The Expulsion of Marquês de Pombal

After the death of the king the forces that had been conspiring to end his life earlier now turned their attention towards the person that had been the real ruler of the Portuguese kingdom, Marquês de Pombal. With no support from a king, Pombal's position was hazardous at best and he was forced to flee. Consequently, the reforms he had started that had gotten Portugal back on the path to prosperity were not to last. Instead, grossly reactionary policies implemented by the 'Old Nobility and the Men of the Church' again moved Portugal backwards, threatening to let her end up in the backwater of most of the other European powers in the centuries to come.