Southey and his wife Edith arrived at the Tagus on 30 April 1800 and remained in Portugal until the end of June 1801. During this period, the British scholar undertook two excursions: the first covered Batalha, Alcobaça, and Coimbra, while the second explored Évora, Beja, Ourique, and the towns along the Algarve coast. Before these excursions, during the autumn and winter of 1800, he devoted himself to gathering materials and conducting studies for the preparation of the História de Portugal [History of Portugal]. He settled in Lisbon after spending the summer in Sintra. In Lisbon, following the recommendations of his uncle, Herbert Hill, and the British literary scholar John Bell, he established a wide network of contacts that proved essential for gaining access to the necessary documentation. Among the renowned scholars to whom he was introduced, Southey mentioned the book censor and member of the Royal Academy of Sciences, João Guilherme Cristiano Müller, and expressed his gratitude to him: “Müller has given me access to the library of manuscripts, and I look forward to a daily introduction to magistrate [António Ribeiro dos Santos], my next-door neighbour, head librarian, a curious person in the poetry of the nation, whose collection is rich with duplicates from Jesuit libraries” (R. Southey, Journals of a Residence in Portugal 1800-1801... , 1960 [1801], p. 144). Southey also extended his gratitude to the sub-librarian, Agostinho José da Costa Macedo, who surprised the British scholar by revealing himself to be an "intelligent man—more interested in speaking freely than I was in encouraging him." "He wouldn't be alarmed to see me engaged on records that he religiously abhors as much as I do" (Idem, 145-146).

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