Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal

Portuguese noble and diplomat

Date of Birth: 13-May-1699

Place of Birth: Lisbon, Lisbon District, Portugal

Date of Death: 08-May-1782

Profession: politician, urban planner, diplomat, seismologist

Nationality: Portugal

Zodiac Sign: Taurus


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About Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal

  • Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal, 1st Count of Oeiras (13 May 1699 – 8 May 1782), popularly known as the Marquis of Pombal (Marquês de Pombal; Portuguese pronunciation: [m??'ke? d? põ'ba?]), was an 18th-century Portuguese statesman.
  • He was Secretary of the State of Internal Affairs of the Kingdom (the equivalent of a Prime Minister today) in the government of Joseph I of Portugal from 1750 to 1777.
  • Undoubtedly the most prominent minister in the government, he is considered to have been its de facto head.
  • 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 standardise quality throughout the country, and 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 adopted in Lisbon 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 secularisation in Portugal.
  • However, historians argue that Pombal's implementation of the ideas of the "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.
  • He was the leading opponent of the Jesuits across Europe.

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