Mathematical horizons: Light and darkness in Portugal in the 18th century (Q1815803)

This study is an attempt at recreating the contradictory -- as a ``play of light and shadow'' -- intellectual atmosphere of the country, characterized by exceptional progress, followed by ruin and stagnation. The enlightened period began with the coronation of D. José, in 1750, and appointment of Carvalho e Melo as a prime minister. A landmark was the University Reform of 1772, which brought about modernization in all domains. In Coimbra, two new faculties had been founded: philosophy and mathematics. Chief of the Chair of Geometry became Jose Anastacio de Cunha - poet, mathematician, philosopher, a free thinker, a genuine man of culture, indeed. According to the newly-issued statutes, attendance of the mathematical courses became compulsory for all the students in the university; in the system formed by the university, mathematics became its sun. Also, the practical applications of mathematics came to draw the specialists' attention. Important treatises had been translated into Portuguese, new books had been published (e.g. Cunha's Principios mathematicos.) Unfortunately, decline came, after King D. José's death and Marquis Melo's disgrace; Cunha was imprisoned by the Inquisition -- being accused of religious heterodoxy, and died a few months before the issuing of his book. The university as a whole was faced with regress.