Devourism

Devourism (Portuguese: Devorismo) was the pejorative term to describe the political regime which established itself in Portugal following the Liberal Wars, particularly during the period from 24 September 1834 to 9 September 1836, while the Constitutional Charter of 1826 was in effect. It was intended to convey a sense of unprincipled greed, whereby leading politicians spent public funds in abundance to secure personal gain for themselves or their associates.[1][2]: 318 [3]: 189 [4] The term was coined after a piece of legislation was drafted on 15 April 1835, which provided for the sale of national property and property of the Catholic Church, and facilitated their disposal among leading members of the liberal party.[5]

One of the great reforms of this period was the reform of local administration, which divided the country into seventeen districts on 25 April 1835), also creating three new districts Madeira and the Azores. The position of Civil Governor was established, with postholders choosing mayors, who in turn chose parish commissioners. These reforms, with their substantially centralising effect, were used to steadily remove radicals from positions of power and replace them with those who had favoured the cause of Miguel I and the return of an absolute monarchy.[6]

Devourist Governments

First government: Duque de Palmela

The first Devourist government took office on the day King Pedro IV died, on 24 September 1834.[7] Led by the Duque de Palmela, it was composed of conservatives and the late king's associates in the Grand Orient of Portugal Masonic lodge. After 28 April 1835, Palmela was succeeded by the Count of Linhares. The members of the government were:

MinistryMinisterTerm
InteriorFrancisco de São Luís Saraiva[8]
Agostinho José Freire[9]
24 September 1834 - 16 February 1835
16 February 1835 a 27 May 1835
Church Affairs and JusticeAntónio de Barreto Ferraz de Vasconcelos[3]: 357 
Manuel Duarte Leitão[10]
24 September 1834 - 28 April 1835
from 28 April 1835
Finance and Public AdministrationJosé da Silva Carvalho[11]24 September 1834 - 27 May 1835
WarDuque da Terceira[10]
Conde de Vila Real[12]
24 September 1834 - 20 March 1835
from 20 March 1835
Navy and ColoniesAgostinho José Freire[10]
Conde de Vila Real[10]
Vitorio Maria de Sousa Coutinho[13]
24 September 1834 - 16 February 1835
16 February 1835 - 28 April 1835
from 28 April 1835
Foreign AffairsConde de Vila Real[10]
Duque de Palmela[10]
Conde de Vila Real[10]
24 September 1834 - 16 February 1835
16 February 1835 - 28 April 1835
from 28 April 1835

Second government: Duque de Saldanha

The second Devourist government took office on 27 May 1835[14] and served until 18 November. On assuming the premiership the Duque de Saldanha removed all those described disparagingly by those loyal to the late King Miguel as chamorros (i.e. liberals)[15][3]: 189  and opened up cabinet membership to a wider range of masonic lodges: Francisco António de Campos and Duque de Loulé, more radical members of the Maçonaria do Sul lodge now served alongside José da Silva Carvalho and Rodrigo da Fonseca Magalhães from the Grande Oriente Lusitano as well as Rodrigo da Fonseca Passos Manuel, who named various members of the Maçonaria do Norte, of which Passos Manuel was a member, to positions as civil governors and council administrators.

Saldanha's government fell for two main reasons. The first had to do with a heavily-contested decree of 3 November which auctioned off publicly owned estuarine lands of the Tejo and Sado River. The other was the sending of the Auxiliary Division to Spain at the request of its government to support Isabel II against her uncle Carlos, who was claiming the throne. The members of this government were:

MinistryMinisterTerm
InteriorJoão de Sousa Pinto de Magalhães[14]
Rodrigo da Fonseca[16]
27 May 1835 - 15 July 1835
15 July 1835 - 18 November 1835
Church Affairs and JusticeManuel António de Carvalho[14]
João de Sousa Pinto de Magalhães[10]
27 May 1835 - 15 July
15 July 1835 - 18 November 1835
Public AdministrationFrancisco António de Campos[14]
José da Silva Carvalho[10]
27 May 1835 - 15 July 1835
15 July 1835 - 18 November 1835
WarDuque de Saldanha[14]27 May 1835 - 18 November 1835
Navy and ColoniesDuque de Loulé[14]
António Aloísio Jervis de Atouguia[17]
27 May 1835 - 25 July 1835
25 July 1835 - 18 November 1835
Foreign AffairsDuque de Palmela[14]27 May 1835 - 18 November 1835

Third Government: José Jorge Loureiro

The third Devourist government took office on 18 November 1835 with Saldanha once again as its leader, until 25 November. It lasted until 20 April 1836. Its stated purpose was to defend ‘morality, the economy and freedom from special interests.’[18] To demonstrate their commitment, ministers reduced their own salaries by one half, in contrast to the approach of the previous Fonseca administration. The Loureiro government fell following the failure of Finance Minister Francisco António de Campos to secure a majority for his budget. The government was composed of:

MinistryMinisterTerm
InteriorSá da Bandeira[10]
Luís da Silva Mouzinho de Albuquerque[10]
18–25 November 1835
25 November 1835
Church Affairs and JusticeManuel António Velez Caldeira Castelo Branco[10]18 November 1835 - 20 April 1836
Finance and Public AdministrationFrancisco António de Campos[10]
José Jorge Loureiro[10]
18 November 1835 - 6 April 1836
from 6 April 1836
WarJosé Jorge Loureiro[10]from 6 April 1836
Navy and the ColoniesSá da Bandeira[2]: 338 18 November 1835 - 20 April 1836
Foreign AffairsMarquês de Loulé[10]18 November 1835 - 20 April 1836

Fourth Government: Duque da Terceira

The fourth and final government was led by the Duque da Terceira, and lasted from 20 April to 9 September 1836. It was essentially aristocratic in composition, characterised as chamorro and full of palmelistas, and dominated once again by the Grand Orient Lodge.

Among the measures it took was the closing down of the radical leftist Sociedade Patriótica Lisbonense. To improve security it created a Municipal Guard for Porto and strengthened the Municipal Guard in Lisbon. When arson destroyed the Royal Exchequer, it was assumed that the government itself was responsible, seeking to conceal its misspending.[19]

The Devourist period came to an end in September 1836 with the September Revolution. The opposition representatives from the north of the country arrived in Lisbon on 9 September, prompting a popular revolt which the National Guard joined. On 11 September the Duque da Terceira resigned, and the Queen took an oath to the Constitution of 1822.[3]: 194–5  This was the start of “Setembrismo.” The ministers of the Terceira government were:

MinistryMinisterTerm
InteriorAgostinho José Freire[10]20 April - 9 September 1836
JusticeJoaquim António de Aguiar[10]20 April - 9 September 1836
Finance and Public AffairsJosé da Silva Carvalho[10]20 April - 9 September 1836
WarDuque da Terceira[10]20 April - 9 September 1836
NavyManuel Gonçalves de Miranda[10]20 April - 9 September 1836
Foreign AffairsJosé Luís de Sousa Botelho Mourão e Vasconcelos20 April - 9 September 1836

References
  1. Douglas L. Wheeler (August 1998). Republican Portugal: A Political History, 1910-1926. Univ of Wisconsin Press. p. 322. ISBN 978-0-299-07454-8.
  2. Gabriel Paquette (14 March 2013). Imperial Portugal in the Age of Atlantic Revolutions: The Luso-Brazilian World, c.1770–1850. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-32859-4.
  3. Jose Baptista de Sousa (22 February 2018). Holland House and Portugal, 17931840: English Whiggery and the Constitutional Cause in Iberia. Anthem Press. ISBN 978-1-78308-757-0.
  4. O ecco: jornal crítico, litterario e político. 1839. p. 6792.
  5. Arqnet
  6. Macedo Gomes, Eduardo Miguel. "A Administração Local na Monarquia Constitucional. O Papel da Freguesia e do Pároco (1834-1910)" (PDF). uminho.pt. Universidade do Minho. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  7. Maria de Fátima Bonifácio (2015-06-23). O Primeiro Duque de Palmela. D. QUIXOTE. ISBN 978-972-20-5772-1.
  8. Anas, António. "S. LUÍS, Frei Francisco de (Cardeal Saraiva) (Ponte de Lima, 1766 – Lisboa, 1845)" (PDF). dichp.bnportugal.gov.pt. Dicionario de Historiadores Portugueses. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  9. João Baptista]. [Felgueiras (1837). Resumo historico da vida e tragico fim de Agostinho Joze Freire. Typ. patriotica de C.J. da Silva e comp.a. pp. 10ff.
  10. Noticia dos ministros e secretarios d'estado do regimen constitucional nos 41 annos decorridos desde a regencia installada na ilha terceira em 15 de março de 1830 até 15 de março de 1871. Imprensa Nacional. 1871. pp. 21–.
  11. Paiva Monteiro, Ofélia. "Edição Crítica das Obras de Almeida Garret". uc.pt. Universidade de Coimbra. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  12. "Vila Real (D. José Luís de Sousa Botelho Mourão e Vasconcelos, 1.º conde de)". arqnet.pt. Portugal Dicionaro Historico. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  13. "Linhares (D. Vitorio Maria Francisco de Sousa Coutinho Teixeira de Andrade Barbosa, 2.º conde de)". arqnet.pt. Portugal Dicionario Historico. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  14. The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge for the Year . Gray and Bowen. 1835. pp. 285–.
  15. João Augusto Marques Gomes (1894). Luctas caseiras: Portugal de 1834 a 1851. Imprensa Nacional.
  16. "Magalhães (Rodrigo da Fonseca)". arqnet.pt. Portugal Dicionario Historico. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  17. "Atouguia (António Aloísio Jervis de Atouguia, 1.º visconde de)". arqnet.pt. Portugal Dicionario Historico. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  18. "Devorismo na página do ISCSP". Archived from the original on 2013-06-09. Retrieved 2010-12-30.
  19. "Terceira (António José de Sousa Manuel de Meneses Severim de Noronha, 7.º conde e 1.º marquês de Vila Flor, e 1.º duque da)". arqnet.pt. Portugal Dicionario Historico. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
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