Welcome to the exhibition

 

The Banco de Lisboa was established by Royal Charter on 31 December 1821. Its establishment was encouraged and decided by the Constituent Assembly of 1821-22, convened following the military uprisings of 1820 (on 24 August in Porto and 15 September in Lisbon) that marked the start of the Portuguese Liberal Revolution.

The bicentennial celebration of these key moments in building a modern constitutional monarchy is an excellent opportunity to learn more about the events, characters and institutions that best characterise a highly dynamic historical period. The establishment of the Banco de Lisboa was a crucial part of a process of institutional change and innovation that shook the economic, social and political foundations of the Ancient Regime. It arose from the need to reorganise the currency in circulation and meet the State’s commitments to private creditors. “Liberal regenerators” considered these issues to be a priority in order to restore public credit and promote trust between civil society and the bodies representing the legislative, executive and judicial powers.

Given the significance of the reasons for its establishment, let us revisit the history of the Banco de Lisboa, linking it to that of the Portuguese liberal revolution that began in August and September 1820. Bearing that in mind, this virtual exhibition invites visitors to explore six thematic areas on the history of the Banco de Lisboa and its underlying economic and political context, to understand the day-to-day activities of this institution through the collection of the Historical Archive of the Banco de Portugal, as well as the Library of the Banco de Portugal and the Money Museum.

 

Project team

 

Coordination

Baltasar Cordeiro

Filipe Fernandes

 

Editing and content management

Administration Services Department - Historical Archive of Banco de Portugal

Volodymyr Mykhayliv

Pedro Dantas

 

Text production

José Luís Cardoso

João Pedro Vieira

Filipe Fernandes

 

Translations

International Relations Department

Joana Rocha de Lima

Viviane Henriques

 

Technical administration

Information Systems and Technology Department

Isabel Coutinho

David Gonçalves

Eduardo Dias

 

Conceptual support

Communication and Museum Department

Luís Campos

 

Webdesign and development

BY - Interactive Brands Agency