How did Francisco Manuel de Melo try to move Portuguese prose away from Spanish models?

Francisco Manuel de Melo sought to move Portuguese prose away from Spanish models by consciously striving to free his work from subservience to Spanish form and style. He pursued this goal primarily through his own literary output, most notably in two specific works:1

• Epanáforas de vária história portuguesa (1660): A series of historical episodes that demonstrated his commitment to a distinct Portuguese narrative style.1
• Apólogos dialogais (published posthumously in 1721): A collection of dialogues covering literary and social topics that further reflected his efforts to establish an independent voice.1

While Melo remained a significant figure in both Spanish and Portuguese literature, he was notably more successful in achieving this stylistic independence in his prose than in his verse, as many of his contemporaries continued to be heavily influenced by the Spanish-derived style of Gongorism.1