A Minister of Fierce Spirit

The First Biography of the Marquis of Pombal

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24206/lh.v11i2.68808

Keywords:

biography, history of education, marquis of Pombal

Abstract

This review analyzes the First Biography of the Marquis of Pombal, a manuscript attributed to José Francisco Miguel António de Mendonça (1725-1808), rector of the reformed University of Coimbra between 1780 and 1785 and Cardinal-Patriarch of Lisbon from 1786 onwards. The text, transcribed and edited by Alícia Duhá Lose and Rafael Magalhães, was published in Lisbon in 2025 by Editora Temas e Debates. Based on the biographical and historiographical narratives on the subject, our objective is to explain how this work establishes at least three assumptions and interpretative patterns that have underpinned the biographies and historical studies on the Pombaline period, namely: 1) the  establishment of the place of King D. José I in the shadow of Pombal; 2) the portrayal of Pombal as a tyrannical despot, whose ambition even overrode the interests of the kingdom; and 3) the suggestion that his educational reforms, so celebrated by Portuguese and Brazilian educational historiography, had many flaws and were marked by corruption.

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Author Biography

Luiz Eduardo Oliveira, Universidade Federal de Sergipe

Professor Titular da Universidade Federal de Sergipe, de Produtividade em Pesquisa (PQ 2) / CNPq, editor-gerente da Revista de Estudos de Cultura (REVEC) e Diretor da Cátedra Marquês de Pombal (Camões, I.P. / UFS).

References

BRANCO, Camillo Castelo. Pefil do marquez de Pombal. Porto: Clavel & Cia / Rio de janeiro: L. Couto & Cia, 1882.

BRITO, Ferreira de. Cantigas de escárnio e mal-dizer do marquês de Pombal, ou a crônica rimada da viradeira. Porto: Associação de Jornalistas e Homens de Letras do Porto, 1990.

FRANCO, José Eduardo; OLIVEIRA, Luiz Eduardo. O marquês de Pombal e a unificação do Brasil: pombalino, história e literatura. Lisboa: Temas e Debates, 2024.

MENDONÇA, D. José de. Primeira biografia do marquês de Pombal. Lisboa: Temas e Debates, 2025.

MONTEIRO, Nuno Gonçalo. José na sombra de Pombal. Lisboa: Temas e Debates, 2006.

OLIVEIRA, Luiz Eduardo; FRANCO, José Eduardo. Pombal e a criação do seu próprio mito: o caso da historiografia educacional. Revista Fórum Identidades. Itabaiana-SE, v. 40, n. 1, 2025, p. 167-181. Disponível em: https://periodicos.ufs.br/forumidentidades/article/view/v40p167

OLIVEIRA, Luiz Eduardo. O mito de Inglaterra: anglofilia e anglofobia em Portugal (1386-1986). Lisboa: Gradiva, 2014.

OLIVEIRA, Luiz Eduardo (org.). A legislação pombalina sobre o ensino de línguas: suas implicações na educação brasileira (1757-1827). 2. ed. Aracaju: Criação; Lisboa: Theya, 2022. Disponível em: https://editoracriacao.com.br/a-legislacao-pombalina-sobre-o-ensino-de-linguas-suas-implicacoes-na-educacao-brasileira1757-1827/

SERRÃO, Joaquim Veríssimo. O Marquês de Pombal: o homem, o diplomata e o estadista. Lisboa: Câmaras Municipais de Libsoa, Oeiras e Pombal, 1982.

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Published

2025-09-03

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 2 (2025): 10 anos da Revista LaborHistórico

Section

Resenhas

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Copyright (c) 2025 Luiz Eduardo Oliveira

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