Branco (Father João Manuel de Freitas)
Original title: Branco (Padre João Manuel de Freitas)
Biography of Padre João Manuel de Freitas Branco (c.1773–1831), a Funchal-born priest and liberal who represented Madeira in the Cortes of 1822 and later fled to Brazil to escape Miguelist persecution.
This priest, ‘one of the greatest talents of the province of Madeira’, as O Patriota Funchalense (‘The Funchal Patriot’) called him in 1822, was born in Funchal in 1773, or shortly after, and died in Rio de Janeiro in 1831.
For 24 consecutive years he served as a priest in various parishes far from Funchal, and in 1822 he was collated vicar (vigário colado, permanently instituted in the benefice) of São Jorge when he was elected deputy to the Cortes (Portuguese parliament) for the island of Madeira.
Having left for Lisbon that year, he took his seat in parliament, where he defended the interests of his homeland with considerable intelligence and judgement.
When absolute government was restored in Portugal and the Cortes were dissolved, Freitas Branco returned to Madeira. In 1826 he was appointed teacher of Latin grammar and Latinity in Funchal, and in September 1827 a member of the censorship board.
He was an ardent constitutionalist, and during Valdez’s government he used the pulpit several times to urge the people to respect the rights of Dom Pedro.
He was indicted by the special judicial commission (alçada) that the government of Miguel I sent to Madeira in 1828, but he escaped arrest because he had emigrated to Brazil.
He contributed to O Patriota Funchalense and was a corresponding member of the Society of Friends of the Sciences and Arts (Sociedade dos Amigos das Sciencias e Artes). Of Vicar Freitas Branco’s many sermons, the only one ever published was the one he preached in the Cathedral (Sé Catedral) on 28 January 1822, the first anniversary of the proclamation of constitutional government on this island, entitled ‘Oração de acção de graças que na solemnidade do anniversario do faustissimo dia 28 de Janeiro de 1821 pregou na Sé Catedral do Funchal em o anno de 1822’.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 07-
Padre João Manuel de Freitas Branco was born in Funchal.
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Madeira adhered to the liberal revolution and the constitutional regime was solemnly proclaimed in Funchal, the square being renamed Praça da Constituição.
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General elections under the new Constitution, held by direct vote, chose Madeira's deputies to the Cortes, among them Freitas Branco, with Macedo and Luiz António Jardim as substitutes.
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Funchal celebrated the first anniversary of the Constitution's proclamation with festivities, a thanksgiving sermon by Freitas Branco in the cathedral, and the laying by Governor D. Rodrigo António de Melo of the foundation stone of a constitutional monument in the Terreiro da Sé.
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Padre João Manuel de Freitas Branco was appointed professor of Latin grammar in Funchal.
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Father João Manuel de Freitas Branco became a member of the censorship board.
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D. Miguel's judicial commission (alçada) came to Madeira, indicting 216 liberals and freemasons and imprisoning 101; some, like Nery and Agrela, were sent to Lisbon, while others fled or hid.
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Padre João Manuel de Freitas Branco died in Rio de Janeiro.
Place
Places mentioned · 06
Abroad
- Brazil
Country to which he emigrated in 1828.
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.
- Funchal
Birthplace of Freitas Branco and where he taught Latin.
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.
- Funchal Cathedral (the Sé)
Funchal. Where he preached his published sermon of 1822.
The Sé do Funchal is the cathedral of Funchal, in the parish of Sé. It was begun in 1493, became a parish seat in 1508 and a cathedral in 1514. It was the starting point of processions and the place of the vow to São Tiago, and bishops are buried there.
- Lisbon
Portugal. Seat of the Cortes where he sat as deputy.
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.
- Rio de Janeiro
Brazil. Where he died in 1831.
Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, appears in the Elucidário as the seat of the Portuguese court and as a city where many Madeirans lived, studied, taught, published and died. Among them were Paulo Perestrelo da Câmara, João de Oliveira Sá Camelo Lampreia and João da Silveira Caldeira, who headed the Mint there.
- São Jorge
Santana. Parish of which he was vicar in 1822.
North-coast parish that was an original parish of Santana municipality and gives its name to the northern archpriest district. It is known for plant-fossil and lignite deposits studied by Heer and Bunbury, and for a 17th-century landslide. The Elucidário also describes its islet, headland, quay and stream.
People
People mentioned · 04- João Manuel de Freitas Brancoc. 1773–1831
Madeiran priest, vicar of São Jorge and deputy to the Cortes in 1822, who emigrated to Brazil in 1828 and died in Rio de Janeiro.
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Pedro IV, whose constitutional rights Freitas Branco defended from the pulpit.
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Absolutist king whose government sent the 1828 alçada that indicted Freitas Branco.
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Governor of Madeira during whose rule Freitas Branco preached respect for D. Pedro's rights.