Oliveira Martins and "miguelismo": posterity of a central topic

Abstract

No other historiographical work has been so influential as Oliveira Martins' Contemporary Portugal in the construction of the history of 19th century Portugal, and particularly of the regime of King Miguel. The most controversial assessments were produced about it, not only in the years following its publication (1881), but throughout the 20th century. Among other problems, at stake was the historical evaluation of Miguelismo and the 1834 Liberal Revolution, backgrounds without which it would be impossible to understand Portuguese society at the time of the Constitutional Monarchy. In a time dominated by the liberal narrative of Miguelist legitimism (the version inherited from the victors of the Civil War of 1832-34), Oliveira Martins clearly distanced himself from the liberal canon. In what ways? How was Portugal Contemporâneo received by criticism? We aim to characterise its historiographical narrative and study its various lines of reception, inscribing them in the battle of memories that were built about Miguel's regime and liberalism.