Thirty Years of Studies on Prosopography of Portuguese Early Modern Jurists

Abstract

This article reports on the state of prosopographical research on Portuguese university-educated (»learned«) jurists, which is particularly advanced due to the specific Portuguese source situation. A number of substantial studies have employed digital tools to analyse and visualise the social backgrounds and career patterns of law students, jurists serving as royal magistrates, and high court judges from the 17th to the 19th centuries. A current project on the authors of legal doctrinal works reveals the thematic preoccupations of Portuguese jurists over the period studied. Beyond their immediate thematic foci and methodological advances, these studies also make substantial contributions to our understanding of the actual practices of government, including the relationship between Portugal’s overseas territories and the metropole.