The Diocese of Guarda at the time of the Constituent Courts (1821-1822)

Fernando de Sousa, Ricardo Rocha, Diogo Ferreira, Bruno Rodrigues

This book seeks to characterise the Diocese of Guarda during a particularly important period in Portuguese history, the transition from the Ancien Régime to Liberalism, which had obvious and long-lasting consequences for the Church and profoundly affected its structures and prerogatives. In fact, it was with the General and Extraordinary Courts of the Portuguese Nation, also known as the Sovereign Congress, whose work began on 26 January 1821, that the members of the Parliament, influenced by the theses of the enlightened despotism and regalism from the 18th century, and by the example of Spain, once again under a liberal regime, sought to reaffirm the power of the state versus the Church, taking on the ‘religious question’ as one of the central themes of the ideological debate, foreshadowing the radical changes that would emerge in the following decade, with the definitive establishment of liberalism in Portugal, the abolition of tithes, the establishment of a payment for all members of the secular clergy and the expulsion of the religious orders, with the incorporation of their assets into the National Treasury.

This work is divided into two main parts, the first of which is dedicated to the research itself and is divided into three chapters. In the first chapter, we deal with the measures taken by the Cortes with regard to the secular clergy, the rationale behind this reform, as well as the means and instruments developed to implement them. In the second, shorter chapter, we briefly present and analyse the documentation relating to the Diocese of Guarda produced in obedience to the Cortes' determinations, which were transmitted to the Mitra and Cabido of Guarda via the government. Finally, in the third chapter, we analyse the Diocese of Guarda, its structure - Mitra, Cabido, arciprestados, parishes, colegiates, benefíts - as well as its population; the income from tithes and its distribution; the income and stipends of the secular clergy; and the attempt to make a new distribution of parishes, with possible annexations, extinction and creation of others, if necessary, accompanied by the stipends proposed in the meantime. In the second part of the book, we transcribe the documentary sources used in our research, for two fundamental reasons: their historical and sociological richness and the lack of exhaustive information of this nature on the Diocese of Guarda.

Note: Due to publication rights, only the first pages of the work are available. The complete work can be at CEPESE's Library.