Your search
Results 2 resources
-
This is a formal colonial administrative letter dated 27 April 1813, authored by Friar [Name withheld] and addressed to His Excellency the Count of Galveas, then serving in a high-ranking position within the Portuguese imperial administration. The document responds to a Royal Dispatch of 10 June 1813 concerning alleged jurisdictional disagreement between the author and the Bishop of Peking over governance (*guisação*) of the Royal Seminary in Macau. It asserts the seminary’s independence from episcopal authority—neither the Bishop of Peking nor the local district prelate holds canonical or administrative jurisdiction over it—and clarifies that the author exercised no such jurisdiction, having delegated day-to-day administration to locally appropriate officials while treating the Bishop of Peking solely as a guest (*hospede*). The letter references the Royal Instruction of 17 September 1810, which mandated collaboration with Counselor Miguel de Arriaga Brum da Silveira on missionary planning, and explicitly denies any personal disagreement (*desintendi*) with the Bishop despite non-consultation. It further recounts a contentious meeting with the Bishop of Peking, who claimed royal endorsement—via His Royal Highness—for the Congregation’s seminary plan, affirmed with the consent of Dom Marcelino José da Silva, Bishop of Macau, and threatened withdrawal of priests if altered. The author affirms submission to sovereign authority but concludes that no genuine concord or mutual understanding existed on the matter. The document bears archival stamps of the Arquivo Histórico Colonial (Lisboa) and Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino, marked with the initials *AHU*.
-
This 1819 diplomatic correspondence, dated 21 October and originating from the Rooms of the Quirinal, constitutes an official communication from the Marshal Secretary of State to His Excellency Commissario Mello Dreynen, Plenipotentiary Minister of His Most Faithful Majesty. The document records the formal presentation to the Pope of royal appointments for the Bishoprics of Cochin and Tranganore, made under the authority of the Portuguese Crown. It confirms the transmission of appointment letters and credentials to Monsignor Würtner, representative of the Holy See, in compliance with papal instructions received by the Secretary of State. The letter serves as an acknowledgment of procedural adherence in ecclesiastical nominations within the context of the Portuguese colonial ecclesiastical administration in India. Reference is also made to Crescêncio, Bishop of Crivella, and the summoning of young women presented by the bishops of Coelhão and Cunhagador, indicating supplementary pastoral or administrative proceedings linked to episcopal oversight. As a primary source, this document reflects the intersection of colonial ecclesiastical governance, royal patronage (Padroado Real), and Vatican diplomacy during the early nineteenth century. It offers scholars insight into the bureaucratic mechanisms governing bishopric appointments in Portuguese-held territories and the role of diplomatic intermediaries in Holy See–Crown relations. The text is preserved in formal diplomatic register, characteristic of state-ecclesiastical correspondence of the period.
Explore
Primary Sources
Resource type
- Document (1)
- Manuscript (1)