Luís da Cunha

Luís da Cunha ( born January 25, 1662 at Lisbon; † October 9, 1749 in Paris) was a Portuguese diplomat under King John V

Life

D. Luís da Cunha was born in 1662 as the son of a colonial administrator Antônio Álvares Cunha in Lisbon and studied at the University of Coimbra canon law. 1696 began his diplomatic career as the Portuguese Ambassador in London, in 1712 Minister Plenipotentiary at the closing of the Peace of Utrecht, and later the Portuguese ambassador in Madrid. Until his death in 1749 D. Luís da Cunha wrong at the French court as Prime Minister of Portugal.

Services

Through his 40 - year absence from Portugal, D. Luís da Cunha had acquired an etic perspective on his homeland, which he used for the analysis and criticism of government, economy and culture. He is regarded as one of the great diagnostician of the problems of the country in the 18th century. In his most important work Testamento Político ( 1747 ), he shall notify the successor Joseph I of Portugal with his concerns. He especially criticizes the intolerance of the Church towards the Portuguese Jews and New Christians and the economic loss which the country suffered through their migration.

Another deficiency of the Enlightenment saw in the role of the church as landowner. Around one third of the Portuguese soil belonged to the church, which had to pay any tax levies to the State and the country ordered often inadequate. Also, the legal system did not work quickly and efficiently enough in his eyes, and thus prevented the development of Portugal in comparison with the other European countries of the period.

Works

• Escrita Carta de Paris ou Insrução ao Serenissimo Principe D. José para quando Subisse ao Trono 1747, usually cited as Testamento Político.
• Instruções Politicas, 1736th