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This 18th-century manuscript, compiled in Macau between 1742 and 1745, comprises transcribed administrative and ecclesiastical records concerning the dispute over Ilha Verde (Green Island) between the Jesuit Company of Jesus, Macanese municipal authorities, and Chinese mandarins from 1622 to 1745. Based exclusively on original documents preserved in the Secretariat of the Jesuit Province of Japan at the College of Madre de Deus in Macau and the Procuratorate of the Province of India in Lisbon, the text details the historical claims, financial expenditures, and legal arguments surrounding the Jesuits’ occupation and development of Ilha Verde. It includes formal declarations, protest letters, financial accounts up to 1745, and references to earlier events beginning in 1622, when the Jesuit Visitor Alexandre Valignano initiated the use of the island for convalescence and agricultural purposes. The document outlines the Jesuits’ acquisition of burial rights from local Chinese landowners, their construction activities, and subsequent conflicts with Cantonese mandarins who ordered the demolition of buildings, citing concerns over fortification. It further records interventions by high-ranking Chinese officials such as Haitao Si and Haitao Lo, municipal responses from the Macau Senate, and correspondence involving Jesuit figures including Gabriel de Mattos, Nicolau Longobardo, and António Leite. The compilation also contains notarial certifications, legal justifications grounded in Chinese land customs, and assertions of Portuguese sovereignty in Macau, supported by historical treaties, tribute payments, and mutual commercial agreements. Financial summaries detail expenditures exceeding 17 million taéis on fortifications, housing, and maintenance of the island up to 1745. As a composite historical record, this manuscript provides critical primary evidence on colonial-administrative dynamics, Sino-Portuguese relations, and the role of religious orders in early modern maritime Asia.

This is a 16th–17th century apologetic treatise, authored by Jesuit Visitor Alessandro Valignano or an associate, in response to criticisms from Franciscan missionaries concerning the Society of Jesus’s activities in Japan and China. The document, preserved under archival reference 49-IV-58 at the Biblioteca da Ajuda (Lisbon), refutes claims made by Franciscans such as Fray Martín Ignacio de Loyola and Fray Jerónimo de Jesús regarding the legitimacy of the Jesuits’ exclusive missionary mandate, granted by Pope Gregory XIII in 1585 and supported by Portuguese royal authority. It defends the Jesuit practice of cultural adaptation—such as adopting local dress and language—as essential for evangelisation, contrasting it with the Franciscans’ confrontational methods, which allegedly provoked persecution under Toyotomi Hideyoshi (‘Taico Sama’). The text challenges accusations that the Jesuits obstructed other religious orders, monopolised trade via Macau, or engaged in political manipulation, asserting instead that their efforts sustained Christianity during severe repression. It further disputes claims about financial misconduct, arguing that Jesuit funding derived from limited alms and silk trade profits, not exploitation. Central to the argument is the assertion that Jesuit prudence preserved Christian communities, while the Franciscans’ imprudence led to martyrdom in 1597. Drawing on personal experience, correspondence, and theological reasoning, the author upholds the validity of papal and royal decrees restricting access to Japan, maintaining that unity among missionaries was vital for the faith’s survival in a politically volatile context.

This historical document transcription, originating from the Jesuit Mission of Tumkin in Macao between 1711 and 1720, forms part of a series of ecclesiastical records compiled by João Alvares and later forwarded to the Procuratorship in Lisbon. The text details missionary activities across contested territories such as Tonkin (Tunkim), Funckim, and Dunkin during periods of intense persecution under royal decrees. It documents the spiritual labours, administrative challenges, and sacramental ministries of Jesuit missionaries including Francisco Nogueira Rodrigues, Father Ruiz, and Father Ignacio Martiny, among others. The narrative highlights efforts to sustain clandestine Christian communities amid political hostility, forced concealment, imprisonment, and martyrdom. Key figures such as Father Marinho Coelho, Father Jerónimo de Azevedo, and Alexandre de Rhodes are noted for their linguistic and pastoral contributions. The abstract includes statistical accounts of conversions, baptisms, and confessions, alongside reports of resistance from local authorities, particularly Mandarins, who enforced prohibitions against Christian practice through edicts, confiscations, and corporal punishment. Despite severe hardship—including famine, illness, and isolation—missionaries continued administering sacraments in secret, often relying on native catechists and covert networks. The document reflects colonial-era religious conflict, indigenous engagement with Catholicism, and institutional struggles within the Society of Jesus, preserved in Portuguese ecclesiastical archives for doctrinal and administrative review.

António de Morais Sarmento, enquanto governador do bispado da China, responde com esta certidão a um pedido do padre Francesco Saverio Fillipucci, SJ. Relata que a) que a Companhia de Jesus não interferiu ou pressionou o anterior governador do bispado da China, frei Miguel dos Anjos, OESA, para que colocasse sob prisão a Pierre Brindeau, missionário francês; b) que havia coincidido com Louis Chevreuil, missionário francês, no Camboja, em 1670, instando-o a que fosse a Macau, onde veio a ser preso por frei Miguel dos Anjos na qualidade de governador do bispado da China e que a Companhia de Jesus não interferiu nesta decisão; c) que foi o próprio frei Miguel dos Anjos que o prendeu e lhe suspendeu as ordens sacras e que Louis Chevreuil era "muito vario no seu discurço" e que as suas declarações não mereciam crédito em juízo; d) que o padre Giovanni Filippo Marini, SJ, não interveio em nenhuma destas situações, nem qualquer outro da Companhia de Jesus; e) que Manuel de Oliveira Aranha, natural e desterrado de Macau, assistente no Camboja, era "inconstante e emburlhatiuo" e as suas declarações não deveriam mereçer crédito em juízo; f) que Amador Coelho, assistente no Sião, é homem que tem um mandato de prisão por parte do vice-rei e do arcebispo de Goa; g) que os cristãos do Camboja lhe haviam certificado que Louis Chevreuil lhes tomava esmola pelos enterros, acompanhamentos e cova e pelas missas; h) que a resposta dada por frei Miguel dos Anjos ao padre Andrea Lubelli, SJ, provincial da província do Japão, a seis pontos de uma sua petição e a mesma contida nesta certidão. Segue-se a certidão de frei Miguel dos Anjos de 27 de Novembro de 1677: Certifica que em 12 anos que foi governador do bispado da China provera sempre as cristandades da China e do Tonquim de vigários da vara; que quando Manuel de Saldanha fora por embaixador a Beijing nomeara como vigário geral das missões da China e Tartária a frei Simão do Bom Sucesso, OESA; que indo o padre Filippo Marini ao Tonquim como provincial a visitar a cristandade local, lhe confiou uma carta ao padre Domingos Fuchiti, SJ, superior da missão, para que como seu vigário da vara, não autorizasse aos clérigos do Tonquim ordenados por Pierre Lambert que administrassem os sacramentos da penitência; que enviou Pierre Brindeau e Louis Chevreuil presos a Goa por o vice-rei ter emitido uma ordem para serem presos e enviados a Goa os clérigos franceses que fossem ter a Macau; que não publicou uma bula enviada pelo bispo de Beirute, vigário apostólico, por não vir pelo caminho que devia [por não passar pelo aparelho burocrático da Coroa de Portugal]; que sempre defendeu o jus-patronato da Coroa de Portugal; i) que por petição do visitador da Companhia de Jesus, padre Sebastião de Almeida, em 1678, no juío eclesiástico se justificaram umas cartas dos missionários franceses que estavam na Cochinchina