Baltasar

The character of Baltasar, one of the two main protagonists that the book is named after, is son to Joao Francisco and Marta Maria, a simple peasant couple in the village of Mafra, Portugal.

As a young man, Baltasar goes to war on behalf of the Portugese Inquisition in Northern Spain, where he loses a hand in battle and is retired from the army. His story starts as he makes his way back from the battlefields and attempts to find recompense in the form of a military pension from the Holy Court of the King in Lisbon. Here he encounters his future wife Blimunda, and falls helplessly in love. Whilst his love ties him to the strange girl, he meets her mentor and friend Padre Bartolomeu de Gusmao and is enlisted in his service to help build the first manned airship; the Passarola. Their subsequent adventures as they...