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

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

Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal and 1st Count of Oeiras (13 May 1699 – 8 May 1782), known as the Marquis of Pombal (Marquês de Pombal; Portuguese pronunciation: [mɐɾˈkeʒ ðɨ põˈbal]), was a Portuguese despotic statesman and diplomat who effectively ruled the Portuguese Empire from 1750 to 1777 as chief minister to King Joseph I. A strong promoter of the absolute power and influenced by the Age of Enlightenment, Pombal led Portugal's recovery from the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and reformed the kingdom's administrative, economic, and ecclesiastical institutions. During his lengthy ministerial career, Pombal accumulated and exercised autocratic power. His cruel persecution of the Portuguese lower classes led him to be known as “Nero of Trafaria”, a village he ordered to be burned with all its inhabitants inside, after refusing to follow his orders. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal has received more than 395,515 page views. His biography is available in 36 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 33 in 2019). Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal is the 2,515th most popular politician (down from 2,510th in 2019), the 66th most popular biography from Portugal (up from 68th in 2019) and the 40th most popular Portuguese Politician.

Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal, was a Portuguese statesman who was the effective ruler of Portugal from 1750 to 1777. His policies have been characterized as enlightened despotism. He was responsible for the destruction of the power of the aristocracy, and for significant economic development.