«El geógrafo trabaja en su casa» : espaços portugueses na produção cartográfica de Tomás López

Abstract

João Carlos Garcia and Luís Miguel Moreira, Portugal by the cartographer Tomás López: «el computo dudoso de los caminantes» For the two Iberian monarchies, the second half of the 18th century was marked by the advent of the currents of the Enlightenment, which were at the basis of the despotic governance led by ministers such as the Marquis de la Ensenada, in the case of Spain, and the Marquis de Pombal, in Portugal. The consolidation of the Iberian political projects, supported by the centralisation of power in the Crown, required rigorous geographical knowledge and the cartographic renewal of the Peninsula’s di?erent regions. In this context, attention should be drawn to the role played by Tomás Lopez, geographer to the Spanish king and author of some of the most important printed maps of Portugal from the 18th century. These portrayals of the territory will be analysed in terms of their sources, elements and contents, process of production, from design to engraving, edition and dissemination. Lopez’s Portugal was to be redrawn over time and came in fact to be used by the armies of the Iberian War, with its virtues and ?aws, according to “el computo dudoso de los caminantes”.