Between Nero and Prometheus: the Marquis of Pombal and the emergence of party history (18th-21st centuries)

Obra sob a coordenação de: José Eduardo Franco, Luiz Eduardo Oliveira e Christine VogelHaving achieved international fame during his lifetime and becoming the political figure most written about inside and outside his native country, the national importance of the Marquis of Pombal was confirmed in 1934, when a monumental statue was erected in his honor in the center of Lisbon, Pombal. However, until today he is the object of polemics and controversies, in universities and at the tables of bars, where, throughout history, supporters and opposers of his political and administrative acts dispute primacy, making the mythology of the Marquis of Pombal something alive in Portuguese culture. In addition to taking care of his own image, Pombal organized a powerful propaganda scheme that did not exclude symbolic paintings, medals, panegyrics, sonnets and theatrical plays in his honor, exerting absolute control over his own biography. However, if during his government his supporters and sycophants glorified him, there were few who remained by his side after the death of D. José and his fall from government, during the so-called “viradeira”. This book, which brings together a team of experienced researchers dedicated to studying of the Pombaline period, is a proof that the Marquis of Pombal, being one of the most fascinating and controversial characters in European history, is part of a central and decisive moment in the history of the Portuguese empire, but also in the process of organization and unification of Brazil.