Cão (Friar Nuno)
Original title: Cão (Fr. Nuno)
Friar of the Order of Christ among the first priests sent to Madeira at Prince Henry's request; parish priest and first dean of Funchal Cathedral in 1514.
He was a brother (freire) of the Order of Christ (Ordem de Cristo), to which the Madeira archipelago belonged in spiritual matters (see Order of Christ). He was one of the first priests whom the Order of Christ sent to this island at the request of Prince Henry the Navigator, and he held wider powers of canonical jurisdiction than the other clergy then in Madeira. He exercised parochial duties at the church of Our Lady of Calhau (Nossa Senhora do Calhau) and was later parish priest of the parish (freguesia) of the Sé, being invested as dean of the Cathedral when this diocese was created in 1514. He was the representative of the Order of Christ and therefore carried out duties of inspection and superintendence over various branches of public administration. He left an honoured memory.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 01Place
Places mentioned · 02
- Church of Our Lady of Calhau
Funchal. Early church where he exercised parish duties.
The Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Calhau was Funchal's first parish church, begun around 1438 on the shore by the left bank of the Ribeira de João Gomes. It was repeatedly damaged by floods and destroyed by the great flood of 1803; its chancel was kept as a memorial until the ruins were demolished in 1835 for a market.
- Sé
Funchal. Parish of which he later became priest.
The Sé is the central urban parish of Funchal, lying wholly within the city, split from Santa Maria Maior in 1557 and seated in the cathedral; it is the city's commercial, administrative and official heart. The Elucidário records its churches, notable buildings, judicial role as starting point of the eastern comarca, and several notable people born there, and notes that the Bugio belongs to it administratively.
People
People mentioned · 02-
Order of Christ friar, early priest in Madeira and first dean of Funchal Cathedral from 1514.
- Henry the Navigator1394–1460
Prince Henry, at whose request the Order of Christ sent the first priests to Madeira.