Death to the Company!
Heavy topic. This story deals with a heavy topic.
This story is for teenagers 12+. This story deals with a difficult topic. Open?This story deals with a difficult topic. Open?
Porto rose against the king's minister, shouting 'Long live the king!'
The story
On Ash Wednesday, 23 February 1757, crowds filled the streets of Porto, shouting for the king and against the new Wine Company. Tavern-keepers saw only a monopoly. People roughed up a judge and wrecked property. Pombal answered with troops and trials. By October, between 14 and 17 people were put to death.
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Context
In Portuguese the riot is the Motim da Companhia. Troops and martial law followed. Counts of the executed differ, from 14 to 17 in the sources we found; one lists 13 men and four women on 14 October 1757. Behind the anger lay prices and control: the Company decided who could buy and sell Douro wine, and English traders, Douro growers and Porto's tavern-keepers all had grievances. The Company outlived Pombal by far: its name and trademark are still in use today. How it began, and the stones that marked its borders, are told on another card.
Bridge to today
17•56 Museum and Wine Library of the Real Companhia Velha
17•56 Museu & Enoteca da Real Companhia Velha (Cais de Gaia)
In Gaia, the Real Companhia Velha museum keeps the memory of the company the riot attacked.
Alameda da Rua Serpa Pinto 44B, Vila Nova de GaiaBridge to today: 17•56 Museum and Wine Library of the Real Companhia Velha
Sources (7)· links checked on
- Executed Today: «1757: The Tipplers Revolt leaders»
- Fernando de Sousa, «Morra a Companhia!» (O lado sombrio da instituição pombalina), Revista População e Sociedade
- Fernando de Sousa, A Companhia Geral da Agricultura das Vinhas do Alto Douro (1756–1978), CEPESE 2003 · abstract
- Lélia Paula Teixeira Ribeiro, Os arquitectos do Quartel do Segundo Regimento de Infantaria e da Real Casa Pia de Correcção e Educação e Aquartelamento das Partidas Avulsas, Revista da Faculdade de Letras, Ciências e Técnicas do Património (Porto), I série, vol. IV, 2005, pp. 281-292 · footnote 1, on 23.02.1757 (Ash Wednesday)
- Real Companhia Velha: Gaia Cellars · official websiteAccessed on
- Agroportal: 17•56 Museu & Enoteca da Real Companhia Velha (2018) · openingAccessed on
- R. McCaa (UMN): Pombal, the paradox · slideAccessed on