monarch predecessor successor death_date birth_place death_place religion imagesize office birth_date term_start spouse signature image article_title term_end name occupation
josé i josé i gaspar de moscoso e silva azevedo coutinho aires de sá e melo luis da cunha manuel 08 may 1782 lisbon , portugal pombal , portugal roman catholic 245px secretary and war of state of portugal secretary of foreign affairs may 13 , 1699 2 august 1750 2 august 1750 teresa daun luísa de mendonça e almada maria leonor ernestina assinatura marquês de pombal.png o marques de pombal , conde de oeiras.jpg sebastião of pombal
 josé de carvalho e melo , 1st marquis 4 march 1777 6 may 1756 the marquis of pombal politician
sebastião josé de carvalho e melo , 1st marquis article_title_10:of article_title_11:pombal

d. sebastião josé de carvalho e melo , 1st marquis of pombal , 1st count of oeiras -lrb- ; 13 may 1699 -- 8 may 1782 -rrb- was an 18th-century portuguese statesman .
he was secretary of the state of the kingdom of portugal and the algarves -lrb- the equivalent to a today 's prime minister -rrb- in the government of joseph i of portugal from 1750 to 1777 .
undoubtedly the most prominent minister in the government , he is considered today to have been the `` de facto '' head of government .
pombal is notable for his swift and competent leadership in the aftermath of the 1755 lisbon earthquake .
he implemented sweeping economic policies in portugal to regulate commercial activity and standardize quality throughout the country .
pombal was instrumental in weakening the grip of the inquisition .
the term `` pombaline '' is used to describe not only his tenure , but also the architectural style which formed after the great earthquake .
pombal , who was considered an `` estrangeirado '' , introduced many fundamental administrative , educational , economic , and ecclesiastical reforms justified in the name of `` reason '' and instrumental in advancing secularization .
however , historians 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 print censorship and consolidating personal control and profit .
