Figueiredo e Lemos (Dom Luís de) 1Origins and early career
Figueiredo e Lemos (Dom Luís de)
Original title: Figueiredo de Lemos (D. Luis)
Biography of D. Luís de Figueiredo de Lemos (1544–1608), Azorean-born seventh bishop of Funchal, remembered as a vigorous reformer of the diocese who built the old episcopal palace and founded the diocesan seminary there.
1Origins and early career
Among the prelates who distinguished themselves in the episcopal government of this diocese, the name of Dom Luís de Figueiredo e Lemos, 7th bishop of Madeira, Porto Santo (‘holy harbour’) and Arguin, stands out.
He was born on the small island of Santa Maria in the Azores archipelago on 21 August 1544, the son of Miguel Figueiredo de Lemos and Dona Luiz Nunes Velho, who were highly respected people there.
After his first studies on his native island, he went to the city of Ponta Delgada (‘slender point’), where he devoted himself to the humanities and preparatory studies so that he could take a university course at Coimbra. He studied in the faculties of canon law and civil law, graduating as bachelor in both, and in one of them he sat the licentiate examination.
He returned to the island of São Miguel, already ordained priest and preceded by a reputation as a learned and virtuous man. There he held the post of ecclesiastical judge (ouvidor eclesiástico), and he was later appointed dean of Angra Cathedral (Sé de Angra) and later still vicar general and governor of that bishopric.
In 1585 he was presented as bishop of Funchal, and he was confirmed by the Holy See early in 1586, arriving in Madeira on 4 August of the same year.
2Reforming episcopate and death
His episcopate was highly fruitful, thanks to the many reforms he introduced into numerous church services, above all in the administration of the parishes. Abuses there were widespread: pastors abandoned their parishes, there were no parish houses, the registers of religious events were not properly kept, many churches were in an advanced state of ruin, etc. He dealt with all these ills energetically and effectively, and he achieved this chiefly through the pastoral visitations he made to every church in the diocese.
The old bishop’s palace, a considerable part of which still survives, and the adjoining chapel of São Luís (St Louis), now deconsecrated, were built through his efforts and diligence. Next to the palace, and also in its outbuildings, he established the diocesan seminary, whose direction and growth received his special care.
He convened a diocesan synod in 1587, at which new diocesan constitutions were promulgated, to be joined to the Constitutions ordered by Bishop Dom Jerónimo Barreto; they were printed in Lisbon in 1601.
He re-established the parish of São Pedro (‘St Peter’), which had been abolished, gave new regulations (regimento) to the cathedral chapter of the Cathedral (Sé Catedral), increased the parish stipends, entirely reformed the episcopal chancery and reorganised many other church services. All this earned him the title of an eminently reforming prelate, and he left the most honourable traditions in the chronicles of this bishopric. It should be added that he led a life of great austerity, that his conduct was impeccable, and that he was irreproachable in the administration of all the affairs of his diocese.
He died in this city on 26 November 1608 and was buried in the chapel of São Luís, which he had built next to the bishop's palace (Paço Episcopal). As this chapel had been deconsecrated, the late lamented Bishop Dom Manuel Agostinho Barreto had the prelate’s remains transferred to the Cathedral in 1903. They were interred inside the draught porch and covered with the carved marble slab that had lain over his tomb in the said chapel of São Luís.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 06-
Luís de Figueiredo de Lemos, later bishop of Funchal, was born on Santa Maria in the Azores.
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D. Luís Figueiredo de Lemos was presented as bishop of Funchal in 1585 and, after papal confirmation, arrived in Madeira on 4 August 1586.
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A diocesan synod under Bishop Luís Figueiredo de Lemos promulgated new diocesan constitutions.
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Bishop Luís de Figueiredo had the diocesan Constitutions reprinted in Lisbon by Pedro Craesbeeck together with the Constituições Extravagantes.
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Bishop D. Luís Figueiredo de Lemos died in Funchal and was buried in his São Luís chapel beside the Episcopal Palace.
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The remains of Bishop D. Luís de Figueiredo de Lemos were moved from the chapel of São Luís to Funchal Cathedral.
Place
Places mentioned · 11
Abroad
- Angra
Portugal. Azorean see where he was dean and later vicar general.
Azorean see, made suffragan to Funchal when Funchal became an archdiocese in 1533. D. Luís Figueiredo de Lemos was dean and later vicar general there, and Januário Vicente Camacho later governed the diocese.
- Bishop's palace
Funchal. Old bishop's palace built through his efforts, also housing the seminary.
The old bishops' palace in Funchal, built in 1751 after the 1748 earthquake and enlarged by Bishop Teles da Silva, with the bishop's São Luís chapel beside it. It housed the seminary and lodged the nuncio. From 1914 it was taken over by the lyceum, forcing the Câmara Eclesiástica to move, and paintings and vestments from it went to the Archaeological Museum.
- Chapel of St Louis
Santana. Chapel he built beside the palace, where he was first buried; later deconsecrated.
Chapel built at Diferença in 1725 by D. Luís Figueiredo de Lemos beside the palace, where he was first buried. It stands in the Rua do Bispo, has a facade of fine basalt carving, and was later deconsecrated.
- Coimbra
Portugal. University city where he graduated in canon and civil law.
Portuguese mainland university city where many Madeirans studied law or medicine, and where Padre Luís Gonçalves da Câmara taught and was rector of the Jesuit college. It hosted the 1921 academic table-tennis championship, and its dormancy and rainfall data are compared with Funchal's.
- Funchal
Seat of the diocese he governed and where he died.
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. Cathedral to which his remains were moved in 1903.
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. Where the diocesan constitutions were printed in 1601.
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.
- Ponta Delgada
Portugal. Azorean city where he studied humanities.
Ponta Delgada is an Azorean city, district and port, ranked second among the ports of the Adjacent Islands; its customs house once had Funchal as a delegation. It was the birthplace of Gaspar Frutuoso, holds the corrected copy of Saudades da Terra and Agrela's genealogy manuscript, and is linked to several figures who studied or held office there.
- Santa Maria
Portugal (Azores). Azorean island where the bishop was born.
Santa Maria is an island in the Azores, discovered by Gonçalo Velho Cabral and the birthplace of Bishop D. Luís Figueiredo de Lemos. Its history is the subject of Book III of Gaspar Frutuoso's Saudades da Terra.
- São Miguel
Portugal. Azorean island where he served as ecclesiastical judge.
An Azorean island discovered by Gonçalo Velho Cabral. Its captaincy was bought and governed by Rui Gonçalves da Câmara, son of Zargo. It was the birthplace of Brito Rebelo, and Frutuoso wrote his work there in 1590; its oranges are said to surpass Madeira's.
- São Pedro
Funchal. Extinct parish he re-created.
São Pedro is the most populous of Funchal's four urban parishes and the place where Zargo made the first settlement. The parish was created in 1566, suppressed in 1579 and restored in 1587. The Elucidário covers its clergy stipends, church building, chapels, notable institutions and boundaries.
People
People mentioned · 05-
Seventh bishop of Madeira, Porto Santo and Arguim (1586–1608), a notable reformer of the diocese.
- D. Manuel Agostinho Barreto1835–1911
Bishop of Funchal who in 1903 had Figueiredo de Lemos's remains moved to the cathedral.
- Jerónimo Barreto1543–1589
Earlier bishop of Funchal whose diocesan constitutions were supplemented by those of the 1587 synod.
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Mother of Bishop Luís de Figueiredo de Lemos.
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Father of Bishop Luís de Figueiredo de Lemos, a respected figure on Santa Maria in the Azores.