Who is Padre Bartolomeu de Gusmao from Baltasar and Blimunda and what is their importance?

Padre Bartolomeu de Gusmao (Lorencio) is the novel's energetic genius. An historical figure, the Padre is considered to be one of the ancient fathers of the theory of flight, creating as he did one of the first balloon's for the king of Portugal before the events of this book. Over the course of the novel, he becomes obsessed with the creation of his Passarola, a historical fancy that in real life we are not sure whether it was actually built. Padre Bartolomeu fled Portugal to die in a Northern Spanish convent away from the horror's of the Holy Inquisition.