The aim of this project is to fill a major gap in Portuguese economic historiography with the publication, in three volumes, of the history of the Portuguese central bank, since its foundation until the First World War. The two first volumes describe the main events and outline the principal phases in the long term evolution of what was not only the oldest but also the largest and most important financial institution during this time span. The third provides an account of the role of the human factor in the historical development of the Bank, focusing on three sets of historical actors: the shareholders, the managers and the employees. This study is based on an extremely rich and well organized archive, which is used intensively, along with a wealth of other sources - parliamentary, press and others. In it the main themes are developed in comparative fashion to other similar European institutions, with use also being made of theoretical suggestions from monetary theory and banking economics. These include the complex web of relations between the state and the bank, through which the latter sought to maximize its privileges but also its autonomy; the preoccupation of the bank, as a joint stock company, to distribute generous dividends while ensuring that share values were always protected; the need to learn and develop a monetary policy, to which it was not legally bound, but which became unavoidable in order to ensure the stability of the financial system without which the Bank could not prosper. Essentially, the narrative of the first two volumes includes three phases. The first, which is recounted in Vol. I, describes the founding period, of enormous turbulence and instability, during which the Bank attempted to recover from the profound shock it suffered in 1846, something it only achieved at the end of the 1850s. The second phase, ending in 1891, witnessed a strong expansion of commercial activity and a strengthening of corporate assets, despite some incidents. At the same time, the Bank gained in autonomy from the state and perfected its instruments of monetary intervention in the context of the gold standard. The third started under the sign of the financial crisis of 1891, and witnessed a growing subjection of the Bank to state objectives. It was however a time of even greater gains in profitability and of unparalleled ascendancy over the remaining parts of the financial system. The third volume makes use of inputs from project P-138 and examines the Bank's past in a perspective which blends corporate history with some of the most important themes in nineteenth century Portuguese social history. The first part is a pioneer study of the shareholders of a major corporation and reveals the remarkable dispersion of shares throughout all social strata, as well as a surprising participation by women in the ownership of this corporation. The second is a prosopographical analysis of one of the most significant economic elites of the time, although one of the least studied, the banking elite.  One hundred and eighty short biographies bring to light its patterns of education, professional background, scientific, military and political involvement, and demonstrates the high degree of social and economic heterogeneity within it.