Search

Recentemente tem sido muito propalada a ideia de que Cristóvão Colombo teria sido português, natural da vila de Cuba, e agente secreto de D. João II, aduzindo como prova sobretudo a toponímia das terras que descobriu. Na realidade, os topónimos que lhe têm sido atribuídos ou não são da sua autoria ou se justificam por razões que as fontes coevas nos explicam. Tampouco há razão para preferir o apelido Colón a Colombo, visto a documentação provar claramente que, sucessivamente, usou ambos. Quanto aos serviços a D. João II, prestou‑lhe o pior que se poderia imaginar: desviar para o Atlântico, onde entravam facilmente em choque com os interesses portugueses as atenções de uma Espanha unificada voltada para o interior da Península, para o Magrebe e para o Mediterrâneo., In Portuguese private law, as it happens in other legal systems in continental Europe, the removal of the benefits obtained by the injuring party as a result of his committing the unlawful act do not fall within the scope of civil liability. In general, the restitution of patrimonial advantages obtained via intervention in the legal rights of another has been dealt with in law according to the rules of unjust enrichment. However, in our view, there is a relationship between the presuppositions of civil liability and the recognition of the duty to disgorge illegal profits and, even, of punitive effects. According to Article 496 (1) of the Portuguese Civil Code, any non-patrimonial damage which, due to its severity, warrants legal protection is indemnifiable. We advocate that a relevant non-patrimonial damage occurs whenever an economic benefit for a third party is the result of the culpable sacrificing of rights of the injured party. It is damage which is born out of a rupture in the fair patrimonial relationship between individuals. Compensation for this damage may only, naturally, be achieved by passing into the sphere of the injured party the advantages that the third party obtained unlawfully. The restitution of profit as a consequence of civil liability is nothing more than complying with the need to satisfy the injured party, both with regard to the fixing of compensation for other non-patrimonial damage, and in the autonomous restoring of the situation prior to this harm.