The finances of Coimbra’s City Council at the end of the Ancient Regime (1762-1820) [II]: the expenses

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze the expenses of Coimbra’s City Council, between 1762 and 1820. This constituted a period of great management difficulties for the City’s Council, which led to some significant changes in the way the revenues were levied, that allowed an increase in expenses. The central question to be answered is to ascertain to what extent the composition and evolution of expenditure was affected by the evolution of the revenue. We seek to examine each of the expenditure categories individually and the evolution of expenditure as a whole, with the aim of understanding: what was the structure of Coimbra’s City Council expenses, between 1762 and 1820; how did the spending evolve; identifying the similarities and differences between Coimbra and other Cities Councils for the same period; which continuities and ruptures can be compared to Coimbra’s City Council in the 17^th century. The main historical sources used in this research are the Income and Expense Books, currently under Coimbra’s Municipal Historical Archive custody. We intend, with this study, to give a broader contribution to the knowledge of the municipal finances at the end of the Ancient Regime.