Your search

This document is a copy of a letter dated 14 February 1746, originating from Rome and addressed to King João V of Portugal and the Algarves. The original correspondence, dated 16 January in the sixth year of the pontificate of an unnamed Pope, conveys formal ecclesiastical gratitude for the acquisition made by His Majesty (S. M.) benefiting the clergy. The Pope expresses appreciation for the monarch’s support of the Church, acknowledging his pious conduct and reaffirming ongoing spiritual intercessions on behalf of the Portuguese crown. Emphasising the Pope’s apostolic blessing bestowed upon King João V and his entire royal family, the letter underscores the close relationship between the Holy See and the Portuguese monarchy during the mid-18th century. Written in Latin with a postscript notation in Portuguese indicating the date and recipient, the document serves as a diplomatic and religious communication reflecting the ceremonial and devotional practices of the period. It highlights the role of the Catholic Church in affirming monarchical authority through spiritual endorsement and reveals the mechanisms of reciprocal recognition between secular rulers and papal authority in early modern Europe. This transcription provides scholars with primary source material pertinent to the study of Iberian- Vatican relations, religious patronage, and the intersection of monarchy and ecclesiastical power in the 18th century.

朕不甚惡西洋之教但與中國無甚益處不過從眾議耳你酌量如果無害外國人一切從寬好恐你不達朕意過嚴則又不是矣特諭

趙昌等傳旨眾西洋人多羅（Carlo Tommaso Maillard de Tournon, 1668-1710）奏本格式錯誤並諭令剛抵澳門西洋人須學會中國話 趙昌等傳旨與眾西洋人：「多羅所寫奏本，擡頭錯處，字眼越分，奏摺用五爪龍。著地方官查問，再新來之人，若叫他們來，他俱不會中國的話。仍著爾等做通事，他們【刪們字】心裡也不服朕意，且教他們【刪們字】在澳門學中國話語，以待龍安國信來時再作定奪。爾等意思怎麼樣【改：如何】。欽此。」眾西洋人聽見聖旨，即跪稱：「皇上如此料理，是皇上大恩，我們萬萬想不到，如此我們實情甚難與多羅做通事。」

兩廣總督楊琳奏為蒙恩賞謝恩所賜澳門彝目各物即著廣州住堂西洋人李若瑟帶領彝目等到肇慶受賞摺 康熙五十八年五月十五日(1719.7.2)

Fragmentary transcription from a Portuguese colonial-era manuscript, likely dating between the late 16th and early 18th centuries, documents an ecclesiastical and administrative journey involving religious personnel and territorial expeditions in a Lusophone colonial context—possibly West or Central Africa or the Amazon basin. The text records the movements of His Excellency the Bishop of Muidum from Malão towards his bishopric in 1745, including delays due to security concerns and lack of reliable intelligence. It details preparations for entry into China, issuance of pastoral letters to Dom Pedro Xavier das Milhães, and coordination of supplies and messengers. Later sections describe maritime navigation, anchorage near settlements such as Motaõ Seta and So. Brac, encounters with local traders, ritual practices involving figures like Sabina and Salis, and ceremonial processions marked by symbolic offerings, dance, and spiritual invocations. References to locations including Cantam, Malacão, Nancelum, and Fantam suggest a complex network of colonial outposts. The document further outlines military and diplomatic engagements, fortifications, jurisdictional disputes, and interactions with local authorities and Indigenous communities. Despite significant orthographic irregularities, damage to the original manuscript, and numerous illegible or ambiguous passages, the text provides insight into colonial administration, missionary activity, intercultural exchange, and ritual life. Preserved terms resist full etymological identification, reflecting phonetic transcription, scribal error, or code-switching common in frontier archives. This translation adheres strictly to British academic conventions and is suitable for scholarly analysis of early modern Portuguese imperial and ecclesiastical history.

This is a formal ecclesiastical decree promulgated in 1704 and reaffirmed in 1707 by Charles Thomas Mallare, Patriarch of Antioch and Apostolic Vicar with *legatus a latere* faculties, alongside Brother Beda, Bishop and Most Reverend Provincial of the Neocor Missionaries Apostolic in China and Siam, and later endorsed by Lazarus Carneiro and Francis, Apostolic Vicars of Cambodia. Issued on 7 December 1704 and formally published on 7 February 1707 at Matani Nankiri, the document establishes binding canonical regulations for all missionaries—secular and regular, including Jesuits—serving in the missions of China, Siam, and Cambodia. It addresses five critical questions concerning the compatibility of Chinese and Southeast Asian ritual practices with Catholic doctrine, specifically delineating permissible civil veneration (*veneratio civilis*) of ancestors and cultural rites under strict conditions, while explicitly prohibiting participation in or endorsement of the ‘Sacrifice to Heaven’ (*Conchaji*), state cults (*Dovenis*), veneration of the ‘Tablet of the Ruler of Heaven’ (*T’ien-chu P’ai*), and local folk rituals (*geghili*). The decree invokes papal authority—including decrees of Urban VIII and Clement XI—and imposes automatic excommunication for non-compliance, reserving absolution solely to the Holy See or, in cases of imminent death, to the Society of Jesus under narrowly defined conditions. It constitutes a foundational regulatory text for the Chinese Rites Controversy within the early modern Catholic missionary enterprise.

This diplomatic transcription presents a heavily damaged, linguistically heterogeneous archival fragment originating from the Portuguese colonial and missionary archive, dating approximately to the mid-17th to early 18th century (c. 1631–1724), with palaeographic and orthographic features consistent with late-eighteenth-century Genoese notarial Latin–Italian hybrid usage. The document comprises miscellaneous manuscript leaves, marginalia, seals, and archival references, held within a multilingual chancery context involving Portuguese, Latin, vernacular Iberian, Sinic, and Indo-Portuguese administrative terminology. It records ecclesiastical, diplomatic, and juridical proceedings concerning the Catholic missions in Macau, Canton, Beijing, and associated regions—including interactions with the Qing imperial court (notably under Emperors Kangxi and Yongzheng), the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, and the Holy See—alongside colonial governance in West Africa, India, Southeast Asia, and Brazil. Key figures include Carlo Ambrosio Patr. Athl. Legato Cop. (Patriarch of Antioch, Apostolic Legate to China), Dom Aluy, Kialo, the Emperor’s Mandarin officials (e.g., Duli, Chasedam, Sirint Cum), and missionaries such as James Bouver, S.J., Ignatius Kogler, S.J., and Mother Maria de São José of Macau. Central themes encompass the Chinese Rites Controversy, jurisdictional disputes between papal legates and imperial authorities, canonical procedure, missionary administration, interreligious diplomacy, and the material culture of colonial religious practice. The text is presented strictly as a diplomatic transcription—faithful to the source’s physical condition, abbreviations, corruptions, and linguistic complexity—for critical scholarly engagement in historical, theological, and postcolonial research.

Novas Aquisições Francesas

This abstract describes a bilingual (Chinese and Latin) imperial edict issued on 9 November 1785—the eighth day of the tenth lunar month in the fiftieth year of the Qianlong reign—alongside a contemporaneous ecclesiastical dispatch dated 22 January 1786 from Macau. The document records the Qing Emperor’s conditional release of twelve European missionaries, including Patiliano (Father Joannes a Salsis), who had entered China without official authorisation and were apprehended across multiple provinces including Huguang, Zhili, Guangdong, Gansu, Jiangxi, and Sichuan. It details the Emperor’s rationale for initial sentencing to perpetual imprisonment—citing clandestine movement and proselytisation as disruptive analogues to the legendary venomous serpent *Guiyu*—and his subsequent clemency, permitting the missionaries either residence in Beijing churches (*jiaotang*) or repatriation to Macau under imperial auspices. The dispatch, authored by Martinho de Melo, Apostolic Administrator *ad interim* of Macau, reports ceremonial reception in Beijing—including imperial audience, liturgical celebration at the Cathedral, and solemn processions—as well as the identities and nationalities of twelve missionaries en route to Macau, among them Bishop Francisco Gabriel Turin of Sichuan, Italian, Spanish, French, Macanese, and Colombian clergy. The text reflects Qing administrative procedures, jurisdictional roles of the Board of Rites (*Lifan Yuan*) and Ministry of Justice (*Xingbu*), and missionary interpretations of imperial favour, including the term *Condegiro* as colloquial reference to high-ranking mandarins. This material constitutes a primary source for studying Sino-European religious diplomacy, Qing legal administration, and Catholic missionary activity in late eighteenth-century China.

This is a fragmentary administrative and legal document, likely from the Portuguese colonial period (16th–18th century), preserved in the Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino (AHU_CU_Índia, Cx. 14, D). The text records land tenure, inheritance claims, and ecclesiastical appointments involving noble and religious figures in a colonial context, possibly Goa or another territory within the Portuguese Empire. It details property transfers, including holdings such as the estate of Dona Maria de Noronha and lands associated with the Tenhorometod Re Syndicato Eclojophia, referencing local jurisdictions, familial succession, and testamentary arrangements. Key individuals include Pero Maffina, Manuel Caldeira do Canto, Reverend Father François Marquez El Corueta, and various officials such as Corregedores, Vicars General, and members of the Almada and Albuquerque families. The document contains references to judicial procedures, powers of attorney, tithe rights, and disputes over guardianship and asset distribution. Despite significant orthographic irregularities, phonetic spellings, and sections of indecipherable content, it reflects the complex bureaucratic, legal, and ecclesiastical frameworks of Lusophone colonial administration. Seals, marginal annotations, and archival markings indicate formal authentication and provenance within official colonial record-keeping systems. This transcription serves as a primary source for scholarly research into colonial governance, property law, and familial networks in the Portuguese imperial sphere.

This is a handwritten ecclesiastical letter dated 4th September 1702, addressed to D. Pedro II, King of Portugal, from Alexandre Cícero, Bishop of Nankim, and written in Portuguese colonial script. The document originates from Nankim (likely Nanquim or a variant spelling of a South or East Asian mission station) and forms part of the Portuguese overseas ecclesiastical archive. It discusses the ongoing Chinese Rites controversy, referencing deliberations in Rome and the consultation of missionaries from China regarding the compatibility of Confucian ancestral practices with Catholic doctrine. The author expresses relief that longstanding missionary efforts in China are being distinguished from the actions of disruptive vicars, and conveys hope for a favourable papal decision under the new Supreme Pontiff. The letter also acknowledges royal intervention in securing the provision of the author’s ecclesiastical stipend (*congrua*) through the Viceroy of India, for which gratitude is expressed. Marginalia include an illegible annotation possibly indicating "Humble Chaplain" and the initials "MAOZ". Official stamps from the National Library’s Ultramarine Section appear on the page, confirming archival provenance. The signature, "Alexandre Cícero, Bishop of Nankim", authenticates the document. This primary source offers critical insight into 18th-century Catholic missionary politics, Lusophone imperial patronage, and the intersection of colonial administration and religious authority in Asia.