Judge of Pious Bequests and Chantries

The office was originally called Judge of Pious Bequests and Superintendent of Chantries, Hospices, Hostels, Leper Houses and Orphans of the Island of Madeira. In 1486 João do Porto was appointed to this post (lugar); he is the earliest holder of whom we have found any record. The office, whose powers later became less extensive, served chiefly to oversee the fulfilment of pious legacies and of the obligations attached to many chantries (capelas) and churches, and the registration of the properties burdened with those obligations, etc.

In 1763 the corregedor (royal district magistrate) of the judicial district (comarca) complained to the governor and captain-general about the abuses committed in this court, and pointed to the need to create a Superintendent of Chantries and Bequests to put an end to such misconduct and excesses. He referred to the register (tombo) begun in 1590, comprising eight volumes, stating that it showed that many chantries had been usurped from the Crown or from their lawful holders. We do not know what measures were taken regarding the serious wrongdoing that had occurred. We do know, however, that in 1800 fresh abuses were discovered, committed by João Luís Pestana da Silva, clerk (escrivão) of the court, who had appropriated a considerable sum derived from various legacies, forging several documents to do so.

The Navy and Overseas Archive (Arquivo da Marinha e Ultramar) records the individuals who held the important office of Judge of Residues and Chapels over the long period from 1493 to 1767. Their names are given below: Pedro Quaresma (1493), the bachelor (bacharel, university graduate) João Fernandes (1501), Afonso Costa (1535), Luís da Guarda (1546), the licentiate José Jorge (1555), Jácome Dias, Simão Cabral and the licentiate Gonçalo Mendes (1560), Liones Simões Homem and the licentiate Luís Preto (1566), Manuel Rodrigues Pereira (1593), the high court judge (desembargador) André Lobo and the bachelor Pedro Fernandes Tinoco (1597), the high court judge Baltasar Fróis (1599); Belchior Tavares de Sousa (1639), António Tavares de Sousa (1682–1699), Francisco Moniz de Meneses (1705), António da Cunha Franco (1714), Agostinho de Ornelas e Vasconcelos (1718), Sebastião Mendes de Carvalho (1731), Pedro Nicolau Betencourt de Freitas (1752), António Dionísio da Silva Conde (1761), João José Betencourt de Freitas (1767), José Vicente Lopes de Macedo (1769), Pedro Nicolau de Betencourt e Freitas (1797).

As entails and entailed estates multiplied, the number of legacies and pious obligations burdening rural and urban properties grew very considerable, and it was not uncommon for the holders of the usufruct to try to evade those obligations. The court, especially in matters of a religious nature, did not always act with due impartiality and in accordance with the law. At times serious conflicts arose between its judges and the ecclesiastical authorities, and the latter were forced to appeal to higher authorities to have the provisions of the pious legacies carried out, which ought to have been the most sacred of duties and from which no one could in conscience exempt himself. On occasion the corregedor (royal district magistrate) of the judicial district (comarca) and the governor and captain-general intervened in these conflicts to compel the court to observe the laws in force.

Since most of the property in Madeira became entailed, and all the documents relating to the entails (instituições vinculares), to their rights of possession of the properties and to the privileges attached to them were registered and filed in the registry of this court, it is easy to appreciate how important that registry was and the interest it may still hold for the detailed study of these institutions.

This valuable collection of documents was thought to be entirely lost, but not many years ago it was found in the former office of the Municipal Administration (Administração do Concelho, the government's local civil office) of Funchal, and today it is properly catalogued in the Madeira District Archive (Arquivo Distrital da Madeira). This corrects what was said about this court on p. 388 of vol. I of the Elucidário (2nd edition).

We do not know when this court was abolished in Madeira, but we know that it was still functioning in 1829. With the introduction of the constitutional system, many of the functions peculiar to this court, which have long since lapsed, were exercised by the administrations of the municipalities (concelho).