<<Antonio Vieira.>> Essays. Primarily Relating to New Christians.
Manuscript in Portuguese. Brown ink on paper. The essays contained within <<(two apparently unpublished)>> are as follows:
<<*>> 1. Addresses the 1492 Expulsion of Jews from Spain and other matters. 16 ff (lacks title).
<<*>> 2. Papel que fez o Padre António Vieira, estando em Roma, a favor dos cristãos novos, no tempo em que o Príncipe Regente Dom Pedro tinha mandado publicar uma lei de vários castigos contra eles, movido do roubo, que se fez ao sacramento da paróquia de Odivelas, o qual papel se deu ao Príncipe, sem nome, em 1671.
A lengthy, 5-part defense on behalf of the New Christians, who were subject at the time to an edict of expulsion from Portugal. The decree was issued in 1671, following the theft of a pyx containing a consecrated host from Lisbon’s Church of Orivellas. 16 ff.
<<*>> 3. Dezengano Catholico sobre o negocio da gente de nascaõ Hebrea, Pello Padre Antonio Vieira da Compana de Jezus, estando em Roma.
Concerning ‘Catholic disillusionment’ over the laws restricting Jewish businesses. 2 ff.
<<*>> 4. Resposta de Mendo de Foyos Padre Sec.ro de Estado ao dezemgano catholico. Engano Judaico contra o Dezemgano Catholico de hum Author Reo Enganozo, e Enganado. Resposta de Mend. Foyos Pereira, ao Dezengano Catholico.
A response to the previous essay, by Mende de Foyos Pereira, the Portuguese envoy to Madrid, arguing that Vieira had been ‘deceived’ by the Jews. <<Apparently unpublished.>> 4 ff.
<<*>> 5. Papel em defesa da gente de Nação e a favor do recurso que se intentava ter com Sua Santidade sobre a pretensão da nova mudança dos estilos do Santo Ofício.
‘In defense of the nation (New Christians)’. Regarding an appeal that the laws concerning New Christians be altered. 10 ff.
<<*>> 6. Parecer do padre António Vieira sobre os cristãos novos para haverem de ser admitidos neste reino de que se lhe seguiriam grandes utilidades e certamente a conservação. Feito no ano de 1643.
‘Opinion… that the New Christians be admitted to this Kingdom (Brazil)… 1643’. Proposal made by Vieira to Joao IV to utilize New Christian wealth in order to avoid Portugal’s economic collapse. Includes the proposal for the establishment of the Brazil Company through New Christian capital with guaranteed protection from confiscation by the Inquisition. 11 ff.
<<*>> 7. Parecer q fes o Padre Antonio Vieira da Compagna de Jezus por ordem do serenissimo Senor Rey D. Joao o 4o de Portugal sobre os negocios do Brazil.
Apparently a summary of Vieira’s work and observations on behalf of the Portuguese crown in Brazil. Includes information on tax collection and economic regulation in Pernambuco. Evidently related to Vieira’s trial by the Inquisition and subsequent appeal for a royal pardon. Title not located with Portugal’s National Archives. 10.5 ff.
<<*>> 8. Papel que fez o Padree Antonio Vieira da Compagna de Jezus por mandado da Serenissama Senora Raynha D. Luiza de Gusman o Serenissimo Senõr. Rey D. Affonço Rey de Portugal e se lerao do Senõr Rey na perezença dos mais dos Tribunaes.
Report to the Portuguese king and queen regarding Vieira’s professional activities. Evidently related to Vieira’s trial by the Inquisition and subsequent appeal for a royal pardon. 3.5 ff, incomplete.
ff. 77 (foliated 87-162). Trace worn and trace wormed. Unbound. Folio.
Portugal / Brazil: Late 17th-century / early 18th-century
Est: $6,000 - $8,000
PRICE REALIZED $6,000
Lisbon born Antonio Vieira (1608-97) was a Jesuit priest and prominent member of the Portuguese diplomatic class. Having grown up in the Portuguese colony of Brazil, Vieira used his pulpit to advocate for equal treatment of all classes of Catholics as well as urging economic policies that would improve Portugal’s global position. These two interests found a common outlet in Vieira’s insistence that the New Christians, i.e. the descendants of Jewish converts to Catholicism, no longer be discriminated against or subject to the investigations of the Inquisition.
Vieira was arrested by the Inquisition in 1665 due to his ‘heretical and scandalous opinions. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and was forbidden from discussing Portugal’s treatment of Jews and New Christians. Sentenced in 1667, Vieira received a royal pardon the following year and by 1669 had left Portugal for Rome.
For more regarding Vieira’s position on the Jews, see S.B. Schwartz, The Contexts of Vieira’s Toleration of Jews and New Christians, Luso-Brazilian Review 40:1 (2003) pp. 33-44.
For a related Portuguese manuscript that stemmed from the Alfonso Cassutto Collection, see Kestenbaum Sale 51, Lot 47. For more of Antonio Vieira see Kestenbaum Sale 92, Lot 81.
