His formal education was limited to attending and completing his preparatory studies at the Colégio dos Nobres, directed at that time by Ricardo Raimundo Nogueira (1746-1827). It is possible that the young student wished to attend further courses in Philosophy or Natural Sciences in Coimbra or in some European capital such as Vienna and Saint Petersburg, but the imminence of the first French invasion led him to accompany the Prince Regent when he departed for Brazil.

Santarém’s personal journey was marked by three different but complementary intellectual and cultural universes: the world of royal domestic life; the world of manuscripts and printed documents of the Crown; and the world of the Secretary of Foreign Affairs.

The importance of the royal family’s intimate and domestic world in the years 1790 to 1830 in relation to national politics, culture and diplomacy should not, in my opinion, be minimised. Admired by D. João VI, figures such as the first Viscounts of Santarém, Vila Nova da Rainha and Rio Seco (the latter being the Brazilian Marquis of Jundiaí), had considerable strategic influence with the sovereign which went well beyond what mere personal friendship between prince and servant could explain. This influence was imbibed by the historian through his father and Viscount Vila Nova da Rainha, his uncle by marriage.

However, little or nothing is known about the twenty-month period during which the future 2nd Viscount of Santarém held the position of Keeper of the Wardrobe to the prince, D. Pedro, later Emperor of Brazil, King and Regent of Portugal. We only know that in June 1809 he had to leave his duties as a result of having contracted smallpox, an illness that was usually fatal at that time. This enabled him to devote himself in the years that followed to studying and organising his personal notes as well as copies and summaries of documents relating to the traditional Portuguese court and to the diplomatic relations Portugal had with the other powers (beginning with those established with Spain).

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