More Science Than Art: The First Botanical Garden in Portugal (c. 1650)

Gabriel Grisley, a German physician, came to Portugal and founded a garden near the Xabregas River in Lisbon, during the 1610s under the Spanish kings' rule. In view of the utility a botanic garden represented for the kingdom, he was able to obtain a royal privilege from King João IV during the Restauration War against the Spanish (1640–1668). In this garden, plants were cultivated in abundance, both for medical use and study. This paper challenges the idea that Grisley's garden was purely medical and, consequently, that the Garden of Ajuda, founded in 1768, was the first botanic garden established in Portugal. In this article, I argue that Grisley founded the first botanic garden in Portugal.