The year is 1759. Yet in the aftermath of the earthquake that destroyed Lisbon just four years earlier, in a political and economic crisis environment, Joseph I, King of Portugal (António Cordeiro) is the victim of an attack carried in one night in September when returning to the Royal Field after a meeting with his new mistress - the new Marchioness of Tavora (Sandra Cóias). After a first moment of hesitation and perplexity, the king instructs his prime-minister, Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo (João DÁvila), to proceed to the constitution of a tribunal to find, arrest and judge those responsible for the crime. It's an excuse to wipe out the old nobility who resisted the lights.
The families of the Duke of Aveiro (Júlio Cardoso) and the Marquis of Tavora (Henrique Viana) are accused of lese majeste via a spurious process, built on evidence whose political intent was clear. The destination was death in the largest execution that Portugal ever watched.
But today, despite the rehabilitation of Tavora, this stain of shame and tragedy is present in the human memory. For many, is just the pain of childbirth where mordern Portugal is emerging.
