Dissolution of the monasteries in Portugal explained

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]

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.

Notes and 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 ..."