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Rebelo da Silva’s historiographical production was primarily marked by his dealing with extremely broad topics within which he defined and characterized extensive historical frameworks. Nevertheless, he still continued to write historiographical works in the field of biography. To this end, he published the work Varões ilustres das três épocas constitucionais (Illustrious men of the three constitutional periods) (1870) in which he collated in one volume with only a few alterations a series of studies he had published in the press. In his biographies he sought to define the contours of social pressure on the actions of the public man. However, he did not completely steer clear of a laudatory tone and the exaltation of the role heroes played in the course of history. The care he took and the colourful way in which he portrayed these people of note, which was marked by his use of skilful embellishment and the generous use of adjectives, benefitted greatly from his literary talent. Although the balance was always unstable, he constantly attempted to find an equilibrium but even so he slipped at times into the temptation of panegyric. However, the excesses that were the result of his admiration for some of the subjects of his biographies do not seem to have compromised his methodological seriousness or historical rigour.
In the field of the historical novel, he closely followed Herculano’s narrative processes. Here, though, Rebelo da Silva’s extensive output innovates by the fact that he did not restrict himself to the medieval period, but claimed that more recent periods had the right to be used as the narrative’s temporal scenario. Such is the case of A última corrida de Touros de Salvaterra (The Last Royal Bull-Fight at Salvaterra) (1848), one of the most important literary works of Portuguese romanticism, which is set in the 18th century. However, in this field his influence is not limited to the author of Eurico, o Presbítero (Eurico, the Presbyterian) (1848). In fact, in his treatment of characters, echoes can be found of the works of Garrett or Walter Scott. In the prologue to the first edition of his novel A Mocidade de D. João V (The Youth of D. João V), he states: “What the famous Scottish novelist managed to do with his heroes, this author has sought to imitate from afar with regard to the characters in this essay”.
