The dissolution of the monasteries in Portugal was a nationalization of the property of male monastic orders effected by a decree of 28 May 1834 enacted by Joaquim António de Aguiar at the conclusion of the Portuguese Civil War.[1] Portugal thus terminated the state sanction of male religious orders, and nationalized the lands and possessions of over 500 monasteries.[2] The new government hoped to distribute land and goods in the hands among the poorer landowners, but there were few who could buy.[3]