Enlightenment in Portugal
The Portuguese Empire during the reign of King José I (1750-1777) would experinece some of the most drastic changes in centuries.
During the reign of King João V (1706-1750), Portugal's fortunes had improved dramatically with the discovery of diamonds and gold in Brazil, this was followed up with the discovery of even larger quantities of gold in Nova Lusitânia towards the end of his reign. This unprecedented windfall, allowed the Portuguese monarchy to consolidate its absolute rule, as it no longer require the Cortes (Parliament) to raise revenues. The monarchy became the head of a rentier state with the monarch assuming the role of distributor of wealth, titles, essentially buying the support of the elites, and their subjects at large. On the international scale, this wealth also allowed Portugal to build the world's largest navy and an efficient army staffed largely by mercenaries.
However, the increase of gold and diamond wealth had the effect of rapidly increasing foreign imports into Portugal and the Empire. The import of luxury goods from France and manufactured textiles from England, had allowed a significant amount of this gold to flow to northern Europe. Domestic manufacturing largely languished during the first half of the 18th century. Rather, King João V spent amounts of his gold revenues building oppulent palaces, monasteries and public works in Lisbon and its environs. Funds were also lavished on the church as opulent embassies were sent to Rome to curry the favour of the Pope.
During the first years of José I's reign, he largely followed the policies of his father. Indeed, his first act as king in May 1751 was to be acclaimed king with an opulent coronation ceremony. Previously, Portuguese kings had been acclaimed with a fairly simple ceremony followed by a mass. King José I and his court orchestrated a ceremony full of pomp to rival the coronations of the Byzantine Emperors of yesteryear. For his coronation, new crown jewels were commissioned including a heavy diamond-encrusted crown himself, and a smaller one for his consort. A crimson velvet coronation robe lined with ermine and with jewels sewn in by gold, diamond covered sceptres, orbs, and swords was also commissioned in addition to gold coronets, with velvet caps crowned by plumes of dyed ostrich feathers for the nobles. A new tradition also found its way into the coronation ceremony, that of the anointment, with the king being blessed by the Patriarch of Lisbon with oils from a sold gold ampulla as Charlemagne had been. All of these costly ceremonies did serve a purpose, however, they were meant to symbolize the power and divinity of the Portuguese monarch, justifying his absolute rule.
The Lisbon earthquake in 1755 would mark a shift in Portugal's policy as the monarchy reevaluated its role. Though the gold royalties continued to increase dramatically during this period, and those of diamonds too, the king soon began to be influenced by ideas of the enlightenment. Though not abandoning his absolute right to rule, he selected councilors of state whom had been greatly influenced by ideas from France and England. Things did not change immediately, as the rebuilding of Lisbon on a grand scale commenced with opulent public buildings designed largely by French, and Italian architects, and sculptors and painters being imported from all over Europe to decorate this "new Rome".
As the King and his ministers began to look to ancient Rome and Greece for inspiration on statecraft, a plan was formulated to organize the government in a more efficient and rational manner, much in step with the ideas of the enlightenment emerging further north. The first course of action was to curb the power of the Catholic church, to that end, in 1759, the Jesuits were expelled from the Portuguese Empire. The Jesuits had built a state within the state in many parts of the empire, especially in Brazil, and this could no longer be ignored by a government seeking absolute control. This act was heralded by the settlers in the empire, especially in Southern Brazil where they had armed Indians against settlers usurping their lands. This was followed by other measures to curb the church's independence. Among these was to take away powers from the Inquisition. New Christians were given equal status in 1765 by royal decree and in 1768 the state took over the role of censorship. In addition, the king wielded his power to appoint all patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops in the Portuguese Empire by carefully selecting men for their loyalty to the crown rather than their adherence to Catholic doctrine.
During this time, the theory of integrationism began to gain strength in the empire, meaning that Portugal and its Empire formed one unitary nation, and steps should be taken to integrate all of the constituent parts of the empire as much as possible. The king and his ministers had realized that Portugal was far more dependent on its empire than any other European state, and that without the empire Portugal would become a mere province of Spain. The minister of the navy argued that Portugal was merely the "natural place of reunion, for the empire's scattered constituent parts" and that all areas of the empire were equal, Lisbon was merely the sun around which the other constellations revolved. The king's prime minister, the Marquis of Pombal, a new Christian himself sought that "a Portuguese born in the four parts of the world see himself as only Portuguese."
The first step towards integration, was to merge the armies of Brazil and Nova Lusitânia into the army of Portugal. This was largely accomplished by the German Count of Schaumburg-Lippe, as uniforms, ranks, munitions and pay were standardized. Soldiers from the "ultramar" (overseas) were encouraged to serve in Metropolitan Portugal and the crown sought to integrate colonials into the upper ranks of the military and naval establishment, thereby buying their loyalty to the Empire. This was soon followed by the promotion of Brazilians and New Lusitanians into the upper ranks of the civil administration, even in Portugal itself, where many would come to serve as magistrates. In the remote parts of the empire, New Lusitanians were instrumental in the administration, assuming the posts of governors, captains and military commanders, especially in India and Ceylon.
Economically, the mineral bounty of the empire allowed further economic integration, as the remnants of mercantilism were largely discarded. Restrictions on and customs duties "domestic" commerce were abolished opening up new ports to colonial trade and inter-territorial trade. Porto, Natal (NL), Aveiro and several other secondary ports benefited from this immensely. In addition, the Royal Treasury was centralized in Lisbon with each captaincy in the empire having its own "Junta da Fazenda" or local revenue bureau, directly responsible to the Ministry of Finance in Lisbon to standardize, and hopefully provide accurate statements of receipts for local expenditures. This was the beginning of the creation of a large imperial bureaucracy, that would only grow throughout the years. However, this expanding bureaucracy offered new positions in "overseas Portugal" the opportunity to gain prestige and power, offering some the chance to advance in the imperial hierarchy and serve in Lisbon, meanwhile binding their loyalty to the crown.
Another economic measure taken was that of import substitution to promote local manufacturers and keep more gold in the empire. Among the most notable steps taken was the nationalization of the bankrupt silk factory in Rato (Lisbon). Generous subsidies were given as silk manufacturers were hired in France and Italy to build a national silk industry. By the late 1770s these royal factories were also manufacturing porcelains, glass, tapestries and other luxury goods, somewhat stemming the tide of imports from France. In Cabo da Boa Esperança a wool exchange was founded and a factory was established under royal patronage with machines acquired in England to produce woolen manufactures. In southern Brazil, leather manufacturing was promoted by the crown. This was followed by the establishment of goldsmiths and a diamond cutting industry by Portuguese Jews from Amsterdam, who were granted exemption from the Inquisition.
In education, the Jesuit college in Évora was suppressed and became a university, in addition a university was founded in Lisbon. Royal Military Academies were established in Goa, Cabo da Boa Esperança and Rio de Janeiro to train military officers, and a naval academy was also established in Cabo da Boa Esperança to train sailors. However, much of the army and navy remained dependent on well paid German, French, Swiss, English and Dutch officers.
The lavish sums spent by the crown set the precedent for an interventionist government guiding the economy and in many ways stunted the development of an independent bourgeoisie as in England, often considered a prerequisite for democracy. Instead, the crown used its wealth to create a client-patron relationship, increasing the dependence of elites within the empire on the crown. In addition, the government reduced taxation to a level to a point where the public was less likely to demand accountability from and representation in government. Also, a well staffed and well paid militia led largely by foreigners along with the army gave the state the power to suppress dissension, that would be envied by other absolute rulers.
However, with a paucity of skilled workers, and technicians, the crown recruited foreigners from all over Europe to fill positions in the army, navy, bureaucracy. Well paid positions in the new royal factories also attracted foreigners, but at the same time provided little incentive for the Portuguese crown to develop its own talent. Even what educational institutions that were developed during this period were often staffed by Italians, Dutch and other foreigners.
