Under the pressure of a Napoleonic invasion in 1807, the Portuguese court took the unprecedented step of moving from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro. With this transfer, a European country was ruled from its overseas colony for the first time. Upon arrival in 1808, one of the first measures of the Prince Regent was to open all Brazilian ports to direct trade from Europe, without first having to pass through the now occupied port of Lisbon. As a result, the political and economic heart of the Portuguese empire moved to Rio de Janeiro and Lisbon lost its monopolistic position as an intermediary in the Brazil trade.
In the November 2000 issue of the HAHR, Portuguese historian Jorge M. Pedreira and Brazilian historian José Jobson de Andrade Arruda debated anew their differences concerning the meaning of this transfer.1 Both relied heavily on the balances of trade between Brazil and...
