O testamento político de D. Luís da Cunha : uma proposta de "regeneração" do reino lusitano

Abstract

This research intends to contribute to a major comprehension of the historic context of Portugal in the middle of the 18th century, from the view of Luís da Cunha, a prominent member of the Portuguese society of that time. The main source he used was Testamento Político (Political Testament), a document in which the Portuguese diplomat, who had served in other European countries, reported to the heir to the throne of Portugal, José I, what his kingdom was like. Questions such as the necessity of strengthening the royal power, the good use of the lands intending to obtain better economic results and the strengthening of manufactures of the kingdom were treated in Luís da Cunha s work. Another central point of Testamento Político we talked about was the Roman Catholic Church condition in Portugal, as well as the bad effects of its actions on the economy and society, such as the persecution and expropriation of the Jews converted to Christianity, in Portugal, cristãos-novos. The solutions proposed by Luís da Cunha for the pointed problems show peculiar aspects of his thought. In a certain measure, he innovated when suggested hat Jews should have religious freedom in the kingdom, or for defending the necessity for a more functional administration, intending to reduce the nobility power. However, in other subjects, especially economy, Luís da Cunha s proposal had already been attacked in other countries in Europe. For him, needed changes should be done by the monarch, through a strong state interventionism. This thought, in nations where the capitalist production had been implemented more concretely, was replaced by a liberal thought, in which the regulatory function was not inside the area of competence of state, but it was only to guarantee a structure in which capitalist strengths could operate freely. Thus, the dissertation enables a major comprehension of material conditions of the Portuguese empire in the 18th century, as well as some schools of thought which existed in Europe when Testamento Político was written. All this, from the view of a thinker under obligation with the questions which were at the agenda of the socalled Age of Enlightenment .