Rodrigues de Vilares (Dom Luís) 1Appointment and character
Rodrigues de Vilares (Dom Luís)
Original title: Rodrigues de Vilares (D. Luis)
Biography of D. Luís Rodrigues de Vilares, bishop of Funchal from 1798 to 1810, remembered chiefly for his bitter conflict with Governor D. José Manuel da Câmara, which led to his temporary expulsion from Funchal in 1803 and the governor's dismissal.
1Appointment and character
If this Funchal prelate was not born in Brazil, he at least spent part of his youth there, and it was there too that he received his literary education.
He was confirmed as Bishop of Madeira by Pope Pius VI on 29 July 1797 and took possession of his diocese at the beginning of 1798.
He was always zealous in the exercise of his episcopal duties and in the observance of church discipline.
2Conflict with the governor
He waged bitter struggles with the governor and captain-general Dom José Manuel da Câmara. These lasted a long time and eventually erupted into violent conflict, so that the central government had to intervene in the regrettable dispute that had arisen between the two highest authorities of the archipelago. The disagreements went back a long way. The prelate had opposed the quartering of English troops in the Jesuit College (Colégio dos Jesuítas), which Maria I had granted for use as the diocesan seminary, but he had to yield before force. When the troops withdrew to England, Dom Luís Vilares pressed for the building to be handed over. The governor refused, on the grounds that it was indispensable for quartering the garrison forces. Other causes arose that aggravated the disagreement still further. Claiming that he had been slighted by the prelate in the Cathedral (Sé Catedral), Dom José Manuel da Câmara ordered him to leave the city immediately. This took place on 18 June 1803, when Dom Luís Vilares went to a property that the mitre owned in the parish (freguesia) of Santo da Serra (‘the saint of the uplands’), where he remained for about four months.
The affair caused a great scandal, not only in Madeira but also in Portugal. The central government sent to this island the high court judge (desembargador) Dr Joaquim António de Araújo, charged with investigating the events. He came accompanied by the new governor, Ascenso de Sequeira Freire, and the two reached Funchal aboard the frigate Carlota on 5 December 1803.
On the 10th and 11th of the same month, each in his own warship, Dom Luís Rodrigues de Vilares and Dom José Manuel da Câmara respectively left for the capital, under the orders of the government of mainland Portugal, while the official inquiry proceeded actively in Funchal. It resulted in the immediate dismissal of the governor and captain-general, who was also censured for the arbitrary acts he had committed. For the prelate, it resulted in his continuing in the post he held in this diocese and in the restitution of the Jesuit College. He could not, however, escape a censure addressed to him by the government for the little prudence and judgement he had shown in many of his actions.
3Santo da Serra and death
During his stay at Santo da Serra, Dom Luís de Vilares had trees planted on the glebe (passal) and had work continued on a public fountain that still exists there and is known as the Fonte do Bispo (‘bishop’s spring’).
He died in this city on 1 October 1810 and lies buried in the chancel of Funchal Cathedral (Sé).
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 04-
Pius VI confirmed Luís Rodrigues de Vilares as bishop of Madeira.
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Bishop Luís Rodrigues de Vilares took possession of the diocese of Funchal early in the year.
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A serious conflict between Governor José Manuel da Câmara and Bishop D. Luís Rodrigues de Vilares over the Jesuit college led the governor to force the bishop out of Funchal to Santo da Serra.
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Judge Joaquim António de Araújo and the new governor Ascenso de Sequeira Freire arrived in Funchal on the frigate Carlota.
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Bishop D. Luís Rodrigues de Vilares and the dismissed governor sailed separately from Madeira to Lisbon under government orders.
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Bishop D. Luís Rodrigues de Vilares died in Funchal.
Place
Places mentioned · 07
Abroad
- Brazil
Where the bishop spent his youth and was educated.
Brazil is recorded in the Elucidário as a chief destination of Madeiran emigrants, including several clergy and writers. It was also a market for Madeira wine and brandy and a maker of wickerwork from Madeiran osiers. It was linked to Madeira by the 1874 telegraph cable and is the native country of the araçá.
- England
United Kingdom. Where the British troops returned.
England appears in the Elucidário as the first main market for Madeira embroidery and the main importer of Madeiran wicker. It was also the source of most butter consumed in Funchal in the early nineteenth century. It was a chief refuge for liberal emigrants fleeing Miguelist persecution, and several Madeirans studied or served as diplomats there.
- Fonte do Bispo
Machico. Fountain completed by the bishop at Santo da Serra.
The Fonte do Bispo at Santo da Serra is a fountain completed by Bishop D. Luís Rodrigues de Vilares.
- Funchal
City from which the bishop was expelled 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. Scene of the alleged slight to the governor and the bishop's burial place.
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.
- Jesuit College
Funchal. Building disputed between bishop and governor as seminary or barracks.
Former Jesuit college in Funchal, whose Aulas do Pátio housed secondary teaching and later the lyceum, and which also housed the Escola de Geometria e Trigonometria. It housed the diocesan seminary from 1788 to 1801, was disputed between bishop and governor as seminary or barracks, and was occupied by British troops in 1801. It later served as an infantry barracks, and its enclosure ceded land to widen the Rua do Castanheiro.
- Santo António da Serra
Machico. Parish where the bishop stayed on a mitre property during his exile.
An upland parish on a plateau above Santa Cruz and Machico, divided between those two municipalities. The Elucidário covers its settlement, church and Protestant troubles, and the short-lived Aldeia da Rainha colony of Porto Santo settlers. It also records its quintas, its lagoon, Burnay's dairy factory and the exile of a bishop there.
People
People mentioned · 06- D. Luís Rodrigues de Vilaresd. 1810
Bishop of Funchal (1798–1810) whose clash with the governor caused a national scandal.
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New governor who arrived in Funchal in December 1803 to replace Câmara.
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High-court judge sent in 1803 to investigate the bishop–governor conflict.
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Governor who expelled the bishop from Funchal in 1803 and was dismissed after the inquiry.
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Queen who granted the Jesuit College to serve as the diocesan seminary.
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Pope who confirmed Vilares as bishop of Madeira in 1797.