Pombal, Marquês de (Sebastião José de Carvalho e Mello) (1699–1782)

Marquês de Pombal (Sebastião José de Carvalho e Mello; b. 13 May 1699; d. 8 May 1782), Portuguese diplomat and initiator of reforms in Brazil. Pombal, the eldest of twelve children, came from a family of modest gentry who had served as soldiers, priests, and state functionaries within Portugal and occasionally in its extensive overseas empire. He studied law at Coimbra University and served as ambassador to England (1739–1745) and envoy to Austria (1745–1749). His father had served in both the army and the navy, and had been an officer of the court cavalry. An uncle, an archpriest of the Lisbon patriarchy, managed an entailed estate consisting of a mansion on the present-day Rua do Sécolo in Lisbon (Pombal's birthplace) and an estate in Oeiras, a small town overlooking the Tagus estuary near Lisbon. Pombal inherited both properties; and it was at Oeiras, after his return from diplomatic service in Vienna in 1750, that he built an impressive country house and accumulated further landholdings.

Pombal's noble status was not hereditary but a reward for service to the monarch and to the Portuguese state. His background was neither as grand as his title might imply nor as modest as his enemies claimed. In fact, it was much like that of many ministers the absolutist monarchs chose to strengthen their power and enhance that of the state. His honors came late in life: he was made count of Oeiras in 1759 and was granted the title of Marquês de Pombal in 1769. During that time he was secretary of state and foreign affairs (1750–1776), which meant he virtually ruled Portugal. In 1777, however, Queen Maria I stripped him of all power.

His brothers Paulo and Francisco were close collaborators in his administration. Paulo, a priest, was elevated to cardinal by Pope Clement XIV and subsequently became inquisitor general and president of the Municipal Council of Lisbon (a post to which Pombal later appointed his eldest son, Henrique, following the death of Paulo). Francisco served as governor and captain general of the Brazilian provinces of Grão Pará and Maranhão (an area that essentially covered the vast Amazon Basin); later, in Lisbon, Pombal appointed him secretary of state for the overseas dominions. Since neither Francisco nor Paulo married, they pooled their financial resources and property in Pombal's interest.

See alsoMaria I of Portugal; Pombaline Reforms.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kenneth Maxwell, Pombal: Paradox of the Enlightenment (1995).

Additional Bibliography

Brito, Ferreira de. Cantigas de escárnio e mal-dizer do Marquês de Pombal, ou, A crónica rimada da Viradeira. Porto: Associação de Jornalistas e Homens de Letras do Porto, 1990.

Lopes, António. O Marquês de Pombal e a Companhia de Jesus: Correspondência inédita ao longo de 115 cartas (de 1743 a 1751). Cascais: Principia, 1999.

Lopes, António. Enigma Pombal: Nova documentação, tentativa de interpretação. Lisboa: Roma editora, 2002.

Santos, J. J. Carvalhão. Literatura e política: Pombalismo e antipombalismo. Coimbra: Livraria Minerva, 1991.

Theilemann, Werner. Século XVIII: Século das luzes: Século de Pombal. Frankfurt am Main: TFM, 2001.

                                      Kenneth Maxwell