Manuel Buiça
Encyclopedia
Manuel dos Reis da Silva Buíça (Bouçoães, Valpaços
; 30 December 1876 — Lisbon
, 1 February 1908), was Portuguese
schoolteacher, former cavalry Sergeant, and excellent marksman involved with Alfredo Costa in the regicide
of King Carlos I of Portugal
and the Prince Royal, Luis Filipe, during the events that became known as the 1908 Lisbon Regicide
(on February 1, 1908).
, and Maria Barroso.
Buíça married twice: the first lasted from 1896 to 1898, and his second, to Hermínia Augusta da Costa, with who he had two children (Elvira e Manuel).
Manuel Buíça had few friends, outside his professional acquaintances, although he was a close colleague of Alfredo Costa and Aquilino Ribeiro
(the latter, with who he referred to in his last testament by name), with whom he mingled at the Café Gelo in the Rossio
.
His professional career started with his conscription into the army, where he would achieve the status of second Sergeant, and hold the title of field instructor in shooting, while at the Cavalry Regiment in Braganza. A professional, Buíça also enrolled in the master-at-arms training course, obtaining a medal for first class sharpshooting medallion in the process. Unfortunately, his career in the military was not spotless: there were various infractions and three disciplinary notes in his record.
After the army, Buíça enrolled in courses at the Colégio Nacional, and participated in lessons in music and French.
. This group of people were later determined to be the principal revolutionaries in an attempted republican coup that was to have effectively occurred on January 28, 1908, but failed. The Janeirada (which colloquially means the January thing), or more commonly referred to as the Municipal Library Elevator Coup
, was an attempted coup to assassinate João Franco
, proclaim a republic and abolish the monarchy (by this, its King, Carlos I of Portugal
).
A cell
of 20 men, led by Alfredo Costa, that also included Manuel Buíça, originally were to assault the Royal Palace
, but later, strategically modified their assault to the Quartel dos Lóios, and attacked contingents of the Municipal Guard, around the Rua de Santa Bárbara, until they received word of the revolution (from a particular mortar
explosion.
The Janeirada was planned by members of the Portuguese Republican Party
, their enforcers, the Formiga Branca, elements of the Progressive Dissidency Party and the Carbonária
, the latter two providing financing, men and arms. In addition to António José de Almeida
, there was support from the shadows from Luz de Almeida, the chief of the Carbonária Lusitana, Machado Santos and António Maria da Silva
. The decision to murder the King, was not clear, but these instructions were passed on to Alfredo Costa's group, as part of the coup plans. But, the plans were shelved immediately when, tipped-off by police, João Franco's government began rounding-up the usual suspects in militant republican circles. Those that could escape, did so, while others congregated around São Julião's Elevator and were rounded-up by the police on mass. In fact, the limits were limited to the higher-echelon members and leaders of the anti-monarchist movement, while lower level dissidents and thugs were limited to attacks in the Rato, in Alcântara, in the Campo de Santana, and along the Rua da Escola Politécnica (where one officer was killed).
The back room of the Café Gelo, then a popular meeting place for republican and Carbonária sympathizers, was empty in the following days, except for Manuel Buíça and Alfredo Costa who had escaped the sweep and were not afraid to be seen.
in Quinta do Xexé, in Olivais, where they finalized the regicide of King Carlos I of Portugal
. Around two in the afternoon, Buíça has lunch with Costa and three other conspirators in the corner of the Café Gelo. Near the kitchen, the nook allowed members to converse unnoticed. At the end of their conversations, Buíça was the first to get up, and mention to the other two he was going to "get the wand", which likely referred to his Winchester
series 2137 carbine
rifle, which had been imported from Germany
by Heitor Ferreira.
By four in the afternoon, Manuel Buíça, Domingos Ribeiro and José Maria Nunes, positioned themselves in the Terreiro do Paço
, near the statute of D. José and near a tree in front of the Ministry of the Kingdom, alongside a kiosk. Alfredo Costa, Fabrício de Lemos and Ximenes assume positions below the arcade of the Ministry, and mingled with the population gathered for the King's arrival by boat.
At about 5:20, as the landau
rounded the square, Manuel Buíça advanced from his position, and from 8–10 meters behind the carriage, he dropped to one knee and fired the first shot. His aim was perfect: the bullet hit the monarch in the neck, immediately snapping his spine at his neck, and effectively killed Carlos I. His second shot only guaranteed the King's death, but may have been directed to the young Prince Royal seated in front of the King. This second shot clipped that amplets on the left shoulder of the King, and caused the king to slump to the right. At this time Alfredo Costa intervenes, jumping on the landau and firing two shots into the back of the King. Buíça moved his position, and fired on the Prince Royal, as the latter was confronting Costa: the first projectile misses, but the second hits Luís Philip in the face (exiting the cranium) killing the Prince.
But Buiça was not finished, and attempted to move position for another volley, when he was interrupted by Henrique da Silva Valente, a soldier of the 12th Infantry, who was in the square. In their brief confrontation, the soldier is hit in the leg. By then a cavalry officer, Lieutenant Francisco Figueira fired on Buíça, hitting him in the leg, and as the assassin attempted to flee, Figueira immobilizes him with a shot that hit his thigh. A police officer finally kills Buíça in the square.
Earlier that day, the autopsy found: a contusion at the top of the cranium, a laceration in his lower back (likely caused by Lieutenant Figueiro's sabre) and a wound to the left breast. This wound was the fatal entry, the bullet clipped the heart and perforated the liver. The recovered bullet was a 6.35 caliber bullet from an automatic pistol, a munition that was not used by the Portuguese police at the time, fueling speculation that some extra-military personnel had finally killed the assassin.
In the afternoon, his cadaver, along with Alfredo Costa and the body of an innocent bystander (Jose Sabino), were gathered by sent to the cemetery in the Alto de São João. The two assassins' bodies were buried in graves 6044 and 6045, but in 1914, they were exhumed and placed in the local mausoleum. Shortly after their burial, permission was given by the acclamation government of Ferreira do Amaral
to allow republican sympathizers to visit the graves. These events were organized by the Associação do Registo Civil, which furnished flowers and paid (500 réis
per person and 200 réis per child) for those that appeared at the graves. After the 5 October Revolution ushered in a republican government, the Associação do Registo Civil acquired a plot in the cemetery and erected a monument to "the heroic liberators of the Fatherland". The monument was eventually dismantled during the Estado Novo, but its elements were never destroyed, but preserved and never replaced.
Around six-months before the regicide of King Carlos and Prince Luis Philip, Manuel Buíça had become a widower, and his children, ages seven and four years, would be left with their maternal grandmother.
There is a belief, primarily in republican circles, that Buíça was an idealist, whose assassination
of the King and Prince Royal, were accomplished as a form of justice and honourable duty for the Fatherland. In his final will, dated January 28, 1908, four days before the Lisbon Regicide
, he wrote the following:
Valpaços
Valpaços is a municipality in northern Portugal with a total area of 548.74 km² and a total population of 19,154 inhabitants.-History:The first documents that cite Valpaços date back to the 12th century...
; 30 December 1876 — Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, 1 February 1908), was Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
schoolteacher, former cavalry Sergeant, and excellent marksman involved with Alfredo Costa in the regicide
Regicide
The broad definition of regicide is the deliberate killing of a monarch, or the person responsible for the killing of a monarch. In a narrower sense, in the British tradition, it refers to the judicial execution of a king after a trial...
of King Carlos I of Portugal
Carlos I of Portugal
-Assassination:On 1 February 1908 the royal family returned from the palace of Vila Viçosa to Lisbon. They travelled by train to Barreiro and, from there, they took a steamer to cross the Tagus River and disembarked at Cais do Sodré in central Lisbon. On their way to the royal palace, the open...
and the Prince Royal, Luis Filipe, during the events that became known as the 1908 Lisbon Regicide
Lisbon Regicide
The Lisbon Regicide was the name given for the assassinations of King Carlos I of Portugal and his heir, Luis Filipe, the Prince Royal by assassins sympathetic to republican interests...
(on February 1, 1908).
Biography
Son of reverend Abílio da Silva Buíça, parish priest of VinhaisVinhais
Vinhais is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 694.9 km² and a total population of 10,051 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of 35 parishes and is located in the district of Bragança....
, and Maria Barroso.
Buíça married twice: the first lasted from 1896 to 1898, and his second, to Hermínia Augusta da Costa, with who he had two children (Elvira e Manuel).
Manuel Buíça had few friends, outside his professional acquaintances, although he was a close colleague of Alfredo Costa and Aquilino Ribeiro
Aquilino Ribeiro
Aquilino Gomes Ribeiro, ComL was a Portuguese writer and diplomat. He is considered as one of the great Portuguese novelists of the 20th century. He was nominated for the Nobel Literature Prize in 1960....
(the latter, with who he referred to in his last testament by name), with whom he mingled at the Café Gelo in the Rossio
Rossio
The Rossio is the popular name of the Pedro IV Square in the city of Lisbon, in Portugal. It is located in the Pombaline Downtown of Lisbon and has been one of its main squares since the Middle Ages...
.
His professional career started with his conscription into the army, where he would achieve the status of second Sergeant, and hold the title of field instructor in shooting, while at the Cavalry Regiment in Braganza. A professional, Buíça also enrolled in the master-at-arms training course, obtaining a medal for first class sharpshooting medallion in the process. Unfortunately, his career in the military was not spotless: there were various infractions and three disciplinary notes in his record.
After the army, Buíça enrolled in courses at the Colégio Nacional, and participated in lessons in music and French.
Elevator coup
On the night of January 28, 1908 several men were arrested by the police around the Lisbon Municipal Library ElevatorMunicipal Library Elevator Coup
The Municipal Library Elevator Coup, The Elevator Coup or 28 January 1908 Coup , was the name given for the attempted coup d'etat by members of the Portuguese Republican Party and Progressive...
. This group of people were later determined to be the principal revolutionaries in an attempted republican coup that was to have effectively occurred on January 28, 1908, but failed. The Janeirada (which colloquially means the January thing), or more commonly referred to as the Municipal Library Elevator Coup
Municipal Library Elevator Coup
The Municipal Library Elevator Coup, The Elevator Coup or 28 January 1908 Coup , was the name given for the attempted coup d'etat by members of the Portuguese Republican Party and Progressive...
, was an attempted coup to assassinate João Franco
João Franco
João Franco Ferreira Pinto Castelo-Branco, GCTE was a Portuguese politician, Minister, 43rd Minister for Treasury Affairs and 73rd Prime Minister in the last years of the Portuguese monarchy...
, proclaim a republic and abolish the monarchy (by this, its King, Carlos I of Portugal
Carlos I of Portugal
-Assassination:On 1 February 1908 the royal family returned from the palace of Vila Viçosa to Lisbon. They travelled by train to Barreiro and, from there, they took a steamer to cross the Tagus River and disembarked at Cais do Sodré in central Lisbon. On their way to the royal palace, the open...
).
A cell
Clandestine cell system
A clandestine cell structure is a method for organizing a group of people in such a way that it can more effectively resist penetration by an opposing organization. Depending on the group's philosophy, its operational area, the communications technologies available, and the nature of the mission,...
of 20 men, led by Alfredo Costa, that also included Manuel Buíça, originally were to assault the Royal Palace
Palace of Necessidades
The Palace of Necessidades is a historical building in the Largo do Rilvas, a public square in Lisbon, Portugal...
, but later, strategically modified their assault to the Quartel dos Lóios, and attacked contingents of the Municipal Guard, around the Rua de Santa Bárbara, until they received word of the revolution (from a particular mortar
Mortar (weapon)
A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
explosion.
The Janeirada was planned by members of the Portuguese Republican Party
Portuguese Republican Party
The Portuguese Republican Party was a Portuguese political party formed during the late years of monarchy that proposed and conducted the substitution of the Constitutional Monarchy by the Portuguese First Republic....
, their enforcers, the Formiga Branca, elements of the Progressive Dissidency Party and the Carbonária
Carbonária
The Carbonária was originally an anti-clerical, revolutionary, conspiratorial society, originally established in Portugal in 1822 but soon disbanded. It was allied with the Italian Carbonari. A new organization of the same name and claiming to be its continuation was founded in 1896 by Artur...
, the latter two providing financing, men and arms. In addition to António José de Almeida
António José de Almeida
António José de Almeida, GCTE, GCA, GCC, GCSE, , son of José António de Almeida and wife Maria Rita das Neves, was a Portuguese political figure...
, there was support from the shadows from Luz de Almeida, the chief of the Carbonária Lusitana, Machado Santos and António Maria da Silva
António Maria da Silva
António Maria da Silva, GCTE was a Portuguese politician. An engineer, he was a prominent member of the Portuguese Republican Party. He was Prime Minister for four times, during the Portuguese First Republic. After his party victory in the legislative elections of 8 November 1925, he was invited...
. The decision to murder the King, was not clear, but these instructions were passed on to Alfredo Costa's group, as part of the coup plans. But, the plans were shelved immediately when, tipped-off by police, João Franco's government began rounding-up the usual suspects in militant republican circles. Those that could escape, did so, while others congregated around São Julião's Elevator and were rounded-up by the police on mass. In fact, the limits were limited to the higher-echelon members and leaders of the anti-monarchist movement, while lower level dissidents and thugs were limited to attacks in the Rato, in Alcântara, in the Campo de Santana, and along the Rua da Escola Politécnica (where one officer was killed).
The back room of the Café Gelo, then a popular meeting place for republican and Carbonária sympathizers, was empty in the following days, except for Manuel Buíça and Alfredo Costa who had escaped the sweep and were not afraid to be seen.
Assassination
On the morning of February 1, 1908, Manuel Buíça met with Alfredo Costa and other CarbonáriaCarbonária
The Carbonária was originally an anti-clerical, revolutionary, conspiratorial society, originally established in Portugal in 1822 but soon disbanded. It was allied with the Italian Carbonari. A new organization of the same name and claiming to be its continuation was founded in 1896 by Artur...
in Quinta do Xexé, in Olivais, where they finalized the regicide of King Carlos I of Portugal
Carlos I of Portugal
-Assassination:On 1 February 1908 the royal family returned from the palace of Vila Viçosa to Lisbon. They travelled by train to Barreiro and, from there, they took a steamer to cross the Tagus River and disembarked at Cais do Sodré in central Lisbon. On their way to the royal palace, the open...
. Around two in the afternoon, Buíça has lunch with Costa and three other conspirators in the corner of the Café Gelo. Near the kitchen, the nook allowed members to converse unnoticed. At the end of their conversations, Buíça was the first to get up, and mention to the other two he was going to "get the wand", which likely referred to his Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
series 2137 carbine
Carbine
A carbine , from French carabine, is a longarm similar to but shorter than a rifle or musket. Many carbines are shortened versions of full rifles, firing the same ammunition at a lower velocity due to a shorter barrel length....
rifle, which had been imported from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
by Heitor Ferreira.
By four in the afternoon, Manuel Buíça, Domingos Ribeiro and José Maria Nunes, positioned themselves in the Terreiro do Paço
Praça do Comércio
The Praça do Comércio is located in the city of Lisbon, Portugal. Situated near the Tagus river, the square is still commonly known as Terreiro do Paço , because it was the location of the Paços da Ribeira until it was destroyed by the great 1755 Lisbon Earthquake...
, near the statute of D. José and near a tree in front of the Ministry of the Kingdom, alongside a kiosk. Alfredo Costa, Fabrício de Lemos and Ximenes assume positions below the arcade of the Ministry, and mingled with the population gathered for the King's arrival by boat.
At about 5:20, as the landau
Landau
Landau or Landau in der Pfalz is an autonomous city surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town , a long-standing cultural centre, and a market and shopping town, surrounded by vineyards and wine-growing villages of the...
rounded the square, Manuel Buíça advanced from his position, and from 8–10 meters behind the carriage, he dropped to one knee and fired the first shot. His aim was perfect: the bullet hit the monarch in the neck, immediately snapping his spine at his neck, and effectively killed Carlos I. His second shot only guaranteed the King's death, but may have been directed to the young Prince Royal seated in front of the King. This second shot clipped that amplets on the left shoulder of the King, and caused the king to slump to the right. At this time Alfredo Costa intervenes, jumping on the landau and firing two shots into the back of the King. Buíça moved his position, and fired on the Prince Royal, as the latter was confronting Costa: the first projectile misses, but the second hits Luís Philip in the face (exiting the cranium) killing the Prince.
But Buiça was not finished, and attempted to move position for another volley, when he was interrupted by Henrique da Silva Valente, a soldier of the 12th Infantry, who was in the square. In their brief confrontation, the soldier is hit in the leg. By then a cavalry officer, Lieutenant Francisco Figueira fired on Buíça, hitting him in the leg, and as the assassin attempted to flee, Figueira immobilizes him with a shot that hit his thigh. A police officer finally kills Buíça in the square.
Afterward
Manuel Buíça, 31 years old, was buried on February 11, 1908; three men, members of the Associação do Registo Civil (English: Association of the Civil Registry) had protested outside the morgue, in order to convince the director to allow them to have a civil funeral.Earlier that day, the autopsy found: a contusion at the top of the cranium, a laceration in his lower back (likely caused by Lieutenant Figueiro's sabre) and a wound to the left breast. This wound was the fatal entry, the bullet clipped the heart and perforated the liver. The recovered bullet was a 6.35 caliber bullet from an automatic pistol, a munition that was not used by the Portuguese police at the time, fueling speculation that some extra-military personnel had finally killed the assassin.
In the afternoon, his cadaver, along with Alfredo Costa and the body of an innocent bystander (Jose Sabino), were gathered by sent to the cemetery in the Alto de São João. The two assassins' bodies were buried in graves 6044 and 6045, but in 1914, they were exhumed and placed in the local mausoleum. Shortly after their burial, permission was given by the acclamation government of Ferreira do Amaral
Francisco Joaquim Ferreira do Amaral
Francisco Joaquim Ferreira do Amaral, GCTS, KCVO was a Portuguese naval commander and politician.-Ancestry:...
to allow republican sympathizers to visit the graves. These events were organized by the Associação do Registo Civil, which furnished flowers and paid (500 réis
Reis
-Surname:Reis is a common surname in the Portuguese language, namely in Portugal and Brazil. It was originally a Christian devotional family name of the Middle Ages, probably due to the Portuguese name for the Biblical Magi, the Reis Magos . Sometimes the surname is dos Reis...
per person and 200 réis per child) for those that appeared at the graves. After the 5 October Revolution ushered in a republican government, the Associação do Registo Civil acquired a plot in the cemetery and erected a monument to "the heroic liberators of the Fatherland". The monument was eventually dismantled during the Estado Novo, but its elements were never destroyed, but preserved and never replaced.
Around six-months before the regicide of King Carlos and Prince Luis Philip, Manuel Buíça had become a widower, and his children, ages seven and four years, would be left with their maternal grandmother.
There is a belief, primarily in republican circles, that Buíça was an idealist, whose assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
of the King and Prince Royal, were accomplished as a form of justice and honourable duty for the Fatherland. In his final will, dated January 28, 1908, four days before the Lisbon Regicide
Lisbon Regicide
The Lisbon Regicide was the name given for the assassinations of King Carlos I of Portugal and his heir, Luis Filipe, the Prince Royal by assassins sympathetic to republican interests...
, he wrote the following:
"Manuel dos Reis da Silva Buiça, widower, son of Augusto da Silva Buiça and Maria Barroso, resident of Vinhais, concelhoConcelhoConcelho , in the Portuguese language, is the word municipality, when referring to the territory. The word município is used when municipality means the organ of State...
of VinhaisVinhaisVinhais is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 694.9 km² and a total population of 10,051 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of 35 parishes and is located in the district of Bragança....
, district of BragançaBragança (district)Bragança District is a traditional political division of Portugal, in the northeast corner bordering on Spain, covering 7.4% of the nations continental landmass. The capital of the district, Bragança, is 217 kilometres from Porto, the second largest town in Portugal, and 107 kilometres and 169...
. I am a native of Bouçoais, concelho of ValpaçosValpaçosValpaços is a municipality in northern Portugal with a total area of 548.74 km² and a total population of 19,154 inhabitants.-History:The first documents that cite Valpaços date back to the 12th century...
, district of Vila Real (Traz-os-MontesTrás-os-Montes (region)Trás-os-Montes was one of the 13 regions of continental Portugal identified by geographer Amorim Girão, in a study published between 1927 and 1930.Together with Alto Douro it formed Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro Province.- See also :...
), married D. Herminia Augusta da Silva Buíça, daughter of a retired major in the cavalry and D. Maria de Jesus Costa. The major was João Augusto da Costa, widower. My wife left me two children, that I know: Elvira, who was born on 19 December 1900, in Rua de Santa Marta, bottom floor, and who is not yet baptised nor civilly registered and Manuel who was born on 12 September 1907 in Escadinhas da Mouraria, No.4, fourth floor and was registered in the administration of the first barrio of Lisbon, on 11 October, in the year above referred.
The witnesses were Albano José Correia, married, employed in commerce and Aquilino RibeiroAquilino RibeiroAquilino Gomes Ribeiro, ComL was a Portuguese writer and diplomat. He is considered as one of the great Portuguese novelists of the 20th century. He was nominated for the Nobel Literature Prize in 1960....
, single, publicist. Both my children live with me and their maternal grandmother in Escadinhas da Mouraria, No.4, 4th floor, left.
My family lives in Vinhaes, where it is likely my death or disappearance, should that be. My children will remain poor; I have nothing to leave them, except my name and my respect and compassion for those who suffer. I plead that they be educated in the principals of liberty, equality and fraternity...and for whom they remain, through providence, in short, orphans.
Lisbon, 28 January 1908. Manuel dos Reis da Silva Buiça. Remember my signature, Rua do Crucifixio, Lisbon.