John V of Portugal

Who was John V of Portugal?

D. João V, known as João the Magnificent and the Portuguese Sun King, was a Braganza monarch that ruled as King of Portugal and the Algarves during the first half of the 18th-century. João V raised the prestige of Portugal, which had been in a long decline amongst European courts, to a new and glorious level of prosperity and wealth.

João V's reign saw an enormous influx of gold to the coffers of the King's Treasury, mainly based on the royal fifth from the Portuguese colonies of Brazil and Maranhão. With the combined wealth of the government and the royal household, João V was ale to entertain an incredibly lavish court, one of the richest in Europe, which coincided with the enrichment of the Portuguese nobility. João V's wealth also allowed him to firmly rule the country as an absolute monarch, devoting a large portion of policy to keep the growing nobility in check. The Portuguese Sun King tied his enormous appetite for luxury and his lust for political control together by constructing the Royal Palace of Mafra, a foreboding palatial complex that dictated João's wealth and power to his empire and to the church.