Bento de Moura Portugal FRS, Moimenta da Serra, Gouveia (March 21, 1702) - Lisbon (January 27, 1766), was a Portuguese inventor, scientist, lawyer, and university professor at the University of Coimbra. He was a Portuguese aristocrat, a Knight of the Order of Christ, and a Member of the Royal Society. He is remembered for improving the steam engine designed by Thomas Savery. Also referred to as Bento de Moura, he was a proponent of Newtonian science and often referred to as the "Portuguese Newton."Fiolhais, Prof. Carlos, ed., Membros Portugueses da Royal Society / Portuguese Fellows of the Royal Society. Coimbba: Universidade de Coimbra, 2011.Gama e Castro, José Osório, "Bartolomeu de Gusmão e Bento de Moura Portugal", in "Diocese e Distrito da Guarda" https://www.arquivo.museu.presidencia.pt/details?id=20215Categoria: Membros da Royal Society https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categoria:Membros_da_Royal_SocietyBENTO MOURA PORTUGAL, GOUVEENSES ILUSTRES, Freguesia de Gouveia https://freguesiadegouveia.pt/index.php/figuras-ilustres-m/211-bento-moura-portugal
Life Bento de Moura Portugal' was born in Moimenta da Serra (Gouveia, Portugal)Figueiredo, José Joaquim Simões de Paiva e (ed.), Inventos e vários planos de melhoramento para este reino: escriptos nas prisões da junqueira por Bento de Moura Portugal, Coimbra, 1821Diccionario Aristocratico, Vol.1, A–E, Lisbon, 1840, accessed at Google Books 2015-12-20, p.320, and in 1741, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London for his scientific contributions, particularly in improving Savery's "fire engine."List of Fellows of the Royal Society 1660 – 2007 A - J, The Royal Society, as "Portuga, Benito de Moura"; accessed 2015-12-20
He was born on March 21, 1702, in Moimenta da Serra, and the house where he lived still exists. At the end of the street, in the church square, you can find his bust.Saraiva, Prof. José Hermano, in "Horizontes da Memória - No Calcanhar da Estrela (Gouveia)"- 2002 He received a comprehensive education, possibly from Jesuits priests, as he had a lifelong affinity for them and defended the Society until his death. He certainly did not study at the College of the Society of Jesus in Gouveia, as it opened its doors after 1739, by which time Bento de Moura Portugal was already traveling across Europe. He was the grandson of D. Pedro Castanheira de Moura from the House of Sinde and the natural son of Manuel de Moura.Archeevo UC Bento de Moura https://pesquisa.auc.uc.pt/details?id=264930&detailsType=DescriptionPinto, Prof. Donzília Alves Ferreira Pires da Cruz. "Vida e obra de Bento de Moura Portugal." Dissertação de mestrado, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 1993 His brothers grew up in São Gião, in one of the most beautiful and impressive houses in the region, flanked by the Chapel of Our Lady of Creation.Câmara Municipal de Oliveira do Hospital (2012). Património Histórico e Natural do Concelho de Oliveira do Hospital http://www.cm-oliveiradohospital.pt/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=123. Visitado em 1 de Outubro de 2013BARATA, Alberto Fontes (2007) - "O Concelho de Oliveira do Hospital - Credenciais para a sua história", pp.: 230-243Ficha na base de dados SIPANEVES, Francisco Correia (2007) - "Enquadramento histórico e Toponímia do Concelho de Oliveira do Hospital", in Edições do Município de Oliveira do Hospital, pp.: 110-112, 406-408, 473-476, Oliveira do Hospital
He entered the University of Coimbra in 1721 and graduated in Laws in 1731. He traveled to Hungary even before completing his studies, and although he was a lawyer, his true interest had always been in mathematics and physics. He was a man of science.
In Europe, Newtonian Science was spreading, and Bento de Moura Portugal was one of the first enthusiasts of Newton outside the United Kingdom. He traveled throughout Europe, where he worked on projects related to pneumatics and the study of gases, contributing to the improvement of the steam engine, which earned him an invitation to become a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1741. He was a respected physicist in the Europe of his time, with contributions to the study of tides, mechanics (hydraulics and pneumatics), and also to cartography.Martins, Carlos, Intenção Política e Razão Técnica – o Porto do Douro e a Cidade do Porto, UC, 2014
In Lisbon in 1742, under the watchful eye of the Portuguese Royal Family and some members of the court, Dr. Bento Moura Portugal demonstrated a "Fire Engine," his improved version of Savery's steam engine.in a "Gazeta de Lisboa" de 6 de Fevereiro de 1774 https://hemerotecadigital.cm-lisboa.pt/Periodicos/GazetadeLisboa/1742/Fevereiro/Fevereiro_master/GazetadeLisboa1742Fevereiro.PDF It was upon his return from a journey, allegedly to Brazil, that he had the incident with the Inquisition. He went to trial for "heretical and scandalous propositions" and for the assembly of those "fire engines."Processo de Bento de Moura, Arquivo Nacional, accessed 2015-12-20Baiño, António in "Episódios dramáticos da inquisição portuguesa" The process lasted three years, and he only escaped severe punishment by issuing a public written recantation on February 5, 1748."PROCESSO DE BENTO DE MOURA PORTUGAL" Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/details?id=2306238
Contemporary sources describe him as a protege of King D. João V, who had already granted him a carriage to travel throughout the Kingdom., in 1744, he awarded him an annual stipend of 12,000 reis"Registo Geral de Mercês, Mercês de D. João V, liv. 32, f.266" Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/details?id=1902266 and honored him with the habit of a Knight of the Order of Christ"DILIGÊNCIA DE HABILITAÇÃO PARA A ORDEM DE CRISTO DE BENTO DE MOURA PORTUGAL" Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/details?id=7677991 in 1750, making him a Knight."Registo Geral de Mercês, Mercês de D. João V, liv. 32, f.266" Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/details?id=1902267 This, along with being the grandson of D. Pedro Castanheda de Moura, a Familiar of the Holy Office, and having good relations with some church members, may have earned him a lighter sentence in his first trial. He was sent on further trips by D. João V, and during his absence from the country, legal proceedings where he served as a lawyer were suspended and only resumed upon his return.
He was sent on a scholarship to various European countries, including Hungary, and in Portugal, Moura Portugal contributed to various improvements in the Kingdom, with much of his work focused on hydraulics. Examples include the construction of dikes on the Tejo River, such as the one in Vila Velha de Rodão and further north on the Mondego River. Projects aimed at preventing harmful floods for the surrounding agricultural lands. Additionally, Bento designed a hydraulic wheel to drain waterlogged lands in the Paúl de Fôja, in Coimbra, and developed drainage systems for swamps in Vila Nova de Magos, Juncal, and Tresoito in Ribatejo. Bento de Moura Portugal also served as the Superintendent and Conservator of the Royal Factories of the "Fundiçam of Artelharia of the Comarca of Thomar",BENTO DE MOURA PORTUGAL Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/details?id=1902265 commonly known as the "ferrarias," located in Figueiró dos Vinhos, where weapons and tools for the Empire were produced.
In 1760, upon his return from his last trip and during the reign of D. Joseph I, Bento de Moura Portugal was imprisoned by the order of the Secretary of State for the Interior of the Kingdom, Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, still Count of Oeiras. He was accused of treason for publicly defending the innocence of the Society of Jesus and the Távora family. He was also accused of proposing amendments to legislation that, according to the minister, harmed the royal treasury. His influence with the Infantes of Portugal and the support of the Meninos de Palhavã were of no avail.Oliveira, Maria José, "Bento de Moura Portugal, um génio esquecido" in Mensagem de Lisboa
Bento de Moura Portugal FRS was incarcerated in the Fort of São João da Junqueira in July 1960, gradually becoming insane, where he shared a cell with "O Marquesinho". He died on January 27, 1766, in the Forte da Junqueira Prison, in Lisbon, from where he wrote Inventos e vários planos de melhoramento para este Reino, manuscripts saved with the contribution of Conde de S. Lourenço and published in 1821 by Antônio Ribeiro Saraiva.
Inventions
Steam engine On February 6, 1742, the Gazeta de Lisboa reported that Queen D. Maria Ana and her children traveled to Belém to observe a scientific innovation: two machines constructed by Dr. Bento de Moura Portugal FRS, "which, through the weight of the air and the force of steam, lifted water, with cold providing the opportunity for the weight of the air to reconvert the vapors, in which the heat had transformed, into water." The term "steam engine" was not yet in use at the time, and the press was unfamiliar with it. The article also mentioned that D. João V had previously visited Belém to observe machines whose origin was attributed to the "Marquês de Worcester, and the invention of his practice to Captain Savery, both of the English nation." However, the text nearly concealed a crucial detail: the mechanism invented by Thomas Savery at the end of the previous century had been improved by Bento de Moura Portugal, allowing for more efficient operation and eliminating the need for manual labor.
Around ten years later, Portugal's improvements were internationally recognized when they were featured in the "Philosophical Transactions," a compendium of inventions acknowledged by the Royal Society of London. Bento de Moura Portugal had been named a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1741, and his contribution to steam engine enhancement was notable. The publication by the Royal Society described the refinement that enabled the machine to operate autonomously, representing a significant advancement that was later praised by the English engineer John Smeaton, one of the pioneers in locomotive engineering.
It's worth noting that the first industrial steam engine did not arrive in Portugal until 1821, more than 80 years after the death of Fellow Bento de Moura Portugal, unlike what happened in most European countries.
Suspension system Bento de Moura Portugal FRS developed what is considered the precursor to suspension systems applied in vehicles, which can be seen in the National Coach Museum in both King D. John V's coach and others built later.
The system consists of a box-like coach mounted on four wheels, resting on a longitudinal wooden bar and suspended by strong leather straps arranged obliquely between the lower angles and the uprights. The coach is closed by two articulated doors (the one on the right with a deep slit) and eight windows, the two largest on the main elevations. The suspension system consists of four laminated springs located near the lower corners of the coach, along with sturdy leather straps and "elastic springs."
The complex system of leather straps and "elastic springs" was designed to reduce the impact of road irregularities, preventing the box from falling onto the axle. The suspension system included a series of steel or metal springs installed between the vehicle body and the wheels, with the help of leather straps, allowing the coach to move up and down, absorbing road shocks and vibrations, significantly improving passenger comfort in carriages and coaches, making trips smoother and less uncomfortable.
Trials and imprisonment
Bento de Moura Portugal FRS, known as the "Newton of Portugal" due to his remarkable scientific contributions, faced a life filled with trials and challenges that culminated in his imprisonment.
First trial (1745–1748)