Society of orders, King João V and the Marquis of Pombal — 11–13
How 18th-century society was organised, how João V ruled, and what changed after the 1755 earthquake.
A king with all the power
In the 18th century Portuguese society was divided into three orders: clergy, nobility and the common people. Clergy and nobility had privileges, such as not paying certain taxes; the people, the great majority, worked and paid. The king, João V, held absolute power: he decided without having to share it, and the Cortes, the assembly that represented the orders, were no longer summoned.
Why the king could rule alone
A king is only absolute if he does not depend on anyone for money. Before, he needed the Cortes' permission to collect taxes. With Brazilian gold, João V had income of his own and stopped summoning them. That money paid for the Mafra convent, the Águas Livres aqueduct and the library of the University of Coimbra.
A case: Lisbon after the earthquake
Step 1: on 1 November 1755 an earthquake, followed by a tsunami and fires, destroys much of Lisbon. Step 2: the minister Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, the future Marquis of Pombal, leads the response. Step 3: the Baixa is rebuilt with wide, straight streets and uniform buildings, with wooden frames designed to withstand earthquakes. Step 4: the government uses the moment to strengthen central power.
The trap: hero or villain?
Pombal is often told in black and white: either the hero who rebuilt Lisbon, or the tyrant. The truth has both sides. He modernised education, reformed the University of Coimbra and encouraged trade and industry; but he governed with censorship and repression, and had members of the Távora family executed, in a trial now regarded as unjust. A historian describes both.
Where you can still see this today
You can walk through the Baixa Pombalina in Lisbon and see the grid layout it was rebuilt with, from Praça do Comércio to Rossio. You can visit the Mafra convent, the Águas Livres aqueduct and the Joanine Library in Coimbra — three works from João V's time that are still standing and open to visitors.
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