Pombal, Sebastian José de Carvalho

From an impoverished provincial noble family. Father - a retired cavalry captain Manuel de Carvalho y Ataide came from the province of Leiria . Mother - Teresa Louise de Mendoza de Melou - was a native of Brazil .

He studied law and theology at Coimbra University . His uncle Paulo de Carvalho was a professor at this university and had connections in church circles. But Sebastian refused a church career and enlisted in the army.

Having lost interest in military affairs, in 1722 he married the rich widow Teresa Louise de Mendoza i Almada (1689-1737), niece of Count de Arcos , and settled on her estate Melo near Pombal . There he continued to engage in self-education, and also became interested in agriculture. By right, the mayorata inherited the possession of his uncle Paulo de Carvalho in Oeiras and Sintra .

In 1733 he became a member of the Royal Academy of History .

In 1738, he was introduced by his uncle, Cardinal Juan da Mota y Silva , who in 1736 became Secretary of State for Internal Affairs (first minister), King Joao V. Widowed a year earlier, Carvalho decided to devote himself to state affairs and readily accepted the appointment as ambassador to London .

Britain has historically been Portugal's main foreign policy ally, so the ambassador in London had more opportunities to distinguish himself than ambassadors in other European capitals. The main concern of Carvalho was the development of Anglo-Portuguese trade relations, he urged English businessmen to visit friendly Lisbon at least once. The Portuguese was so impressed with the political and social achievements of British capitalism that he decided to instill them in his compatriots. Obviously, then he had a program of modernization of the feudal - clerical Portuguese society.

In 1745, Carvalho was transferred by the king from London to Vienna , where he had to mediate in an intricate dispute between Empress Maria Theresa and the Holy See . This mission was a complete success and glorified the Portuguese diplomat throughout Europe.

In December 1745, he married Countess Eleanor-Ernestine-Eva-Wolfgang von Down, cousin of the famous Field Marshal Leopold Joseph von Down ^[3] . Two sons and two daughters were born in the family.

Having received news of the king’s critical health condition, Carvalho filed a resignation letter in 1749, citing the morbidity of the Eastern European climate, and hurriedly returned to Lisbon . King Juan V received Carvalho coolly. He remained in the shadows until August 2, 1750, when, after the death of Juan V, his widow Maria Anna of Austria obtained the appointment of a retired diplomat to the post of Secretary of State for Foreign and Military Affairs from her son, King Joseph I Using the full confidence of the king, Carvalho gained control over other ministries. May 6, 1756 was appointed Secretary of State for Internal Affairs.

Carvalho launched reforms unprecedented in Portuguese history.

In the spirit of “ enlightened absolutism, ” he carried out a series of reforms aimed at strengthening royal power and improving public administration: he created new state structures, including the Trade Council, the Royal Treasury , the Royal Court of Auditors , the Council of Literary Oversight, the Royal Censorship Council - previously the Inquisition was in charge of censorship . Reformed tax collection system and customs. He carried out military reform. As a result of judicial reform, the scope of application of Roman and canon law was limited, an court of appeal from judges appointed by the king was introduced, legal differences between the " old " and " new " Christians were canceled.

In the field of economics, he was a supporter of protectionism and mercantilism. Showered with privileges Portuguese manufactories, he imposed a ban on the export of raw materials, which led to the establishment of national production of silk, glass and ceramics. He encouraged the creation of private companies with state participation: the Asian Company (1753), for conducting business in India, the Pernambuco and Paraiba Company (1756), for the development of Brazilian trade, the Universal Royal Fishing Company in the Algarve (1773). Trading courses were established. The right of the majorate was extended to merchants. In 1756, while promoting winemaking , Carvalho issued a law defining the boundaries of the grape planting area and regulating in detail the method of making port wine . To supervise product quality, he founded the General Agricultural Wine Company in Altu-Douro .

On November 1, 1755, Portugal shuddered at the earthquake , the worst in the history of the 18th century. Two-thirds of Lisbon lay in ruins. Pombal announced general mobilization , distributed food supplies from military depots to the population and deployed field hospitals and temporary tents everywhere. The day after the earthquake, he was already developing plans for rebuilding the country. After these events, he went down in history with the phrase: “Bury the dead and heal the living.” Under his leadership, the almost completely destroyed medieval Lisbon was rebuilt and turned into one of the most modern and elegant capitals of Europe, and the variety of baroque , beloved by Portuguese builders , went down in the history of architecture under the name of the Pombal style ^[4] .

Carvalho's decisive actions strengthened his international prestige and strengthened the king's respect for him. Accordingly, resistance to his reforms from the higher aristocracy and the Catholic Church grew, in particular the influential Jesuit order . In 1756, Carvalho suppressed a conspiracy of representatives of the highest nobility. In 1757, it pacified a popular uprising in Porto .

September 3, 1758 was an unsuccessful attempt on the king. Carvalho blamed his organization on the Duke de Aveiro and the Marquises de Tavor , who were arrested and executed on January 13, 1759, and their property was confiscated. By decree of September 3, 1759, the Jesuits, accused of involvement in the assassination of the king, were expelled from Portugal and its colonies , and the property of the order was transferred to the treasury.

After exposing the “Jesuit conspiracy” (which, according to historians, was fabricated), Carvalho’s power became absolute. July 15, 1759 he was given the title of Count de Oeiras , and September 16, 1769 - the Marquis de Pombal .

After the expulsion of the Jesuits, Carvalho carried out a reform of education. In his opinion, education should be provided in accordance with the social situation: peasants and small artisans do not need it, secondary education is intended for small civil servants, higher university education is for the elite. In 1759 classes were organized to study Latin grammar and rhetoric . In 1761, the Noble College in Lisbon was established, where the main attention was paid to the exact sciences. In total, during the reign of Pombal, over 800 secular schools were opened in Portugal. In 1772 a law was passed introducing the posts of primary school teachers. In the same year, a new charter was published for the University of Coimbra, the system and content of the educational process were changed taking into account the scientific achievements of the XVII-XVIII centuries, new faculties were created - mathematical and philosophical, physics laboratory, botanical garden, anatomical theater, observatory.

Portuguese in Brazil

The contribution of the Marquis de Pombal to the development of the Portuguese language was very significant, since he legitimized his position in the territory of the largest colony - Brazil . In 1758, Pombal made Portuguese the only official language of Brazil, prohibiting the use of the previously creoled pidgin Lingua-Geral Nyengatu . By the beginning of the 19th century, Brazil was becoming the largest Portuguese-speaking country on the planet, occupying this position to this day (See Portuguese in Brazil ).

In 1763, at the initiative of Pombal, the capital of Brazil was moved from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro .

Foreign Policy

Pombal in the long run sought to weaken Portugal's economic dependence on Britain. But in 1761 he rejected the ultimatum of the French and Spanish kings, who demanded, under the threat of war, to break off all relations with Britain. As a result, in the same year, Portugal entered the Seven Years War on the side of Britain. With the help of English troops in 1762, the Spanish-French invasion of Portugal was three times repulsed. Under the terms of the Paris Peace Treaty of 1763, Portugal and Spain returned to their pre-war borders. But disputes surrounding territories in South America remained unresolved: contrary to the terms of the peace treaty, Spain refused to return the Colonia del Sacramento fortress in the Eastern zone and the territory of Rio Grande in South Brazil seized during the Seven Years War. Preparing to continue the struggle, in 1767 Pombal began to form an army in Brazil. In 1776, a new war began with Spain , the fighting in which was limited to the territory of disputed areas in South America. In 1777, a peace treaty was signed, under which Spain returned to Portugal the territory of the Rio Grande.

After the death of King Joseph I at the beginning of 1777, his daughter Mary I , a zealous Catholic, who was called the Pious for her piety, ascended the throne. She ordered the release of all political prisoners. As a result of court intrigues, Pombal was accused of abuse, was dismissed on March 4, 1777, stripped of his marquis de Pombal and Count de Oeiras ^[5] and exiled to his estate. In 1779, a trial began over him. In 1781, he was convicted and sentenced to death, replaced by life-time expulsion from the capital. Most of his possessions were confiscated. The next year he died at his estate in Pombal. Almost all of his reforms were canceled.

A historical joke says that the King of Portugal, Jose I, ordered that any Portuguese who had any kind of kinship with the Jews wear a yellow hat. A few days later, the Marquis de Pombal appeared at the court, holding three such hats in his hands. The astonished king asked: “What does this mean?” Pombal replied that he intended to fulfill the king’s order. “But,” the king asked, “why do you need three hats?” “One of them is for me,” answered the Marquis, “the other is for the great inquisitor, and the third is in case Your Majesty wishes to cover her head” ^[6] .

• Marcus Cheke, Dictator of Portugal: A Life of the Marquis of Pombal, 1699-1782 . Sidgwick & Jackson Ltd, 1969.
• David Francis. Portugal 1715-1808: Joanine, Pombaline And Rococo Portugal As Seen by British Diplomats and Traders. Boydell & Brewer, 1985.