Well.. start by reading the aftermath of the Lisbon earthquake. The persecution took place through about a century to carefully avoid drastic events as you'd l

Well.. start by reading the aftermath of the Lisbon earthquake. The persecution took place through about a century to carefully avoid drastic events as you'd later see in France, thus reducing public opposition/outcry. Contrary to France, there was no need for "revolution" because liberals were already in power since the earthquake. More details here: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extin%C3%A7%C3%A3o_das_ordens_religiosas https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extin%C3%A7%C3%A3o_das_ordens_... (need to translate) My home town is Coimbra. The whole Rua da Sofia (Street of Knowledge) was expropriated and left to abandonment or sold for whatever other purposes without shame on the 18th century. Worse destiny had the church of São Cristovão, presumably built by the father of the first portuguese king: https://www.cm-coimbra.pt/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/coimbra.old_joomlatools-files_docman-files_Vestigios-Arqueologicos-na-Alta-de-Coimbra-Redescobrir-a-Igreja-de-S.-Cristovao.pdf https://www.cm-coimbra.pt/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/coimbra... For a political movement aimed to bring light into the masses, liberals sure dived the empire into some really dark decades that we'd never recover from afterwards.