Távora (Dom Lourenço de) 1Family and appointment
Távora (Dom Lourenço de)
Original title: Távora (D. Lourenço de)
Biography of D. Lourenço de Távora, a Capuchin friar who became the eighth bishop of Funchal (appointed 1609, in office 1611–1617), reformed church discipline and briefly served as interim governor of Madeira. He was later bishop of Elvas and died in Lisbon in 1629.
1Family and appointment
This Funchal prelate left in the ecclesiastical chronicles of this bishopric an honourable memory of his episcopal administration. Brief though his time in this diocese was, he linked it to certain acts that justice requires us to mention specially in this place.
He belonged to one of the most distinguished families of the Kingdom (reino, i.e. mainland Portugal), being the son of Álvaro de Sousa and Dona Francisca de Távora. He was a nephew of the sadly notorious Dom Cristóvão de Moura, Marquis of Castelo Rodrigo, one of the Portuguese who did most to bring Portugal under Castilian rule.
Philip II went so far as to tear Friar Lourenço de Távora from the peace of the convent to which he had voluntarily withdrawn and where he had expected to spend his whole life. He was appointed prelate of Madeira in October 1609 and was consecrated bishop on 6 July 1610, taking charge of his bishopric the following year.
2Episcopate, transfer and death
He convened a diocesan council, at which he promulgated several constitutions intended to correct the many abuses that had crept into ecclesiastical discipline. Under severe penalties, he compelled the administrators of chantries (capela) to fulfil the pious obligations to which they were bound and which had in large part already fallen into disuse. In the ordination of priests he was extremely scrupulous, conferring holy orders only on those he judged truly worthy of exercising the priestly ministry with the irreproachable conduct proper to that state. For some months he served on an interim basis as governor and captain-general of this archipelago, a post to which he had been appointed by royal decree (alvará régio) of 8 April 1614. After governing the diocese of Funchal for six years, he was transferred to the bishopric of Elvas, leaving Madeira on 7 October 1617.
In 1625 he resigned the episcopal see of Elvas and withdrew into the seclusion of his first convent, Santo António dos Capuchos (St Anthony of the Capuchins), in Lisbon. There, according to Jorge Cardoso, he died with a reputation for sanctity on 11 May 1629.
Before renouncing the mitre and retiring to his monastery, he gave the fabric of Funchal Cathedral (the Sé) (Sé do Funchal) some dwelling houses that he owned in that city, with the obligation of celebrating a number of annual masses for the repose of his soul.
He was the eighth prelate of this diocese, having succeeded Dom Luís de Figueiredo e Lemos
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 07-
D. Lourenço de Távora was appointed bishop of Madeira.
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D. Lourenço de Távora received episcopal consecration.
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D. Lourenço de Távora took charge of the diocese of Funchal.
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A royal warrant named Bishop D. Lourenço de Távora interim governor and captain-general of Madeira.
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Bishop D. Lourenço de Távora left Madeira on transfer to the see of Elvas, leaving the see of Funchal vacant.
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D. Lourenço de Távora resigned the see of Elvas and retired to his convent in Lisbon.
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D. Lourenço de Távora died in Lisbon with a reputation for sanctity.
Place
Places mentioned · 05
Abroad
- Capuchin Convent of St Anthony
Portugal. Lisbon convent where Távora retired and died.
Lisbon convent where Távora retired and died.
- Elvas
Portugal. Diocese to which Távora was transferred in 1617.
Elvas is a fortress town and diocese in mainland Portugal. Several bishops of Funchal were transferred to its see, among them D. Lourenço de Távora in 1617 and D. José da Costa Torres in 1796, and Dr Joaquim de Menezes e Ataíde was named its bishop in 1821. It was the birthplace of the musician Duarte Joaquim dos Santos, José Gerardo Ferreira Passos and António Rogério Gromicho Couceiro, and Francisco João Róscio served there as a military engineer.
- Funchal Cathedral (the Sé)
Funchal. Cathedral to whose fabric fund Távora donated houses.
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. City where Távora 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.
People
People mentioned · 07- D. Lourenço de Távorad. 1629
Eighth bishop of Funchal (1609–1617) and interim governor of Madeira in 1614, later bishop of Elvas; subject of this entry.
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Father of Bishop Lourenço de Távora.
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Marquis of Castelo Rodrigo and uncle of the bishop, remembered for helping bring Portugal under Castilian rule.
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Mother of Bishop Lourenço de Távora.
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Hagiographer cited as the source for Távora dying with a reputation for sanctity.
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Bishop of Funchal whom Távora succeeded.
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King of Portugal (Philip III of Spain) who appointed Távora bishop of Madeira.