José de Mascarenhas da Silva e Lencastre, Duke of Aveiro

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José de Mascarenhas da Silva e Lencastre , 5th Marquês (Marquis) of Gouveia, 8th Conde (Count) of Santa Cruz and 8th Duque (Duke) of Aveiro (born October 2, 1708 in Lisbon , † January 13, 1759 in Santa Maria de Belém ) was a Portuguese nobleman who was executed for allegedly participating in an assassination attempt on King Joseph I of Portugal.

Life

José de Mascarenhas da Silva e Lencastre, 8th Duke of Aveiro, was the second son of Martinho de Mascarenhas, 3rd Marquês of Gouveia and 6th Conde of Santa Cruz, and his wife Inácia Rosa de Távora. He married Leonor Tomásia de Távora e Lorena on July 21, 1739 and had the following children with her:

  • Martinho Mascarenhas, 6th Marquis of Gouveia (26 November 1740 - 30 December 1805)
  • Joana Tomásia Mascarenhas (born November 26, 1741 - † July 10, 1804), nun
  • Bernarda Mascarenhas († April 4, 1744)
  • Inácia José Francisca Mascarenhas (April 16, 1744 - September 1, 1823), nun
  • João José Mascarenhas
  • Francisca das Chagas José Tomásia Baltazar Antónia Domingas João Mascarenhas (* June 14, 1757 - March 11, 1831)

In the last few years of King John V's government, Aveiro was held in great esteem at the Portuguese court, mainly due to the influence of his uncle, the royal confessor Gaspar da Encarnação, a Franciscan . Among other things, he was Oberhofmarschall of the royal family. But when, after the death of John V (July 31, 1750), his son, Joseph I , came to power, the confessor was removed and Sebastião José de Carvalho e Mello , later Marquis of Pombal, won the king's confidence as minister , Aveiro lost its influence and couldn't even get some rich comers that his family had possessed.

Dissatisfied with this resetting, Aveiro is said to have planned a conspiracy against the king and therefore, under the leadership of the deprived Jesuits , joined forces with the Távora family and other disgruntled people to murder the king. When he drove back to his palace unaccompanied by a secret lover, the Marquise Teresa of Távora, on the night of September 3rd to 4th, 1758, he was expected on the outskirts of Lisbon by several separate groups of assassins. Suddenly he was attacked by three horsemen, including Aveiro and his two servants Azevedo and Fereira, who also shot the carriage and wounded the king, who was sitting in it with his valet Pedro Teixeira, in the right arm and shoulder . A coincidence saved the monarch's life because the wounded coachman had passed out and the mules shied away and turned back, whereby the king escaped the murderers lurking in other places along the way.

Initially, Pombal hid the attack on the king and ordered a quick investigation. Two suspects, arrested several days later, were tortured to have been hired by the Távora family for the assassination attempt, after which they were hanged. Pombal secretly occupied the roads across the border and the exits of the capital, closed the ports and on December 13, 1758, arrested and imprisoned all the Távoras in Lisbon and the next day the Duke of Aveiro on his estate Aceitao. The king publicly stated that he had been wounded by assassins. On December 16, the court celebrated the king's recovery and thanksgiving celebrations were to be held across the country for his salvation.

On December 20, the trial against the defendants began, which Pombal himself led. He formed a supreme court from the higher courts of the country and, because no great man could be convicted without the vote of three nobles, he headed this court with two other nobles. The accused were convicted on January 12, 1759, among other things because of the confessions extorted from the executed suspects under torture . All those found guilty were executed with cruel severity on the morning of January 13, 1759 in front of the summer residence in Belém . First the marquise Leonor of Távora was beheaded on a high scaffold before the eyes of the assembled people , then her two sons and one son-in-law were strangled . The old Marquis of Távora, his company Cavalier and a servant were alive whacked . The Duke of Aveiro, who was cruelly tortured to death, had to endure the hardest fate. Finally, the duke's valet, Fereira, who allegedly shot the king, was tied to a stake in the middle of the blood scaffolding, then this scaffolding with all the executed and used instruments was burned and the ashes were thrown into the sea. The palaces of the Duke of Aveiro and the Marquis of Távora were torn down, their estates confiscated and their names erased everywhere. In addition to the executed, many relatives close and distant from both houses were imprisoned for a period of time.

Action was also taken against the Jesuits . On the day the Távoras were arrested, Pombal had all collegiate houses closed by the military; On January 11, 1759, Fathers Gabriel Malagrida , Souza and Matos were imprisoned, and the published extract from the trial named these three men as advisors and the entire order as co-instigators of the regicide. On January 19, King Joseph I ordered all of the Order's income to be confiscated and all of its goods to be leased to the highest bidders for a year. On September 13, 1759, the expulsion of the Jesuits began with the embarkation of some of their members, who were soon followed by the rest, to the Papal States .

After Joseph I died on February 24, 1777 and the Marquis of Pombal was overthrown, the daughter of the late monarch and now Queen Maria I ordered a revision of the regicide trial, and a judicial decision of May 23, 1781 was Revoke the previous judgment on six people and order their rehabilitation. However, this ruling was not carried out and only one descendant of the executed, who applied for it, was offered a small pension.

The actual guilt or innocence of those convicted under Joseph I is still unclear.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Mascarenhas da Silva e Lencastre, Duke of Aveiro, José de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Portuguese nobleman, 8th Duke of Aveiro
DATE OF BIRTH October 2, 1708
PLACE OF BIRTH Lisbon
DATE OF DEATH January 13, 1759
Place of death Belém