A Priestly Project to Fly [17--] (Portugal)   1 Page of a bound volume of 204 pages, paper; dimension of the design: 21,6 x 30 cm; book: 22,5 × 47 × 2 cm Torre do Tombo National Archive of Portugal PT/TT/MSLIV/1011 The idea of human flight has fired our imagination since antiquity. A constant theme for writers and artists, it also fascinated inventors and scientists. In 1709 a young Jesuit priest called Bartolomeu Lourenço de Gusmão petitioned the Portuguese King, John V, for the right to construct a vehicle to move in the sky. According to Gusmão, his vehicle would be able to fly for more than two hundred leagues over sea or land. Besides its obvious military application, the vehicle could also reach the regions near the poles of the world, thus adding further glory to the King of Portugal. The King was obviously interested by the idea and just a few days afterwards, on 17 April 1709, authorised the construction, granting exclusive rights to the Jesuit father. Outland...