Constantino (Father Manuel)

He was born in Madeira and died in the city of Rome on 28 November 1614. He graduated in philosophy at the University of Coimbra (Universidade de Coimbra) and received the degree of doctor of theology at the University of Salamanca. In Rome he was a professor at the celebrated University of the Sapienza, and in that city his extraordinary talent and vast learning won him the applause and admiration of the leading figures of the Curia.

He wrote and published various works, which are mentioned in the Bibliotheca Lusitana (‘Portuguese library’) and of which we shall cite the following: Oratio in funere Philippi II, Romae 1599; De profectione Pontificis in Ferraricus. Civitatem..., Romae, 1598; Historia de origine et principio atque vita omnium regum Lusitaniae..., Romae, 1601; In funere Seraphinae a Portugalia Joannis Brigantiae Ducis filiae..., Romae, 1604; Gratulatio de S. Pontif. Paulo V..., Romae, 1607; Votum primum ad S. S. Virginem pro salute Scipionis Cardinalis..., Romae, 1610.

Among the works he published, one is of interest to this archipelago: it is entitled Insulae Materiae... and was published in Rome in 1599. It is a history, written in Latin, of the discovery of this archipelago, and Dr Álvaro de Azevedo refers to it in his notes to ‘Longing for the Homeland’ (Saudades da Terra).

The Insulae Materiae, which appeared in Rome in 1599, became a great bibliographical rarity. A copy was acquired by the public-spirited industrialist Henrique Hinton, who arranged for its translation into Portuguese and had it published in an elegant edition in 1930. It was translated by Father João Baptista de Afonseca, with a preface and extensive notes by Father Fernando Augusto da Silva, co-author of this Elucidário.