Rodrigues (Manuel)
Biography of Manuel Rodrigues (born Funchal 1697), a Madeiran who went from seminarian in Brazil and soldier at Colónia do Sacramento to Franciscan friar, and became one of the most celebrated preachers in Lisbon, publishing many sermons between 1732 and 1757.
This fellow Madeiran of ours led a rather eventful life, as we see from some of the works that deal with him. He was born in Funchal on 25 November 1697 and died in Lisbon in the second half of the 18th century, in a year we cannot determine. He was the son of Francisco Maria dos Ramos and Dona Josefa Maria Pereira. At the age of 15 he sailed for Rio de Janeiro to join his uncle, Captain Manuel Neto Barreto. He enrolled at the seminary of Cachoeira, where he proved a very talented student. In 1715 he enlisted in the regiment of the mestre de campo (colonel commanding a terço) Manuel de Almeida Castelo and went to Colónia do Sacramento. Shortly afterwards he left the army and entered the Order of St Francis, taking his vows in 1719, having studied philosophy and theology at the convent of Córdoba, in the interior of Argentina. He accompanied Friar José de Cardena on a journey to the province of Santa Fe and travelled through other countries. On learning of his father’s death and of the helpless state in which his three sisters had been left, he set off for Lisbon without delay in order to support them. As the author of the article in the Missionário Popular says, Manuel Rodrigues must have led a life ‘adventurous and probably stormy, for it was certainly no mere chance that made him successively a seminarian in Rio de Janeiro, a corporal at Colónia do Sacramento, a Franciscan in Buenos Aires, a student of philosophy in Córdoba and a preacher in Lisbon!’
In the capital he devoted himself to the ministry of preaching and won fame as one of the most acclaimed orators of his time. Diogo Barbosa Machado and Inocêncio Francisco da Silva list the many sermons and addresses he published between 1732 and 1757, among them the funeral oration he delivered on the death of John V.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 04Place
Places mentioned · 07
Abroad
- Buenos Aires
Argentina. Where he was a Franciscan, per the quoted article.
Buenos Aires is a foreign city. The Elucidário records it as the place where Manuel Rodrigues was a Franciscan and where Francisco Mendes Gonçalves died.
- Colónia do Sacramento
Uruguay. Colony where he served as a soldier.
Colony where he served as a soldier.
- Córdoba
Argentina. Argentine city where he studied philosophy and theology at a convent.
Argentine city where he studied philosophy and theology at a convent.
- Funchal
Birthplace of Manuel Rodrigues._.
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 he preached and died.
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.
- Rio de Janeiro
Brazil. Where he went aged fifteen and studied at a seminary.
Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, appears in the Elucidário as the seat of the Portuguese court and as a city where many Madeirans lived, studied, taught, published and died. Among them were Paulo Perestrelo da Câmara, João de Oliveira Sá Camelo Lampreia and João da Silveira Caldeira, who headed the Mint there.
- Santa Fe
Argentina. Argentine province he visited with Fr. José de Cardena.
Argentine province he visited with Fr. José de Cardena.
People
People mentioned · 09- Manuel Rodrigues1697–1916
Funchal-born Franciscan friar and renowned preacher in Lisbon, subject of this entry.
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Bibliographer who listed the sermons published by Manuel Rodrigues.
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Father of Manuel Rodrigues, whose death prompted his son's return to Lisbon.
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Bibliographer who also enumerated Manuel Rodrigues's sermons and discourses.
- John Vd. 1750
King of Portugal for whose death Manuel Rodrigues delivered a funeral oration.
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Friar whom Manuel Rodrigues accompanied on a journey to the province of Santa Fe.
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Mother of Manuel Rodrigues.
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Commander of the regiment Manuel Rodrigues joined in 1715 and served with at Colónia do Sacramento.
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Captain and uncle of Manuel Rodrigues, whom he joined in Rio de Janeiro at the age of fifteen.