page_title: History of Portugal (1640–1777)
section_title: Marquis of Pombal
hierarchical_section_title: History of Portugal (1640–1777) / Marquis of Pombal
context_page_description: From the restoration of the House of Braganza in 1640 until the end of the reign of the Marquis of Pombal in 1777, the kingdom of Portugal was in a period of transition.
  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.
  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 collapse of Portugal's position in Europe and the world. These events, those at the end of Aviz dynasty, and the period of 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.
context_section_description: When John V died in 1750, he was succeeded by his son Prince Joseph Emmanuel, who reigned as Joseph I. He loved the palatial life, opera, and was devoted to the Catholic Church (Mattoso Vol. IV 1993). He enjoyed the Royal Family's riches of the Brazilian gold and decided, instead of ruling, to delegate all his powers to Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo (Portuguese pronunciation: [sɨβɐʃtiˈɐ̃w̃ ʒuˈzɛ dɨ kɐɾˈvaʎu i ˈmɛlu]), future Count of Oeiras and Marquis of Pombal
  Melo sought to replace Portugal's stagnant absolutism with an enlightened despotism and overhaul all aspects of economic, social and colonial policy to make Portugal a more efficient contender with the other great powers of Europe, and thus secure its own power status as a result. Impressed by the English economic success, which he had witnessed while serving as ambassador in London, he successfully implemented similar economic policies in Portugal. He was responsible for the abolition of slavery in continental Portugal and in Portuguese India in 1769, development of the port wine industry, and the end of discrimination against non-Catholic Christians in Portugal. He also reorganized the army and navy, bringing the total Portuguese military strength to around 90,000 troops. The reformed Portuguese army was put to the test in 1762 when Spain invaded aided by France, during the Seven Years' War. Britain invoked its alliance with Portugal and sent troops. Several months later, the conflict was settled with comparatively little fighting. In 1777, Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of San Ildefonso, which mainly resolved a number of border disputes between their South American colonies.
  During the Age of Enlightenment, Portugal was considered one of Europe's unenlightened backwaters; it was a country of three million with 200,000 people in 538 monasteries in 1750. Melo seems to have been deeply embarrassed by Portugal's much lamented backwardness. Having lived in two major centers of European enlightenment as his country's ambassador to both Vienna and London, he increasingly identified the Jesuits with their alleged doctrinaire grip on science and education as an inherent drag on an independent, Portuguese style illuminism. Especially in England, he came in contact with the anti-Jesuit tradition of that country and in Vienna he made friends with Gerhard van Swieten, a staunch adversary of the Austrian Jesuits and their influence. As prime minister Melo engaged the Jesuits in a dirty propaganda war, which was watched closely by the rest of Europe, and he launched some conspiracy theories about the order's desire for power.
  The Marquis did not confront only the Jesuits. In the course of the Távora affair he accused both the Society of Jesus and a series of powerful noble families surrounding the Távora family of treason and attempted regicide. Melo was an important precursor for the suppression of the Jesuits throughout Europe and its colonies, which culminated in 1773, when Pope Clement XIV abolished the order.
  Further reforms were carried out in education. He created the basis for secular public primary and secondary schools, introduced vocational training, created hundreds of new teaching posts, added departments of mathematics and natural sciences to the University of Coimbra, and introduced new taxes to pay for these reforms.
  But Melo's greatest reforms were economic and financial, with the creation of several companies and guilds to regulate every commercial activity. He demarcated the region for production of port, the first attempt to control wine quality and production in Europe. He ruled with a strong hand by imposing strict laws upon all classes of Portuguese society from the nobility to the working class, and through his widespread review of the country's tax system. These reforms gained him enemies in the upper classes, especially among the high nobility, who despised him as a social upstart. The reform of the wine industry in 1757 provoked riots that were suppressed with considerable bloodshed. When the appatic King Joseph died on February 24, 1777,
caption: Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, Marquis of Pombal, Prime Minister of Portugal
exif: {}