Pombal, Sebastião José de Carvalho e Mello, Marquês de

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Pombal, Sebastião José de Carvalho e Mello, Marquês de (1699–1782) Portuguese statesman. His adept handling of the relief effort after a massive earthquake in Lisbon in 1755, led to his promotion to chief minister (1756–77) by King Joseph (r.1750–77). Virtual dictator of Portugal, Carvalho increased royal power at the expense of the old nobility, the Inquisition and the Jesuits, whom he expelled in 1759. His anti-clericalism and other reforms, such as the abolition of slavery in Portugal, led to him being classed as an ‘enlightened despot’.