Editing Távora affair (section)

==Assassination attempt==
[[File:Quam Mirabilia Sunt Opera Tua Domine! (c. 1759) - Vieira Lusitano (Museu de Lisboa), cropped.png|thumb|250px|left|''Quam mirabilia sunt opera tua, Domine!'' (How wonderful are your works, Lord!). {{circa|1758–1760}} [[sanguine]] drawing by [[Vieira Lusitano]] depicting the assassination attempt of King Joseph I.]]
On the night of 3 September 1758, Joseph I was riding in an unmarked carriage on a secondary, unfrequented road on the outskirts of Lisbon. The King was returning to the tents of Ajuda after an evening with his mistress Marquise Teresa Leonor. Somewhere along the way two or three men intercepted the carriage and fired on its occupants. Joseph I was shot in the arm and his driver was badly wounded, but both survived and returned to Ajuda.

Sebastião de Melo took control of the situation. Concealing the attack and the King's injuries, he initiated a swift inquiry.

A few days later two men were arrested for the shootings and tortured. The men confessed their guilt and stated that they were following the orders of the Távora family, who were plotting to put the Duke of Aveiro on the throne. Both men were hanged the following day, even before the attempted [[regicide]] was made public.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}