Nuno Gonçalo Monteiro

A circulação das elites no império dos Bragança (1640-1808): algumas notas

The aim of this article is to discuss the imperial and Atlantic connections and balance in the monarchy of the Braganca dynasty in the XVIII century focusing, on one side, some dimensions of the social and political vocabulary and, on the other, the outstanding processes of circulation and formation of the elite groups. One of the major issues discussed is the identity fractures between the European and the American born social actors in the beginning of the XIX century.The aim of this article is to discuss the imperial and Atlantic connections and balance in the monarchy of the Braganca dynasty in the XVIII century focusing, on one side, some dimensions of the social and political vocabulary and, on the other, the outstanding processes of circulation and formation of the elite groups. One of the major issues discussed is the identity fractures between the European and the American born social actors in the beginning of the XIX century.

La Diplomacia Portuguesa durante el Antiguo Régimen. Perfil sociológico y trayectorias

This article uses a comparative approach to describe the sociological outline of Portuguese diplomacy during the Old Regime. Based on a prosopographic database of the two hundred and thinty seven individuals who headed up the diplomatic missions of the Lusitanian Crown between 1640 and 1834, the article describes the (social and institutional) criteria for selection of those royal servants, and their trajectories before and after their diplomatic service. The database material studied shows that, as in other sectors of the royal administration, the aristocracy also played an important role in the diplomatic sphere. However, the data collected also reveals a somewhat surprising fact: that there were no hegemonic ways of accessing the diplomatic career – it was possible to reach this sector by having served in any of the branches of the administration (the army, the judiciary, the bureaucracy, the church), and we even found many diplomats who had not done prior service in any central institution. This situation of a relative lack of definition in recruitment does not applied to other Crown institutions and points to the markedly political nature of a significant number of diplomatic staff. Finally, the information analysed also shows that the diplomatic service was the anteroom to several prominent careers in politics, especially in the eighteenth century – the majority of the secretaries of state of the King’s government came out of the diplomatic ranks. This article uses a comparative approach to describe the sociological outline of Portuguese diplomacy during the Old Regime. Based on a prosopographic database of the two hundred and thinty seven individuals who headed up the diplomatic missions of the Lusitanian Crown between 1640 and 1834, the article describes the (social and institutional) criteria for selection of those royal servants, and their trajectories before and after their diplomatic service. The database material studied shows that, as in other sectors of the royal administration, the aristocracy also played an important role in the diplomatic sphere. However, the data collected also reveals a somewhat surprising fact: that there were no hegemonic ways of accessing the diplomatic career – it was possible to reach this sector by having served in any of the branches of the administration (the army, the judiciary, the bureaucracy, the church), and we even found many diplomats who had not done prior service in any central institution. This situation of a relative lack of definition in recruitment does not applied to other Crown institutions and points to the markedly political nature of a significant number of diplomatic staff. Finally, the information analysed also shows that the diplomatic service was the anteroom to several prominent careers in politics, especially in the eighteenth century – the majority of the secretaries of state of the King’s government came out of the diplomatic ranks. This article uses a comparative approach to describe the sociological outline of Portuguese diplomacy during the Old Regime. Based on a prosopographic database of the two hundred and thinty seven individuals who headed up the diplomatic missions of the Lusitanian Crown between 1640 and 1834, the article describes the (social and institutional) criteria for selection of those royal servants, and their trajectories before and after their diplomatic service. The database material studied shows that, as in other sectors of the royal administration, the aristocracy also played an important role in the diplomatic sphere. However, the data collected also reveals a somewhat surprising fact: that there were no hegemonic ways of accessing the diplomatic career – it was possible to reach this sector by having served in any of the branches of the administration (the army, the judiciary, the bureaucracy, the church), and we even found many diplomats who had not done prior service in any central institution. This situation of a relative lack of definition in recruitment does not applied to other Crown institutions and points to the markedly political nature of a significant number of diplomatic staff. Finally, the information analysed also shows that the diplomatic service was the anteroom to several prominent careers in politics, especially in the eighteenth century – the majority of the secretaries of state of the King’s government came out of the diplomatic ranks. This article uses a comparative approach to describe the sociological outline of Portuguese diplomacy during the Old Regime. Based on a prosopographic database of the two hundred and thinty seven individuals who headed up the diplomatic missions of the Lusitanian Crown between 1640 and 1834, the article describes the (social and institutional) criteria for selection of those royal servants, and their trajectories before and after their diplomatic service. The database material studied shows that, as in other sectors of the royal administration, the aristocracy also played an important role in the diplomatic sphere. However, the data collected also reveals a somewhat surprising fact: that there were no hegemonic ways of accessing the diplomatic career – it was possible to reach this sector by having served in any of the branches of the administration (the army, the judiciary, the bureaucracy, the church), and we even found many diplomats who had not done prior service in any central institution. This situation of a relative lack of definition in recruitment does not applied to other Crown institutions and points to the markedly political nature of a significant number of diplomatic staff. Finally, the information analysed also shows that the diplomatic service was the anteroom to several prominent careers in politics, especially in the eighteenth century – the majority of the secretaries of state of the King’s government came out of the diplomatic ranks. vv

Mouzinho da Silveira and the Political Culture of Portuguese Liberalism, 1820–1832

Summary Liberalism as an identity and as a political ideology was non-existent in Portugal, as in most of the countries of Ibero-America, before the beginning of the nineteenth century. But the semantic development of the term ‘liberal’ in Portuguese underwent a clear and rapid mutation in the following decades. It became associated with specific meanings in relation to constitutional issues and civil law matters. While the former prevailed between 1820 and 1823, the latter were dominant in the writings of Mouzinho da Silveira and his Civil War legislation of 1832 to 1834.