Escribir «cartas aterradoras» en el Palacio do Limoeiro (Portugal, 1822-1825)

At a moment in Portuguese history characterised by the crisis of Ancien Regime, when political and social crises catalysed an increase in crime, and in particular banditry, there emerged the custom of writing from prison threatening letters with the objective of extortion, signed by anonymous delinquents. A historical-linguistic analysis of 85 of these letters written between 1822 and 1825 allows a glimpse of a community of individuals in their own historical context, and of their informal critique of contemporary practices of communication