Dissolution of the monasteries in Portugal

The dissolution of the monasteries in Portugal was a nationalization of the property of male monastic orders effected by a decree of 28 May 1834 enacted by Joaquim António de Aguiar at the conclusion of the Portuguese Civil War. Portugal thus terminated the State sanction of masculine religious orders, and nationalized the lands and possessions of over 500 monasteries. The new government hoped to distribute land and goods in the hands among the poorer landowners, but there were few who could buy.