Azevedo (Blessed Inácio de)
Original title: Azevedo (Beato Inácio de)
Entry on the Jesuit Blessed Inácio de Azevedo, who called at Funchal in 1570 with thirty-nine companions bound for Brazil and was martyred by Huguenot corsairs off La Palma. It records the 1745 memorial stone at Pico do Cardo, Santo António, commemorating their stay.
On 13 June 1570 a fleet under the command of Luís de Vasconcelos anchored in the harbour of Funchal, coming from Lisbon and bound for Brazil. Besides its crews and various passengers, it carried forty religious of the Society of Jesus. Their superior was Father Inácio de Azevedo, and they were bound for the Brazilian missions run by the Jesuits. The fleet left Madeira on 30 June, and on 15 July following, off the Canary Islands and within sight of the island of La Palma, it was attacked by Huguenot corsairs, who plundered the Portuguese ships and slaughtered the forty religious, throwing their bodies into the sea. They were entered in the martyrology of the Catholic Church and granted the honour of the altars. Their passage through Madeira, and especially their stay in the parish (freguesia) of Santo António, was commemorated by a stone tablet which until a few years ago was still in the chapel of the locality (sítio) of Pico do Cardo (‘thistle peak’) in the same parish, bearing the following inscription:
IN MEMORY OF THE GLORIOUS MARTYRS OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS, FATHER INÁCIO DE AZEVEDO AND HIS 39 COMPANIONS, WHO, SAILING FOR BRAZIL IN THE YEAR 1570, ON 15 JULY, WITHIN SIGHT OF THE ISLAND OF LA PALMA, EARNED THE CROWN OF MARTYRDOM FOR THE FAITH OF CHRIST, BEING THROWN INTO THE SEA BY THE HERETICS; AND WHO, HAVING STAYED ON THIS QUINTA (country estate) OF PICO DO CARDO, CAME TO THIS PLACE WITH THEIR CROSS AND HERE PERFORMED THEIR DEVOTIONS, THIS WAS ERECTED FOR THE GREATER GLORY OF GOD. YEAR 1745.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 03-
The fleet carrying Inácio de Azevedo and forty Jesuits anchored at Funchal, stayed there, and left for Brazil on 30 June.
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Huguenot corsairs attacked the fleet off La Palma in the Canaries and killed the forty Jesuits, led by Inácio de Azevedo, who had passed through Madeira.
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A memorial stone to the Jesuit martyrs led by Inácio de Azevedo was erected at Pico do Cardo.
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The periodical Paróquia de Santo António do Funchal published a fuller account of the episode of Blessed Inácio de Azevedo.
Place
Places mentioned · 07
Abroad
- Brazil
Destination of the Jesuit missionaries.
Brazil is recorded in the Elucidário as a chief destination of Madeiran emigrants, including several clergy and writers. It was also a market for Madeira wine and brandy and a maker of wickerwork from Madeiran osiers. It was linked to Madeira by the 1874 telegraph cable and is the native country of the araçá.
- Canary Islands
Spain. Waters near which the fleet was attacked.
The Canary Islands are the archipelago neighbouring Madeira, with disputed accounts of their discovery. Tradition holds that their Béthencourt king sold them to Prince Henry in exchange for lands in Madeira. The Elucidário notes many contacts between the two archipelagos, including scientific visits, the Orfeão Madeirense's tour in May 1922 and the massacre of forty Jesuits in their waters.
- Funchal
Where the fleet carrying the Jesuits anchored on 13 June 1570.
The capital of the archipelago and seat of the principal captaincy, where settlement began; it was made a vila c.1451–52. Its bay, the widest in the archipelago, lies between Ponta do Garajau and Ponta da Cruz and offers sheltered anchorage, though its harbour had never been studied oceanographically. The Elucidário discusses it as a health resort with climate data and records the January 1906 disturbances, the Danish prince's visit in May 1846 and recent volcanic cones in the area.
- La Palma
Spain. Island in sight of which the forty Jesuits were martyred.
Canary island in sight of which the forty Jesuit martyrs led by Inácio de Azevedo were killed. It also features as a source of Canarian immigrants and as a landmark sighted on voyages to Madeira.
- Lisbon
Portugal. Port of departure of the fleet.
The Portuguese capital, seat of the Relação court and of the Misericórdia whose privileges and statutes were extended to Funchal. Henrique Franco de Sousa studied at its Royal Academy of Fine Arts, and Luiz José Baiardo moved there in 1821.
- Pico do Cardo
Funchal. Site of the quinta and chapel where a memorial stone to the martyrs was placed.
A 438 m hill and locality in Santo António parish, Funchal, the site of a Jesuit quinta and residence where Inácio de Azevedo and his companions stayed. The estate had a chapel of Nossa Senhora do Pópulo and a 1727 Santa Quitéria chapel, and it was later sold for 7 contos.
- Santo António
Funchal. Parish where the Jesuits stayed during their visit.
Santo António is a parish in the municipality of Funchal, Madeira, where the São João stream rises and the Jesuits had their Pico do Cardo residence. Its church bears a 1783 Latin inscription, and the parish contains the Madalena, São João e Santana and Pópulo chapels; it also gives its name to a hill of about 400 metres near its church.
People
People mentioned · 02- Inácio de Azevedod. 1570
Jesuit superior of forty missionaries bound for Brazil who stayed in Madeira in 1570 and was killed by Huguenot corsairs off La Palma; later beatified.
- Luís de Ornelas e Vasconcelos1636–1720
Commander of the fleet carrying the Jesuit missionaries from Lisbon to Brazil in 1570.