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Killing Nobles in the Square: the Távora Affair
The extermination of one of the most prominent Portuguese noble families of the 18th century
1759–1760. Source: Museu de Lisboa (Public Domain)
The Távora Affair, known in Portuguese as the Processo dos Távoras is one of the most shocking episodes in the Portuguese history of recent centuries. This 18th-century extermination of one of the most prominent families in the Portuguese Kingdom was a shocking, horrid event, even in today’s point of view.
It all started after the assassination attempt of King José I in 1758…
The Beginning
After the devastating earthquake and seaquake of 1755, in Lisbon, the Portuguese king, D. José I, settled his court in an elaborate complex of tents located in the Ajuda region of the capital — don’t be fooled it could be easily compared to a sort of Versailles. He lived in constant fear of another natural disaster and of another building falling on him, believing that his life was constantly threatened.
At this time, the king’s court was lead by his prime minister Sebastião José de Carvalho e Mello, the future Marquess de Pombal (in Portuguese, Marquês de Pombal). Mello was vehemently against the old noble houses of Portugal and their backwards ideas on development. Once he reached the high-regarded position of Prime Minister, he decided to get his revenge on both the old nobility and the Jesuits, who had been against his struggle to amass power and influence.
The “Conspiracy”
On the night of the 3rd of September 1758, three men attempted to ambush the king’s carriage. Although he escaped mostly unscathed — with only a slash to his arm — this event only increased the king’s fear for his own life, which had been a constant worry of his ever since the earthquake, three years prior.
In the following days, before the news of the attempt had been divulged, the prime minister took…
