1867 · Civil codes

Portuguese Civil Code of 1867 (Código de Seabra)

Portugal

The first Portuguese civil code, drafted by Visconde de Seabra, which opened with a section on the rights of persons.

Why it matters

It governed Portugal and its colonies for almost a century, and was a source for the Brazilian code of 1916.

Built on

1804

French Civil Code (Napoleonic Code)

France

followed the French code, with Portuguese and Roman law sources

Went on to shape

1916 (in force 1917)

Brazilian Civil Code of 1916

Brazil

kept many rules from the Portuguese tradition

Counting texts that borrowed from the texts that borrowed from this one, 2 later texts on this timeline trace back to it.

Countries in the Legal Families Atlas

Portugal

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TheLawToKnow Tools’s timeline lists links of influence only where the borrowing is widely documented. Historians sometimes disagree about how much one text shaped another. It is an educational overview, not legal advice.