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Towards the end of King João's reign a man named João Vicente, noting the corruption into which the religious orders were falling, determined to do what he could by preaching and example to bring back a better state of things. He first began his work in Lisbon, but was driven from there by the bishop to find a refuge at Braga.
When Guimara became small she lost her power as an enchantress entirely. Her lovely eyes were always a trifle sad because D. Joaõ had forgotten her that one little minute. She never went back to Giantland but reigned as queen of D. Joaõ's kingdom for many years. Long ago there was a man and woman who lived in a little mud hut under the palm trees on the river bank.
This was the first time any attempt had been made to carry the Portuguese arms across the Straits, and to attack their old enemies the Moors in their own land, where some hundred and seventy years later King João's descendant, Dom Sebastião, was to lose his life and his country's freedom. The first governor of Ceuta was Dom Pedro de Menezes, count of Viana.
What makes this destruction all the more regrettable is the fact that the church was full of splendid tombs, especially that of the Holy Constable himself: a magnificent piece of carving in alabaster sent from Flanders by Dom João's daughter, Isabel, duchess of Flanders.
There is unfortunately no proof that the Conceição chapel is João's work; indeed the date inscribed inside is 1572, twenty-one years after his retirement, and nineteen after his death. Still this date is probably a mistake, and some of the detail is so like what is found in the great convent on the hill above that probably it was really designed by him.
Now the walls are bare and white, but were once covered with frescoes of the fifteenth century; the reredos is a clumsy addition of the eighteenth century. The cornice and the long pilasters at the entrance to the chancel seem to have been added at the same time, but the windows and ceiling are still those of Dom João's time.
And it's all paid for, and I got more 'n a hundred dollars left, besides givin' Joey a fistful o' money jest for bein' a good feller. This ain't a bad town at all, gents. Outside o' that buckin'-broncho hammick and the man-eatin' ants I had a lovely evenin'." "How about Joao's lady friend?" quizzed Knowlton. "Huh? Oh, I didn't git to see her.
Inside, the capitals of the chapel arches as well as their rich cuspings are very like those of the founder's chapel; the capitals having octagonal abaci and stiff vine-leaves, and the trefoiled cusps ending in square vine-leaves, while the arch mouldings are, as in King João's chapel, more English than French in section.
There was no doubt that he had carried out the wishes of his father, and probably the letter which he destroyed contained João's written directions. Some idea of this seems to have been general among the Brazilians, for both they and the Portuguese soldiers in Brazil always spoke of João with affection, and regarded him rather as a prisoner of the Cortes of Lisbon than as King of Portugal.
The abacus of each column is set diagonally to the diameter of the octagon, and between it and the lower side of the architrave are interposed thin blocks of stone rounded at the ends. Like the Conceicão at Thomar this too dates from near the end of Dom João's reign, having been founded about 1550.
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