|
Portugal Absolutism
Pedro II was succeeded by João V (r.1706-50), a youth
of
seventeen. He was an energetic king who introduced
absolutist
rule into Portugal, copying the style of the royal court
of Louis
XIV of France. Brazilian gold allowed João V to spend
lavishly on
major architectural works, the greatest being the royal
palace at
Mafra, begun in 1717, which sought to rival the Escorial
in
Spain. He also endowed the University of Coimbra with an
elegantly decorated library, and built the Aqueduct of
Free
Waters (Aqueduto das Águas Livres) that brought water to
Lisbon.
João encouraged the development of decorative arts such as
furniture design, clockmaking, and tapestry weaving. He
pursued
mercantilist policies to protect indigenous industries,
including
papermaking at Lousã, glassmaking at Marinha Grande, and
textile
weaving at Covilhã . He subsidized the publication of
notable
works such as Caetano de Sousa's História Geneológica
da Casa
Real. All in all, João V animated what has been called
Portugal's second renaissance.
João V died in 1750 and was succeeded by his son José I
(r.1750-77) who was indolent and placed the reins of
government
into the hands of Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, later
the
Marquês de Pombal. A petty noble who managed to surmount
Portugal's rigid class system by a combination of energy,
intelligence, good looks, and a shrewd marriage, Pombal
became
the veritable dictator of Portugal. Once Portugal's
ambassador to
Britain and Austria, Pombal had been influenced by the
ideas of
the Enlightenment. Realizing how backward Portugal was, he
sought
through a ruthless despotism to reform it and create a
middle
class.
On the morning of November 1, 1755, a violent
earthquake
shook Lisbon and demolished most of the city. Thousands
were
killed in the subsequent fire and tidal wave. Pombal, who
was at
Belém at the time, energetically took appropriate
measures. He
improvised hospitals for the injured, controlled prices
for
various services, requisitioned food from the countryside,
and
organized public security. He decided to rebuild the city
after a
survey of the ruins. Under the direction of the architect
Eugénio
dos Santos and the engineer Manuel da Maia, a master plan
for a
new city was drawn up. The old city center was cleared of
rubble
and divided into squares of long avenues and cross
streets. New
buildings conforming to a standard architectural style
were
quickly erected using the latest construction techniques.
Lisbon
thus emerged from the earthquake as Europe's first planned
city.
Flanked by the Praça do Rossio at one end, and the Praça
do
Comêrcio at the other, this quarter of the city is known
today as
the Baixa Pombalina.
For his prompt and efficient action, Pombal was
elevated to
chief minister, which allowed him to consolidate his
power.
Desiring to destroy all forces within the society that
could
oppose his plans for modernizing Portugal, he began to
systematically annihilate them, beginning with the
nobility. An
attempt on the life of the king on September 3, 1758
provided
Pombal with a pretext to take action against the nobility.
He
accused many nobles of responsibility for the attempt and
arrested about 1,000 individuals. Many confessed under
brutal
torture and were executed.
Pombal also attempted to rid Portugal of the Jesuits,
whom he
accused of taking part in the attempt on the king's life.
He
searched the houses belonging to the Jesuits, confiscated
their
belongings, closed their schools, and, in 1759, expelled
them
from the kingdom and its overseas possessions. In an
effort to
restrain the church, Pombal broke diplomatic relations
with the
Holy See in 1760 and imprisoned the bishop of Coimbra.
Pombal's economic policies were inspired by the
protectionist
doctrines of Colbert, which gave royal companies
monopolies in
certain fields. Following the initiatives in this regard
established by the count of Ericeira, Pombal prohibited
the
export of gold and silver. In order to increase cereal
cultivation, he prohibited the growing of grape vines in
certain
areas of the country. He protected the winemaking industry
by
founding, in 1756, a company with a monopoly on exporting
port
wine. Pombal created other companies with exclusive rights
to
commercial activities in various regions of Brazil, as
well as a
fishing and processing company for sardines and tuna in
Portuguese waters. He transformed the silk industry into a
textile industry and turned over the operation of the
glassmaking
factory at Marinha Grande to a British manager, who
introduced
new manufacturing techniques.
Pombal also made notable changes in the area of
education.
After expelling the Jesuits and confiscating their
schools, he
took the first steps toward establishing a system of
public
instruction. He founded a commercial school and
established
schools, paid for with a special tax, in the major cities.
In
addition, Pombal instituted numerous reforms of the
university,
whose decline he blamed on the Jesuits. He created two new
departments--mathematics and philosophy--and increased the
number
of professors in the already existing departments. He put
forward
new methods of instruction based on the writings of Luís
António
Verney and António Nunes that stressed observation and
experience, and set up laboratories, a natural history
museum, a
botanical garden, and an observatory.
José I died in 1777 and was succeeded on the throne by
his
daughter Maria I (r.1777-92), who dismissed Pombal and
banished
him to the village of Pombal. She immediately freed
hundreds of
prisoners, restored the old nobility to it former status,
reestablished relations with the Holy See, revoked laws
against
the clergy, abolished many of the state companies, and
generally
dismantled Pombal's dictatorship. The strong, secular
society
that Pombal hoped to create did not materialize, and the
old
social and economic order quickly restored itself.
Data as of January 1993
|
