Your search
Results 2 resources
-
This 17th-century Portuguese colonial document, dated 25 January 1762 and originating from Macau, comprises a formal petition submitted by Dom Braz de Castro to the Council, accompanied by supporting correspondence and administrative records. It concerns the delayed appointment of Dom Braz to the office of Captain-General of Macau, a position allegedly granted by royal favour under King Philip IV and previously confirmed by the Viceroy Dom Theillope Maç in 1646, though notification was only conveyed in March 1661. The text details Dom Braz’s assertion that the Viceroy withheld official communication until naval vessels bound for China were already preparing to depart, thereby undermining his authority and readiness to assume command. He further alleges obstruction by a Secretary of State who repeatedly refused to issue a formal certificate (*certidão*) despite repeated requests, suggesting deliberate non-compliance. The document includes Dom Braz’s appeal for audience before His Majesty, citing the Viceroy’s known disfavour towards him, and references an accompanying petition directed to the Patriarch of Ethiopia seeking ecclesiastical intervention. Additional marginalia, archival stamps, and notarial markings—such as the seal of the Arquivo Histórico de Macau and a notation dated 10 October 1648—indicate its inclusion within the Estado da Índia administrative series. Written in formal bureaucratic Portuguese with embedded legal and diplomatic terminology, this record offers critical insight into imperial administration, jurisdictional conflicts, and personal patronage networks within the Portuguese colonial system in East Asia during the late Habsburg period.
-
This 17th-century administrative document, dated 14 July 1648, originates from the Portuguese Overseas Council (Conselho Ultramarino) in Lisbon and concerns a petition submitted by Father António Francisco Cardim, General Procurator of the Jesuit Province of Japan. The petition requests the restoration of an annual endowment of one thousand cruzados to the College of Macau, originally granted by King Dom Sebastião in 1574 from the customs revenues of Malacca, and later confirmed and extended by subsequent monarchs, including King Filipe II in perpetuity from 1614. Following the Dutch capture of Malacca, the funding was reassigned to revenues from the Aljofar pearl fisheries in Goa, but payment was suspended during the viceroyalty of the Count of Aveiras. The document records the Council’s deliberation on this matter, citing testimony regarding the continued missionary activity of the Jesuits across Japan, Cochin China, Tonkin, Cambodia, and Laos, despite persecution and financial hardship. It notes the province’s growing spiritual successes—including mass baptisms—and its severe economic distress, with current revenues insufficient to sustain operations. The Council recommends reinstating the grant from Aljofar revenues and formally recognising the monarch as founder of the College of Macau, following the precedent of royal patronage in Goa and Cochin. Accompanying royal charters from 1579, 1607, 1614, and 1618 are referenced as legal substantiation. A marginal royal dispatch dated 26 March 1649 approves the Council’s recommendation. The document is part of the Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino (AHU) collections, specifically the India/Macau series, and reflects key aspects of Iberian colonial administration, ecclesiastical finance, and Jesuit missionary policy in East Asia during the early modern period.