Portuguese nobles were proud and arrogant, with nothing but titles to their names and not a penny to their fortunes.
Queen Maria I of Portugal was said to have gone mad, while her second son, João, ruled Portugal in his mother's stead as Prince Regent.
The Queen's eldest son, José, had been deeply influenced by the ideas of the French Enlightenment and hoped to accomplish great things, but he faced opposition from the clergy.
By comparison, João was a devoutly religious absolutist. Caetano was not only the Queen's confessor, but also a powerful political figure.
Mental illness could be hereditary. It was said that after the Queen's confessor died, João fell seriously ill and hovered between life and death. Maria I's mental state grew increasingly unstable, until seventeen doctors jointly signed a document declaring that she could not recover. Rumor had it that João had developed symptoms of delirium like the Queen's, but because of that medical diagnosis, the nobles were already able to seize real power through Parliament.
If Portugal had mineral veins, then the nobles, as landowners, could collect rent. Those impoverished nobles would no longer be impoverished.
If Portugal had no mineral veins, then ironmaking was another way out. But why could Britain not process iron ore into pig iron and iron bars in South America and ship it directly to Britain? Why did it have to make a detour through Lisbon? Besides, ore was heavy and bulky, and the overwhelming majority of it was slag.
Prince Regent João and the Portuguese nobility were fiercely pro-British. After the Coup of 18 Brumaire, Napoleon forced Spain to issue an ultimatum, demanding that Portugal break with Britain and submit to France. João refused. Portugal's neutral policy could no longer be maintained, and in 1801 Spain and France invaded Portugal