Portugal (Dom Martinho de)
Original title: Portugal (D. Martinho de)
Biography of D. Martinho de Portugal (d. 1547), second prelate of the diocese and the first and only archbishop of Funchal, a relative and counsellor of King João III and a diplomat in Rome. He never visited his archdiocese, which existed from 1533 to 1551, and sent a titular bishop and visitors in his place.
Life, career and archbishopric
He was the second prelate of this diocese and the first and only archbishop of Funchal. Although through illegitimacy, he belonged to one of the oldest and noblest families of the Kingdom (reino, i.e. mainland Portugal), being a close relative of King John III, whose favourite and Councillor (conselheiro, honorary title of the royal council) he was. He was born in Évora in the last quarter of the 15th century and died in Lisbon on 15 November 1547.
We do not know whether it was owing to his personal connections and kinship with the royal house, or to whatever merits of his own he may have possessed, that he held the highest offices and carried out important diplomatic missions, as representative of John III in Rome and as nuncio and ambassador of the Pope in Lisbon; he was also bishop of Viseu and held other high offices at court. He was one of the diplomats whom John III charged with negotiating in Rome the establishment of the tribunal of the Inquisition, and Alexandre Herculano refers to this prelate at length in his work Da origem e estabelecimento da inquisição em Portugal. The great historian, who showed great partiality in this work, as almost everyone acknowledges today, holds the worst opinion of Dom Martinho de Portugal, going so far as to say of him that ‘he was a man without morals and without beliefs, for whom religion was nothing more than a political instrument.
The archbishopric of Funchal was established in 1533 and abolished in 1551. The reasons for its creation, the dates of the bulls that instituted it and the circumstances surrounding it were briefly set out in the article Archbishopric (Vol. I, p. 77), to which we refer the reader.
Dom Martinho de Portugal, occupied with other offices, never visited his archdiocese. He sent to this island Dom Ambrósio Brandão, titular bishop of Rociona, who stayed here for about a year, from 1538 to 1539, exercising his episcopal functions. He also sent the visitors Jordão Jorge and Álvaro Dias, who attended to the observance of canonical discipline.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 04-
Funchal was raised by papal bull to an archdiocese with suffragans Angra, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Goa, its cathedral becoming an archiepiscopal see.
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Bishop Ambrósio Brandão came to Madeira and exercised episcopal functions on behalf of Archbishop D. Martinho de Portugal, conferring minor orders among others on Manuel Alvares.
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D. Martinho de Portugal, Archbishop of Funchal, died in Lisbon.
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The archdiocese of Funchal was abolished by the bull Super universis.
Place
Places mentioned · 05
Abroad
- Évora
Portugal. Birthplace of D. Martinho.
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
Seat of the archdiocese of which D. Martinho was the only archbishop.
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.
- Lisbon
Portugal. Where D. Martinho died and served as papal nuncio.
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.
- Rome
Italy. Where he represented João III and negotiated the Inquisition.
Rome, seat of the Holy See, appears in the Elucidário chiefly through Madeirans and others connected with it. Padre Manuel Constantino taught, published and died there, and Dr Patrício Moniz took a doctorate in theology and was ordained there. Padre Luiz Gonçalves da Câmara was superior of the Jesuit professed house there, and Simão Gonçalves da Câmara's gift was presented to the pope there; other entries record an embassy post, the Vatican Council and beatification processes.
- Viseu
Portugal. Diocese of which he had been bishop.
Viseu is a diocese whose cathedral holds paintings by Grão Vasco. D. José Xavier de Cerveira e Sousa later governed the diocese, and D. Martinho de Portugal had been its bishop. It was also the seat of Duke D. Diogo's title.
People
People mentioned · 06- Martinho de Portugald. 1547
First and only archbishop of Funchal, royal kinsman and diplomat who never visited his archdiocese.
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Portuguese historian who, in his work on the Inquisition, judged D. Martinho very harshly, a view the Elucidário considers partial.
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Visitor sent by D. Martinho to Madeira to oversee canonical discipline.
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Titular bishop of Rociona sent by D. Martinho to exercise episcopal functions in Madeira, c. 1538–1539.
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King of Portugal whose close relative, favourite and counsellor D. Martinho was, and whom he represented in Rome.
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Visitor sent by D. Martinho to Madeira to oversee canonical discipline.