Sebastian

Sebastian, king of Portugal (Port. Sebastido) (1554-1578), the posthumous son of Prince John of Portugal and of his wife Joanna, daughter of the emperor Charles, was born in 1554, and became king in on the death of his grandfather John III. of Portugal. During his minority his grandmother Queen Catherine and his great uncle the Cardinal Prince Henry acted jointly as regents. Sebastian's education was, entrusted to a Jesuit, D. Luiz Congalves da Camara and to D. Aleixo de Menezes, a veteran who had served under Albuquerque. He grew up resolved to emulate the medieval knights who had reconquered Portugal from the Moors. He was a mystic and a. fanatic, whose sole ambition was to lead a crusade against the Mahommedans in north-west Africa. He entrusted the government to the Jesuits; refused either to summon the Cortes or to marry, although the Portuguese crown would otherwise pass to a foreigner, and devoted himself wholly to hunting, martial exercises and the severest forms of asceticism. His first expedition to Morocco, in 1574, was little more than a reconnaissance; in a second expedition Sebastian was killed and his army annihilated at Al Kasr al Kebir (4th of August 1578). Although his. body was identified before burial at Al Kasr, reinterred at Ceuta, and thence (1582) removed by Philip II. of Spain to the Conventa dos Jeronymos in Lisbon, many Portuguese refused to credit his death. "Sebastianism" became a religion. Its votaries. believed that the rei encuberto, or "hidden king," was either absent on a pilgrimage, or, like King Arthur in Avalon, was. awaiting the hour of his second advent in some enchanted island. Four pretenders to the throne successively impersonated Sebastian; the first two, known from their places of birth as. the "King of Penamacor" and the "King of Ericeira," were of peasant origin; they were captured in 1584 and 1585 respectively. The third, Gabriel Espinosa, was a man of some education,, whose adherents included members of the Austrian and Spanish courts and of the Society of Jesus in Portugal. He was executed. in 1594. The fourth was a Calabrian named Marco Tullio, who, knew no Portuguese; he impersonated the "hidden king" at Venice in `1603 and gained many supporters, but was ultimately captured and executed. The Sebastianists had an important share in the Portuguese insurrection of 1640, and were again prominent during the Miguelite wars (1828-34). At an even later period Sir R. F. Burton stated that he had met with Sebastianists in remote parts of Brazil (Burton, Camoens, vol. i.p. 363, London, 1881), and the cult appears to have survived until the beginning of the 10th century, although it ceased to be a political force after 1834.

See Portugal, History; J. Barbosa Machado, Memorias Para o governo del rey D. Sebastido (4 vols., Lisbon, 1736-1741); Miguel d'Antas, Les Faux Don Sebastien (Paris, 1866); Sao Mamede, Don Sebastien et Philippe II (Paris, 1884).

Sebastiani, Horace Francois Bastien, Count'  (1772-1851) French marshal and diplomatist. Of Corsican birth,. he was in his early years banished from his native island during, the civil disturbances, and in 1789 he entered the French army. In 17 3, as a French lieutenant, he took part in the war in his. native island, after which he served in the Army of the Alps. He became chef de brigade in Attached by birth and service to the future Emperor Napoleon, he took part in the Ccup d'Elat of 18th Brumaire (9th November 1799). He was present at Marengo in 1800. Sebastiani next appears in his first diplomatic post, in Turkey and Egypt (1802). Promoted general of brigade in 1803, he served in 1805 in the first of the great campaigns of the Empire. His conduct at Austerlitz (2nd December), where he was wounded, won him promotion to the rank of general of division. Sebastiani soon returned to Constantinople as French Ambassador. As ambassador he induced the Porte to declare war on Russia, as a soldier he directed with success the defence of Constantinople against the British squadron of Admiral (Sir) J. T. Duckworth. But the deposition of the Sultan Selim III. put an end to French diplomatic success in this quarter, and Sebastiani was recalled in April 1807 (see La Politique orientale de Napoleon: Sebastiani et Gardane, by E. Driault, Paris, 05). He was at this time made Count of the Empire. As the commander of a corps he served in the Peninsular War, but his cavalry genius did not shine in the Teeth of the lower and upper jaws of the Sea-wolf.

laborious and painful operations against the careful English and the ubiquitous guerrilleros. In the more congenial grande guerre of Russia and Germany he was in his element, and at Smolensk, Borodino and Leipzig he did brilliant service. He accepted the Restoration government in 1814, but rejoined his old leader on his return from Elba. After Waterloo he retired into England for a time, but soon returned, and was placed on half-pay. From 1819 onwards he was a prominent member of the Chamber of Deputies. He held the posts of Minister of Marine, and, later, of Foreign Affairs. In this latter capacity he was the author of the historic saying "Order reigns at Warsaw." In 1832 he was a Minister of State without portfolio, next year ambassador at Naples, and from 1835 to 1840 was ambassador to Great Britain. On his retirement from this post he was made Marshal of France. He was a brilliant social figure in Paris. His last years were clouded by the death of his daughter at the hands of her husband, the duc de Praslin. He died at Paris on the 21st of July 1851.

His brother, Jean Andre Tiburce Sebastiani (1786-1871), entered the army in 1806, served in the Peninsula from 1809 to 1811, and in the great campaigns of Russia, Germany, France and Belgium. He took part in the war of Greek independence under General Maison. In 1842, now lieutenant-general and peer of France, he was appointed to command the military division of Paris. But he proved incapable of dealing with the Revolution of 1848, and the remainder of his life was spent in retirement in Corsica.