Forty Conspirators

The Conspirators were composed of forty men of the Portuguese nobility, and many clergy and soldiers.

Their goal was to depose the House of Habsburg king, Philip III (and IV of Spain).

On 1 December 1640, they, together with several associates, known as the Forty Conspirators, took advantage of the fact that the Castilian troops were occupied on the other side of the peninsula and killed Secretary of State Miguel de Vasconcelos, imprisoning the king's cousin, the Duchess of Mantua, who had governed Portugal in his name.

The moment was well chosen, as Philip's troops were at the time fighting the Thirty Years' War in addition to the revolt in Catalonia.

By December 2, 1640, John had already sent a letter to the Municipal Chamber of Évora as sovereign of the country.