Constructing Knowledge: Eighteenth-Century Portugal and the New Sciences

Abstract

The high point of Portuguese science is associated with the Portuguese geographical discoveries of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. A period of decline ensued, which according to some historians continued until the middle of the eighteenth century. The revival of science associated with the modernisation of the Portuguese economy was linked to two events: the 1772 reform of the University of Coimbra implemented by the Marquis of Pombal (1699-1782) and the creation of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Lisbon in 1779, during the reign of Queen Maria I. Long before Pombal’s reforms, however, there was an awareness of the “new sciences.” In the final decades of the seventeenth century and the first half of the eighteenth century, some Portuguese showed interest in modern ideas, thereby starting a process which came to full fruition in the second half of the eighteenth century. The introduction, dissemination and consolidation of the Scientific Revolution in Portugal took a considerable time; it extended throughout the eighteenth century, covering the reigns of King João V (1707-1750), King José I (1750-1777) and Queen Maria I (1777-1792)1. Although they all shared an Absolutist political framework, there were considerable fluctuations in the political and religious orientations of the different monarchs.KeywordsEighteenth CenturyScientific RevolutionRoyal AcademyPeripheral CountryAcademia RealThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.