The Patuleia civil war took place in Portugal between 8 October 1846 and 29 June 1847. It involved the major powers of the Portuguese society at the time: the Constitutional factions, the Chartists and the Absolutists. In this context, a strong underground press emerged, especially in Lisbon, which was the basis of the governmental Chartist power. The O Eco de Santarém and O Espectro were the most important underground constitutional periodicals, published in the capital. They were mostly written by the main Portuguese political journalist of the 19th century - António Rodrigues de Sampaio - who would later become President, and demonstrate the revolutionaries' vitality. The present work provides an outline of both papers, as well as an analysis of their discourse, which focuses frequently on war and personal attacks. It also maintains that such texts served the Patuleia cause, by making the rebels' ideas public, and that even though they benefited from the extraordinary courage of their author, they were not produced by one man alone.
António Rodrigues Sampaio; Political journalism; Underground press; Portugal; Patuleia
