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This 16th–17th century archival document, originating from Macao and held in the Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino (Lisbon), comprises a series of official reports addressed to the Portuguese monarch detailing the religious institutions operating in the city. Dated 1582 and 1621, and authored by Miguel Pinheiro Ravasco, the texts provide an account of convents and religious colleges under the Franciscan, Dominican, Augustinian, and Jesuit orders, as well as the Misericórdia brotherhood and a Santa Clara retreat for orphan girls. The documents record the number of religious personnel, their sources of income—including rents, alms, trade licences, and royal grants—and property holdings in Macao, Goa, and Malacca. Particular attention is given to financial arrangements such as the annual allocation of cruzados and taéis for missions in Japan and China, revenue from pharmacies and urban properties, and suspended payments due to logistical and administrative challenges. The reports also note permissions granted for trading Japanese silk under royal protection, though actual shipments were rare due to poverty and supply issues. Emphasis is placed on the necessity of these religious houses for sacramental administration and evangelisation. The material reflects the economic, ecclesiastical, and colonial structures of the Portuguese Empire in Asia and serves as a primary source for understanding early modern Catholic missionary activity, urban religious life, and colonial administration in Macao.

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Relacão de André Coelho, capitão-mor, para Gaspar de Melo, do Conselho do rei, em Madrid, em que analisa a situação do Estado da Índia, com a discriminação de todos os locais de fixação holandesa e propostas para a resolução dos problemas. (Misc. Man. Conv. Graça, cx.16, tomo VIF, fls. 77-80). (1621). [Reçação]. Portugal. Arquivos Nacionais da Torre do Tombo.

Giram, Pe. João Rodrigues, S. J. - Carta escrita de Macau, ao padre Bartolomeu de Sequeira, procurador-geral das províncias da China e Japão, em Goa. (Caixa 29, n.^o 19). (1618). Portugal. Biblioteca Nacional Portugal.

Giram, Pe. João Rodrigues, S. J.

D. Filipe II. (1617). Portaria de Filipe II, rei de Portugal e de Espanha, que concede duas viagens à China para as obras do Mosteiro das Recoletas Agostinhas de Madrid, para além das três viagens anteriormente concedidas. (PT/AHU/CU/062/0001/00007) [Portaria]. Portugal. Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino. http://43.156.68.124/docs/E4IIDGHV/viewer_E4IIDGHV.html

Administrative and fiscal documents from the Portuguese imperial bureaucracy, primarily dating between 1611 and 1677, preserved in colonial archives such as the Arquivo de Marinha e Ultramar and the Arquivo Histórico Nacional. The materials consist of royal alvarás, financial mandates, and procedural instructions issued under the authority of the Portuguese Crown, concerning the allocation of revenue streams—specifically *Dragens de China*, fiscal instruments linked to Asian trade—for religious foundations, particularly the construction and maintenance of an Augustinian nunnery at the court of Madrid. Key figures include Queen D. Maria Francisca de Saboia, King Pedro II of Portugal, and administrative officials such as Isidoro da Índia and Gaspar d’Alenquer. The documents detail disbursements for ecclesiastical projects, authorisations for voyages to Japan, and logistical arrangements involving the Estado da Índia, including ship provisioning, cargo prioritisation, and customs exemptions in Goa. Additional records concern adjudication of vessels, reinvestment of commercial proceeds, and personnel deployment, reflecting the integration of colonial finance, royal patronage, and Catholic institutional development within Iberian imperial governance. Marginal annotations, archival codes (e.g., M7A3, AHU_CU_Índia), and official seals indicate provenance from centralised bureaucratic record-keeping systems. The corpus provides critical insight into Habsburg-era administrative practices, cross-dynastic religious initiatives, and the fiscal mechanisms underpinning Portugal’s maritime empire.

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D. Filipe II. (1616). Carta régia (cópia de um extracto) de D. Filipe II, rei de Portugal e de Espanha, sobre as petições do procurador da provincia do Japão, Pe. Gabriel de Matos, da Companhia de Jesus, para serem consultados no Conselho Ultramarino. (A.H.U. -MACAU, cx. 1, doc. n° 6) [Carta régia]. Portugal. Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino. https://digitarq.ahu.arquivos.pt/details?id=1402162

Obs .: Autenticnda com a nssinaturn do secretnrio do Estado da Repartição dos Reinos de Portugal, Africa e ilhas do Madeira e Açores, Cristóvão Soares. Publicado no Boletim do A.H.U., vol. I, 1950, n" 53.

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André Dias. (1616). Receitas (treslado) dos emprestimos feitos em Macau ao governador da armada da China, André Dias, para provimento da referida armada. (SR 062 - Macau, cx. 01, doc. 05) [Receitas]. Portugal. Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino. http://43.156.68.124/docs/J4SU2RB9/viewer_J4SU2RB9.html

Official copy (*treslado*) of financial receipts from 1613, transcribed in February 1616, documenting loans advanced in Macao for the provisioning of the Portuguese China fleet under Captain-General Miguel de Sousa Pimentel. The documents record multiple transactions administered by André Dias, factor (feitor) and governor of the armada, with Francisco Duarte and later Francisco de Sá acting as scriveners. Between October and November 1613, sums totalling over 9,000 pardaus in reais were received from merchants, officials, and private lenders, including funds from the municipal council of Macao and individuals such as Estevão Borges and João Francisco Sem Biques. Loans were issued at an interest rate of twenty-five per cent, repayable in Malacca, with Miguel de Sousa Pimentel personally assuming financial risk aboard the galleon *São Bento*. Entries detail disbursements for fleet maintenance, duties, and operational expenses, with formal acknowledgements of receipt and liability declarations preserved. The original receipts were certified as accurate by Manuel Nogueira Dandrade, scrivener of the Treasury, on 13 February 1616, based on records sent from China by André Dias under warrant from the Chief Purveyor. Held in the Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino (AHU), this document provides critical insight into early 17th-century Luso-Asian maritime finance, colonial administrative practices, and credit mechanisms within the Estado da Índia’s naval operations.

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Meneses, R. D. de. (1615). Portaria do [secretário de Estado da Repartiçao da índia, Brasil, Mina .e Guiné], Rui Dias de Meneses, que determina o acréscimo de mil xerafins aos padres da Companhia de Jesus na China para a sua residencia. (SR 062 - Macau, cx. 01, doc. 04) [Portaria]. Portugal. Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino. http://43.156.68.124/docs/P4732JPB/viewer_P4732JPB.html

Royal decree issued by the King of Portugal on 3 September 1615, originating from Lisbon and addressed to the Viceroy of India, concerning the financial provision for Jesuit missionaries in China. The document records the monarch’s decision to augment the annual stipend granted to the Company of Jesus in the Chinese mission by one thousand xerafins, increasing the total allocation from two thousand to three thousand xerafins per annum. This increase is conditional upon confirmation that the number of Jesuit religious in China has risen to twenty-one, exceeding the original fourteen who had been supported under the prior arrangement. The augmentation is explicitly tied to the presence of at least seven additional missionaries beyond the original complement. The Viceroy of India is instructed to verify this numerical increase through official certification listing all religious stationed in the missions under Jesuit authority, including those in China, before disbursement may proceed. Failure to provide documented evidence will result in the suspension of both the additional payment and any future increments. Endorsed by Rui Dias de Meneses and bearing archival stamps from the Biblioteca Nacional Secção Ultramarina and Arquivo Histórico Colonial, Lisboa, the document forms part of the Portuguese colonial administrative records relating to Asia (AHU_CU_Índia). It reflects the Crown’s fiscal oversight of missionary activities in its overseas territories during the early seventeenth century.

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Traslado do parágrafo de uma Carta d’El-Rei para o Vice-Rei de Portugal, de 16 de Dezembro de 1615, em que manda convidar em segredo D. Francisco de Mascarenhas, filho de D. Nuno de Mascarenhas, para ir servir no Estado da Índia nas naus do ano seguinte; e que declare as conveniências com que o quer fazer. (Cód. CXVI/2-5, fl. 1.). (1615). Portugal. Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora.

É documento autêntico, subscrito pelo Secretário Rui Dias de Meneses.

Descrição do Estado da Índia, com as rendas e cargos. Conselhos sobre o melhor modo de combater os Holandeses e sobre o cobre da China. (Misc. Man. Conv. Graça, cx.16, tomo VIF, fls. 30-45). (1612). [Descrição]. Portugal. Arquivos Nacionais da Torre do Tombo.

Parecer sobre a restituição ou reconquista de Ternate e os problemas levantados a nível jurídico, por a coroa de Portugal ter comprado a sua posse a Carlos V. (Misc. Man. Conv. Graça, cx.6, tomo IIE, fls. 407-421). (1610). [Parecer]. Portugal. Arquivos Nacionais da Torre do Tombo.