History of Portugal (1640–1777)
From the House of Braganza restoration in 1640 until the end of the reign of the Marquis of Pombal in 1777, the Kingdom of Portugal was in a transition period. Having been near its height at the start of the Iberian Union, the Portuguese Empire continued to enjoy the widespread influence in the world during this period that had characterized the period of the Discoveries. By the end of this period, however, the fortunes of Portugal and its empire had declined, culminating with the Távora affair, the catastrophic 1755 Lisbon earthquake, and the accession of Maria I, the first ruling Queen of Portugal.
Kingdom of Portugal and the AlgarvesReyno de Portugal et d'los Algarves
The opulent use of Brazilian gold, the absolutist regime, the movement toward the independence of Brazil, the Methuen Treaty and the Lisbon earthquake contributed to the decline of Portugal's position in Europe and the world. These events, those at the end of the Aviz dynasty, and the period of the Iberian Union forced Portugal to depend more on its colonies, first India and then Brazil. This shift from India to Brazil was a natural consequence of the rise of the Dutch as well as the British Empire. A similar shift occurred after Brazil gained independence, leading Portugal to focus more on its possessions in Africa.
The early 18th century, known as the Pombaline Era after Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, Marquis of Pombal, was a period of dictatorship and wide-ranging reforms. The Marquis of Pombal was appointed by Joseph I, who had little inclination to rule. He initiated many reforms intended to modernize the country and attacked the power of the privileged nobility and clergy, notably in the case of the Távora affair and the expulsion of the Jesuits. He was also the leader of the reconstruction of Lisbon after the earthquake in 1755. However, historians also argue that Pombal's "enlightenment," while far-reaching, was primarily a mechanism for enhancing autocracy at the expense of individual liberty and especially an apparatus for crushing opposition, suppressing criticism, and furthering colonial economic exploitation as well as intensifying book censorship and consolidating personal control and profit.[1]
Soon after the death of Joseph in 1777, his daughter Maria I dismissed Pombal, and prohibited him from coming within 20 miles of her.
Restoration War[edit]
The subsequent war with Spain, named the Restoration War, consisted mainly of periodic skirmishes near the border and five significant battles, being the Battle of Montijo on 26 May 1644, the Battle of the Lines of Elvas on 14 January 1659, the Battle of Ameixial on 8 June 1663, the Battle of Castelo Rodrigo 7 July 1664, and the Battle of Montes Claros 17 June 1665; the Portuguese were victorious in all of these battles.
The victories were possible because John IV made several decisions that strengthened the Portuguese forces. On December 11, 1640, he created the Council of War to organize the operations (Mattoso Vol. VIII 1993). Next, the king created the Junta of the Frontiers, to take care of the fortresses near the border, the hypothetical defense of Lisbon, and the garrisons and sea ports. In December 1641, he created a tenancy to assure upgrades on all Portuguese fortresses, paid for with regional taxes. John IV also organized the army, establishing the Military Laws of King Sebastian, and developed an intense diplomatic activity that restored good relations with England.
After several decisive victories, John quickly tried to make peace with Spain. His demand that Spain recognize the legitimacy of Portugal's new ruling dynasty, the House of Braganza, was not fulfilled until the reign of his son Afonso VI during the regency of Peter of Braganza (another son of John and future King Peter II of Portugal).
Expulsion of the Jesuits[edit]
The expulsion of the Jesuits from Portugal has been seen as a quarrel with Prime Minister Sebastião de Melo, Marquis of Pombal. Melo's quarrel with the Jesuits began over an exchange of South American colonial territory with Spain. By a secret treaty of 1750, Portugal relinquished to Spain the contested colony of Colónia do Sacramento at the mouth of the Uruguay River in exchange for the Seven Reductions of Paraguay, the autonomous Jesuit missions that had been nominal Spanish colonial territory. The Jesuits, disagreeing with transfers of Guaraní populations from one territory to another, caused the Guaraní War[3] and Portugal, fearing an attempt to build an independent empire in the New World, forbade the Jesuits to continue the local administration of their former missions. Portuguese Jesuits were removed from the court.
On April 1, 1758, a brief was obtained from the aged Pope Benedict XIV, appointing the Portuguese Cardinal Saldanha, recommended by Pombal, to investigate allegations against the Jesuits that had been raised in the King of Portugal's name. Benedict was skeptical as to the gravity of the alleged abuses. He ordered a minute inquiry, but to safeguard the Society's reputation, all serious matters were to be referred back to him. Benedict died the following month, however, on May 3. On May 15, Saldanha, having received the papal brief only a fortnight before, omitting the thorough visitation of Jesuit houses that had been ordered, and pronouncing on the issues the pope had reserved to himself, declared that the Jesuits were guilty of exercising illicit, public, and scandalous commerce, both in Portugal and in its colonies. Pombal moved quickly during the papal sede vacante. In three weeks, the Jesuits were stripped of all Portuguese possessions, and before Cardinal Rezzonico had been made pope as Clement XIII on July 6, 1758, the Portuguese dispossession of the Society was a fait accompli.
The last straw for the Court of Portugal was the attempted assassination of the king on September 3, 1758, of which the Jesuits were alleged to have had prior knowledge (see the Távora affair below). Among those arrested and executed was Gabriel Malagrida, the Jesuit confessor of Leonor of Távora. The Jesuits were expelled from the kingdom; important non-Portuguese members of the Order were imprisoned. The Order was civilly suppressed in 1759. The Portuguese ambassador was recalled from Rome and the papal nuncio sent home in disgrace. Relations between Portugal and Rome were broken off until 1770.