Bartolomeu de Gusmão's Balloon Flight
- When
- 1709
- Where
- Portugal; Unspecified location in Portugal; Casa da Índia, Lisbon
- Episodes
- 3
In 1709, Bartolomeu de Gusmão petitioned King John V for his airship invention. A test set for 24 June 1709 did not take place. On 8 August 1709, he propelled a small balloon to the roof at the Casa da Índia in Lisbon using combustion from a flame.
Episodes
- Petition to King John V
Gusmão petitioned King John V in 1709 for support of his airship invention, expressing high confidence in its capabilities.
- Cancelled June Test
A public test of Gusmão's machine scheduled for 24 June 1709 did not take place, delaying the public demonstration.
- Casa da Índia Exhibition
On 8 August 1709, Gusmão propelled a small balloon to the roof at the Casa da Índia in Lisbon using combustion from a flame.
Background and detail
Background. Bartolomeu Lourenço de Gusmão was a Portuguese Catholic priest and naturalist born in colonial Brazil. He was a pioneer of lighter-than-air aerostat design, being among the first scholars to understand the operational principles of the hot air balloon and to build a functional prototype.
Royal Petition. In 1709, Gusmão presented a petition to King John V of Portugal seeking royal favour for his airship invention. He expressed great confidence in the device, which he described in a manifesto about sailing through the element of air.
Demonstration. A public test scheduled for 24 June 1709 did not take place. On 8 August 1709, Gusmão gave a public exhibition before the Court in the hall of the Casa da Índia in Lisbon, where he propelled a small balloon to the roof using combustion from a flame.
People involved
- Bartolomeu de Gusmão · Inventor and demonstrator
- King John V of Portugal · Recipient of petition
Sources
- Bartolomeu de Gusmão Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-06
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.