In this communication we will attempt to describe and analyze the most severe moments of health crisis caused by war, revolts and insurrections that affected the territory and the population of Lisbon, from the beginning of the French invasions in Portugal and the occupation of Lisbon by the French army at the end of 1807. The analysis is carried out until the 1860s, when the implementation of regulations and various social and urban reforms began to allow some of the crises with the greatest impact on the mortality of the population inhabiting the city to be overcome. This paper begins by analyzing the importance and impact of French invasions (1807-1811) in his companions’epidemics, economic and political crises, to post pone the reforms that the city needed. Although the reconstruction of the center of Lisbon after the earthquake (1755) was slow at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the prosperity and reformist culture were making its way in the Portuguese capital city. Nevertheless poverty, lack of water and sewage, were responsible for a high mortality. The French invasions destroyed the prosperity and were accompanied by illness and hunger, while the social elites left the city in search of peace in their rural properties. Division among the political elites led to the civil war (1832-1834) and a more profound financial crisis. Before any city reforms could began Lisbon suffered not only of a high level of mortality but also several episodes of cholera Morbus, and yellow fever. It’s only after the Constitutional reforms in 1852 that the main issues could be more peacefully discussed and slowly implemented due to the lack of financial capacity. The decrease in violent political dissensions and social conflict from 1851 onwards also to allow the reforms to become more effective in the 1860s.

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