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This abstract is for a historical document transcription from the Portuguese colonial archive, dated 26 March 1647 and 26 May 1647, concerning a petition for a royal decree (alvará) related to trade with China. The document comprises two parts: the first is a formal petition from António de Lexe (or de Sousa/Sequeira) to the Portuguese Crown, requesting the renewal of a decree originally granted in 1582 that permitted him to undertake a voyage to China as a ship's boy (grumete). The petition notes that the original decree was issued before the acclamation of the current monarch and was confirmed by the King of Castile, and it includes a certified copy from the India House (Casa da Índia). The second part is an administrative note recording a request for a decree to formalise a commercial share in a voyage to China. The document is signed by several officials, including João Gomes de Mendonça, and bears the stamp of the Overseas Historical Archive in Goa. Archival references place the document within the Macau collection (Gaveta 1, document 59). This material provides primary evidence of the bureaucratic processes governing Portuguese colonial trade, individual petitions for commercial privileges, and the administrative mechanisms of the Macau-based China trade during the mid-seventeenth century.
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This document is a translation of a seventeenth-century Portuguese administrative resolution and council representation, dated 28 January 1647, from the Council in Goa to King John IV. The text concerns the logistical organisation of a military and naval expedition to Portuguese India, specifically addressing the dispatch of vessels and infantry from Lisbon. Key figures mentioned include the Marquis, Jorge de Castro, Jorge de Albuquerque, and João Delgado Digueira, who signed the document, alongside the scribe João Miguel Pacheco. The resolution details the appointment of vessels, the urgent arming of ships for Ceylon, and the necessity of writing to the Viceroy and Captain-General. The Council petitions the King to execute the decree through the Conselho da Fazenda, discusses the routing of a supply ship to Lisbon due to navigational difficulties and a lack of experienced pilots, and notes the need for notification of vessels departing Lisbon for India. The document provides primary evidence of colonial administrative procedures, naval logistics, and the governance of the Estado da Índia during the mid-seventeenth century, reflecting the Crown’s efforts to sustain its overseas territories.
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This archival fragment comprises a late 16th- to early 17th-century Portuguese colonial administrative memorandum, originating likely from the viceregal chancery in Goa and addressed to the Viceroy (*Vossa Mercê*), concerning governance, ecclesiastical authority, and inter-imperial tensions in the contested region of Mazaua—identified contextually as a newly elevated episcopal see under Portuguese jurisdiction. Key figures include Dom Frei de Castello, Bishop of Beja; Dom Roão Cláudio, Governor-General of the Castilians; Dom Felipe de Mascarenhas (Governor of Portuguese India, 1591–1597); Dom Sebastião Loubo, implicated in civic unrest; and Dom João, tasked with conducting a formal inquiry (*cauta*) into Mazaua’s diplomatic overtures to Manila. The document details the city’s subdued *Aclamação* of the monarch, its forcible repossession of Castilian flags and artillery from Manila-based agents, the appointment and subsequent expulsion of twenty-one *ispastalos*, and the contentious status of religious personnel and Castilian vassals within Mazaua. It further addresses jurisdictional disputes between the Bishop and the Commissioner of the Holy Office, the proposed episcopal appointment, the irregular composition of local garrisons, and prohibitions on travel between Manila and Mazaua. Toponymic variants—including *Uia Gem*, *Utorgda*, and *Fellissa Clara*—reflect contemporary orthographic practices in Portuguese India. The text concludes with directives on official communication protocols and the preservation of Mazaua’s municipal title (*título de cidade*), grounded in its historical possession and geopolitical vulnerability.
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Fragmentary administrative document dated 28 November 1643, originating from the Municipal Council of the City of Macao (referred to as Nome de Deus), addressed to a high-ranking Portuguese colonial authority, likely the Viceroy or Crown representative in Asia. The text records a formal petition requesting permission to conduct three trading voyages to Japan should the Japan trade be reopened, with the expressed purpose of alleviating the city’s substantial debts owed to Japanese creditors. The Council requests that the first voyage be granted to the local Company as a privilege, and that the remaining two be purchased at the standard rate established in Stillo, with proceeds allocated toward settling civic obligations and funding the presídio (garrison) salaries, including regular and double-pay allowances. Jorge de Albuquerque supports the petition, affirming the residents’ merit for royal favour due to eight years of commercial hardship. A supplementary note outlines conditions for royal voyages: reimbursement of Crown expenses from voyage revenues, and a proposal that if additional voyages are granted to other parties, the Macao petitioners should receive one-quarter of the profits from an extra voyage over four years as an act of grace. Marginal and interlinear annotations indicate archival routing, including a reference to Belém and archival code No. 31 A 1. Seals bear inscriptions identifying the Arquivo Histórico Colonial and AHU. The document reflects late Habsburg-period Portuguese colonial fiscal policy, intra-Asian trade dynamics, and the socio-economic pressures on Macao following Japan’s closure of foreign trade.
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Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino
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Macau (1587-1833)
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Macau (1587-1833)
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Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino
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