Barreto (D. Jeronimo)

D. Jeronimo Barreto was the sixth bishop of Funchal, having been in charge of this diocese from 1574 to 1585, and being transferred to the bishopric of Algarve in that year. He belonged to noble and distinguished families, being the son of Gaspar Nunes Barreto and D. Isabel Cardoso, lords of Farreriz and Penagate, and having been born in the archbishopric of Braga in the year 1543. After completing his theology course at the University of Coimbra and not yet being of legal age to exercise the episcopate, he was appointed bishop of Madeira in 1572 and therefore could only receive episcopal consecration in 1573, when he reached the age required by canon law. On October 31, 1574, he arrived in Funchal to assume the government of this diocese, leaving behind the most honorable traditions and linking his name to the remarkable service of organizing and publishing the Diocesan Constitutions, which became indispensable for the good management of the various religious affairs of the bishopric.