Forty Conspirators

The Forty Conspirators (Portuguese: Os Conjurados) were a Portuguese nationalist group during the Iberian Union. The Conspirators were composed of forty men of the Portuguese nobility, and a large number of clergy and soldiers. Their goal was to depose the House of Habsburg king, Philip III (and IV of Spain).

The plot was planned by Antão Vaz de Almada, Miguel de Almeida and João Pinto Ribeiro. On December 1, 1640, they, together with several associates, known as the Forty Conspirators, took advantage of the fact that the Castilian troops were occupied in the other side of the peninsula and killed Secretary of State Miguel de Vasconcelos, imprisoning the king's cousin, the Duchess of Mantua, who had governed Portugal in his name. The moment was well chosen, as Philip's troops were at the time fighting the Thirty Years' War in addition to the previously mentioned revolution in Catalonia.

The support of the people became apparent almost immediately and soon John, 8th Duke of Braganza, was acclaimed King of Portugal throughout the country as John IV. By December 2, 1640, John had already sent a letter to the Municipal Chamber of Évora as sovereign of the country.

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