Pombal
SEBASTIAN JOSEPH DE CARVALHO E MELLO, MARQUIS OF, a Portuguese statesman; born May 13, 1699, at the castle of Soure, near Coimbra. In 1739 he was appointed ambassador in London, and six years later was sent to Vienna in a similar capacity.
Just before Joseph I. ascended the throne of Portugal (1750), Pombal was appointed secretary retary for foreign affairs and Prime Minister in 1756. He crushed a revolt instigated by the great nobles and the Jesuits, and in 1759 banished the latter from the kingdom. Then he abolished slavery in Portugal, set himself to establish good elementary schools, and published a new code of laws. He effected the reorganization of the army, the establishment of an East India Company, and another for Brazil.
The tyranny of the Inquisition was broken. Agriculture, commerce, and the finances were all improved. In 1770 he was created Marquis of Pambal. On the accession of Joseph's daughter, Maria I. (in 1771), who was under the clerical influence, Pombal was deprived of his offices and banished from court, while many of his institutions were abolished.
He died in his castle of Pombal, May 8, 1782.