Episcopal Justice in a Time of Change: The Court of Portalegre, 1780-1835

Abstract

This study examines the judicial activity of the Episcopal Court of Portalegre, based on a large number of cases, in the late eighteenth century and the first decades of the following century. It is a period of change, marked by a structural and tumultuous rupture of the paradigms of Roman Catholic Church authority, the power of bishops and the role of religion, triggered by Pombalism and established after the Portuguese Liberal Revolution of 1820. As the pastoral office was already strongly marked by the limitations imposed by secular power, it is particularly interesting to analyze the performance of this Portuguese Ecclesiastical Court in that historical context.

Keywords: Episcopal Court, Diocese of Portalegre, Church, State, Liberalism