the Portuguese) and within the archipelago of the Philippines (by the Spanish). In the Indian subcontinent, tobacco was already common by the end of the 16th century. The first mention of the commerce of tobacco leaves in Japan dates from 1578-1579, while tobacco consumption had reached China by the first quarter of the 17th century.
Bibliography:
CALDEIRA, Arlindo Manuel, «O tabaco brasileiro em Portugal: divulgação e formas de consumo durante o Antigo Regime», in Portugal-Brasil: Memórias e Imaginários. Congresso Luso-Brasileiro. Actas, vol I, Lisboa, G.T.M.E.C.D.P., 2000, pp. 567-586. IDEM, "A divulgação do tabaco brasileiro na China. A miragem de um mercado", Revista de Cultura, Edição Internacional, R.A.E. de Macau, nº 21, Janeiro 2007, pp. 64-81. NARDI, Jean Baptiste, O fumo brasileiro no período colonial. Lavoura, Comércio e Administração, São Paulo, Brasiliense, 1996.