Terms

Court Residence of the sovereign and, by extension, the city where he lives. In the Empire of Brazil, "the Court" was Rio de Janeiro, seat of the imperial court and capital of the country from the arrival of the Portuguese royal family in 1808 until the... Botafogo Neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, the Court of the Empire. Around 1808 the city's elite, made up of nobles, merchants, and court officials, was already building mansions in the parish of Botafogo. A ferry boat, in 1867, and horse-drawn streetcars, in 1871,... Tilbury Light, fast, sporty carriage with two wheels, a single bench for the driver and one passenger, and a folding leather hood supported by wooden arches. It was invented around 1820 and built in London by the Tilbury workshop, which gave it its name. In England... Conto In this sense, "conto" is short for conto de réis, a money of account worth one million réis, or a thousand milreis, written 1:000$000, with a colon after the millions. People spoke of "five contos" or "ten contos" for large... Deputy Member of the Chamber of Deputies, one of the two houses of the General Assembly of the Empire. The Chamber was elective and temporary, with four-year legislatures. The election was indirect: citizens voted for electors, and these chose the deputies. To be a... Milreis Practical unit of Brazil's currency: the milreis, written 1$000, with the currency sign after the thousands. With inflation, the réis became too small, and prices began to be given in milreis. A thousand milreis made a conto. The unit lasted until 1942, when... Ministry The set of ministers of State, the cabinet. Under the Constitution of 1824, the emperor appointed and dismissed them freely, and they signed the acts of the Executive Power. The president of the Council of Ministers, a kind of prime minister, was formally... Coupé Closed carriage derived from a shortened berline, from which it takes its name (from the French couper, to cut). It had a cabin for two passengers on a single bench, with a fixed glass window at the front, and the coachman rode outside, in front. It was... Bond Public debt bond: the government sold bonds to those who lent it money and paid interest to the buyer. The first issue of public securities in the Empire of Brazil was made by the National Treasury on March 17, 1828. For a wealthy private individual, buying... Franco-Prussian War Franco-Prussian War: the war between France of Napoleon III and Prussia, from July 19, 1870, to January 28, 1871. Napoleon III was captured at Sedan on September 1, 1870, and the French Second Empire fell. The German Empire was proclaimed on January 18, 1871,... Provincial presidency Provincial presidency: the office of provincial president in the Empire. Under the Constitution of 1824 (art. 165), each province had a president appointed by the emperor, who could remove him whenever he judged it convenient to the good service of the State....