Fleeing absolutism. Portuguese liberals in England before the Portuguese Civil War (1828–1832)

Abstract

The political and ideological conflicts between liberalism and absolutism that shaped the first half of the nineteenth century contributed significantly to the transnational circulation of people. The experience of Portuguese liberal exiles , forms part of the broader phenomenon of nineteenth-century liberal exile, alongside the experiences of Spanish and Italian exiles. These groups shared experiences, contacts, ideas, and knowledge that often endured beyond the period of exile. Drawing on periodicals, memoirs, archival documentation and texts produced in exile, this article examines the presence of Portuguese liberal exiles in England, between 1828 and 1832, focusing on their arrival, forms of organisation, and the networks of sociability that developed in the host country. Through an analysis of the experiences of Portuguese exiles in Plymouth, this article argues that the Portuguese case complicates the traditional view of British hospitality towards incoming liberals and challenges historiographical interpretations that tend to portray England as a “land of freedom.” It is concluded that the Portuguese experience in Plymouth was particularly arduous, owing both to the conditions imposed by the British government and to the conflicts among the exiles themselves, arising from political divisions and issues inherent to the condition of exile.