The transfer of the court to Brazil , 200 years afterwards

This essay presents a brief survey of the main activities that took place in both Portugal and Brazil in the context of the programmes put forward to celebrate the bicentennial of the transfer of the Portuguese court to Brazil. This general assessment offers a critical account of the main art and history exhibitions, university conferences and seminars, and published materials in books or special issues of academic journals. The list of publications is deliberately focused on the years 2007 and 2008. Though the aim of this article is not to provide a critical historiographical revision, it concludes with a brief appraisal of the most relevant contributions of the commemorative events for the renewal of Portuguese and Brazilian historiography related to the problems and period under analysis.