Castro (Father Francisco de)
Original title: Castro (Padre Francisco de)
Francisco de Castro was a noted preacher from Funchal and vicar of the collegiate church of São Pedro. He died in Cape Verde in 1665 and two of his sermons were printed.
He was a celebrated preacher in his day and held several important posts. Diogo Barbosa Machado says of him in the Biblioteca Lusitana: ‘Francisco de Castro, a native of the city of Funchal, capital of the island of Madeira, a priest of blameless life, master of arts, doctor of Theology from the University of Évora, where he was a fellow of the college of the Purificação. He was vicar of the collegiate church of São Pedro (St Peter) in the city of Funchal, whence, going to Cape Verde to seek a cure for the disease of leprosy, he passed to a better life in the year 1665. Of the many sermons he preached, only the Sermão da Conceição de Nossa Senhora, La Rochelle, 1656, and the Sermão da Visitação da Mãe de Deus, La Rochelle, 1655, were published.’ Inocêncio Francisco da Silva states in his Diccionario Bibliographico that these sermons are extremely rare, since he never came across a single copy of them. He was also parish priest of the parish (freguesia) of Santo António in Funchal.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 03Place
Places mentioned · 06
Abroad
- Cape Verde
Where Castro went to seek a cure for leprosy and died.
Cape Verde is an archipelago and Portuguese colony that served as a place of exile and deportation for Madeirans, including liberals in the 1820s, protesters against the dairy decrees and the 1936 rioters. Lowe visited it in 1864 and 1866. It shares one flowering-plant species with Madeira.
- Church of St Peter
Funchal. Collegiate church where Castro was vicar.
The Igreja de São Pedro is a collegiate church in the parish of São Pedro, Funchal, where Padre Francisco de Castro was vicar and Manuel Soares founded a chapel. Its sacristy holds a triptych of classified panels, written about by the Visconde de Meireles and praised by Teixeira Gomes. It was also the seat of the confraternity supporting the Hospital de São Lázaro.
- Évora
Portugal. Its university awarded Castro his doctorate in theology.
Évora is a city in mainland Portugal with an archiepiscopal cathedral and a university, connected with several Madeiran clergy. It was the birthplace of Bishop D. Estevão Brioso and of D. Martinho de Portugal. The 4th Count of Vimioso died in a convent there.
- Funchal
Castro's native city.
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.
- Santo António
Funchal. Parish where Castro served as parish priest.
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 · 03- Francisco de Castrod. 1665
Funchal-born priest and doctor of theology who served as vicar of São Pedro and parish priest of Santo António; he died in Cape Verde while seeking a cure for leprosy.
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Author of the Biblioteca Lusitana, which is quoted here on Castro.
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Bibliographer who described Castro's sermons as very rare.