Dissolution of the monasteries in Portugal

The dissolution of the monasteries in Portugal was a nationalization of the property of male monastic orders effected by a decree of 28 May 1834 enacted by Joaquim António de Aguiar at the conclusion of the Portuguese Civil War.^[1] Portugal thus terminated the state sanction of male religious orders, and nationalized the lands and possessions of over 500 monasteries.^[2] The new government hoped to distribute land and goods in the hands among the poorer landowners, but there were few who could buy.^[3]

Background

Although monasteries in Portugal are historically seen to have been crucial centres of religious and intellectual life, they were not immune to controversy. For one, beginning in the 17th century, there was already an emerging concern about the effects that the surge in novices had on the Portuguese economy. There was also a growing distance between the monasteries and secular political life which furthered their controversial status in the country.^[4]

The extinction of the monasteries can be traced back to the 17th century when smaller monasteries were forced to dissolve so that their finances could be consolidated into the larger branches of their congregations. This pattern was mainly driven by the enthusiasm for renewal engendered by the formation of the Autonomous Congregation of Alcobaça; however, the situation for smaller monasteries worsened after the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake. This earthquake destroyed a large segment of Portuguese monasteries, necessitating mass construction projects to rebuild them. Rather than focus on rebuilding all the monasteries, the Portuguese monarchy decided to focus on further consolidating the resources of larger monasteries such as the College of Conceição. This established a precedent which gave the Portuguese government full authority to reform, dissolve, and consolidate Cistercian monasteries at will.^[5]

See Also

• History of Portugal (1834–1910)
• History of Roman Catholicism in Portugal
• Joaquim António de Aguiar
• Religion in Portugal
• Suppression of monasteries, elsewhere in Europe.

References

1. Cambridge University Library: The Great Collections - Page 141 Peter Fox - 1998 "Portugal dissolved all its monasteries in 1834 ..."
2. Eltjo Buringh Medieval Manuscript Production in the Latin West 2011- Page 218 "In Portugal, the decree of 28 May 1834 led to the dissolution of at least 500 monasteries, in a country that had one of the highest densities of ..."
3. H. V. Livermore Portugal: A Traveller's History 2004- Page 30 "Its most dramatic act was the dissolution of the monasteries enacted by J J de Aguiar in May 1834. In the England of Henry VIII the seizure had greatly enriched the aristocracy, but in the Portugal of Maria II there were few who could buy: the ..."
4. "Presence of the Catholic Church". Quake Museum - Expect the unexpected. Retrieved 2024-12-03.
5. Martins, Ana M.T. (2017). "Review of Portuguese Cistercian Monastic Heritage". IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering: 6.