page_title: Royal Patriarchal Music Seminary of Lisbon
section_title: Reconstruction of Lisbon
hierarchical_section_title: Royal Patriarchal Music Seminary of Lisbon / Seminary's continuation / Outcomes for the Monarchy, Patriarchate and Seminary / Reconstruction of Lisbon
context_page_description: The Royal Patriarchal Music Seminary of Lisbon was founded in 1713 by Portugal's king João V to train singers for his Royal Chapel of Saint Thomas at Ribeira Palace.
  Its role was similar to that of other schools which for some centuries had been training singers and musicians for European abbeys, cathedrals, parish and collegiate churches, and court chapels. Over time, its influence expanded as it produced singers, instrumentalists and composers of merit, many of whom took on careers in sacred and secular music including opera outside Portugal.
  According to the records, the official date of the Seminary's foundation was 9 April 1713, three years before the Patriarchate of Lisbon came into operation. At that early stage, the Seminary was housed in the Archbishop's Palace near Lisbon Cathedral; but from the outset, the Seminary's function and purpose were directly associated with the court, and once the position of Patriarch of Lisbon was created and the holder became chaplain to the king, the Seminary as part of the patriarchal household continued to serve its primary purpose in providing music in the Royal Chapel.
context_section_description: During his upbringing, José I received no preparation for the role of monarchy and after ascending to the throne lacked any desire to be involved in the everyday operation of government. From 1750, onwards he dealt with this by delegating power to the hands of his Secretary of the State of Internal Affairs of the Kingdom, then known as Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo. In a way, he was all but the king's "regent", lacking only princely status. Holding this privileged position, Pombal showed himself, on the one hand, to be highly organised, influential, scientific and inventive, but, on the other, dictatorial, authoritarian and arrogant with a propensity to rid himself of anyone who opposed him and with whom he disagreed.
  His rebuilding of Lisbon (including the grid plan alignment of its streets), the designing of a timber-framed, earthquake-resistant house, changes in architectural style by doing away with the prevailing Baroque taste and introducing the simpler Neo-Classical approach (hence the use of the phrase Pombaline style to describe its use in Lisbon), the reconstruction of Portugal's economy, the ejections of the Jesuits from Portugal, educational reform including the secularisation of the education system, the suppression of the Inquisition, the abolition of slavery, and so on were among his great achievements.
  Although his action towards the Inquisition was largely driven by his anti-clerical attitude, he continued to use it, with his brother Paulo António de Carvalho e Mendonça as Inquisitor-General, as a way of imposing his political power. For example, the Jesuit priest Gabriel Malagrida who was interpreting the "Terramoto" as God's punishment was imprisoned, tried by the Inquisition, finally found guilty of heresy and publicly executed. Likewise with strong opponents of Pombal, the Távora family from which the king was having an affair with the Marchioness Leonor. The dispute came to a head when an attempted assassination of the king occurred as he returned to Ajuda from the Távora house. Following this, the entire family was tried and sentenced to death while the crown confiscated all their property.
  For his handling of the Tavora case, the king granted him the title of Count of Oeiras (Portuguese: Conde de Oeiras) and in 1777 he was elevated to the title by which he is best known, Marquis of Pombal (Portuguese: Marquês de Pombal).
  In the face of Pombal's anti-clericalism and his reform of the education system, it is surprising that the patriarchal budget was never reduced and even that the Patriarchate and Seminary both continued to exist.
caption: Illus. 14: Portrait of the Marquis of Pombal by an unknown artist of the Portuguese school. Collection of the Museu Francisco Tavares Proenca Júnior, Castelo Branco.
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