Boletim do Arquivo da Universidade de Coimbra

O What a prison guard of the Holy Office of Coimbra reads:

2025-05-16T14:59:18+01:00

Although owning books does not necessarily mean reading them, studying private libraries allows us to ascertain tastes and trends, as well as professional interests. Using the catalogues resulting from the 1769 edict of the Real Mesa Censória (Royal Censorship Board), a survey was carried out of the libraries of the minor officials of the district courts of the Portuguese Inquisition, and only one was found. In this sense, we sought to learn about the library of António Morais da Costa, a guard of the secret prisons of the Holy Office who, before joining the court, was an apothecary. We counted and identified his books and verified that it was not a professional library. The scarcity of book catalogues by servants of the Holy Office, as is the case in other socio-professional groups, allows us to consider the representativeness of the documentation, calling into question the average of one library for every 1,000 inhabitants for Portugal in the second half of the 18th century.

Two years with the Properties Registry: Judicial sources of the built environment of Lisbon in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries

2025-05-05T11:34:39+01:00

This article highlights the documentary importance of court records, not so much through the individual and specific information contained in each case, but rather through a serial reading and analysis that is essential to understanding the institutions that produced them. To this end, the study focuses on court records related to construction disputes from the Registry of the Properties Court, a court specific to the city of Lisbon in the early modern period. It also explains why these court records are currently kept in the National Archive Torre do Tombo, in the collection of the Fundo Geral dos Feitos Findos, and how they can be accessed.

Monarchy and archbishopric: the two deaths of D. Diogo de Sousa, archbishop and lord of Braga (1505-1532)

2025-05-05T12:14:35+01:00

The “two” deaths of D. Diogo de Sousa (archbishop: 1505-1532), the first when he was expected to die, later recovering, and the second when he passed away, allowed King D. João III to intervene in the execution of his will. The documentation generated by the intervention of royal officials, led by his brother D. Henrique, also allows an estimate of the archdiocese's income. The critical financial situation of the crown, especially in the years when the question of the Moluccan Islands was being decided, prompted the king to keep an eye on the economic resources of the archbishopric, with the intention of putting them at the service of members of his close family.

Vaquinhas, N. (Ed.). (2024). Atas do V Encontro de História de Loulé. Câmara Municipal de Loulé. Arquivo Municipal.

2025-03-31T10:12:38+01:00

As part of the VII Loulé History Meeting held on 27 and 28 September 2024, the proceedings of the V Loulé History Meeting, held on 30 September and 1 October 2022, were presented, published by Loulé City Council through its Municipal Archives. Coordinated by Dr Nelson Vaquinhas, it publishes the texts of 15 authors who took part in the Congress, in line with the graphics and editing of previous issues. The 247-page volume, with an extensive chronology, opens with the text by João José Alves Dias, given at the inaugural conference, and is subdivided into five (5) sections: Documents and Heraldry; Health and Epidemics; Crafts, Defence and Religion; Politics and Finance; Personalities, Institutions and Popular Revolts; with a total of 14 texts.

Remarks on the Royal Charters of Two Queens of Portugal: Teresa de Leão and Beatriz Afonso

2025-03-12T09:42:12+00:00

Building on the most recent work in Portuguese historiography regarding the life of Countess Teresa of León, wife of Count Henrique of Burgundy and mother of Afonso Henriques, the studies of Rui Pinto de Azevedo are revisited to provide an overview of the production of the county’s chancery during Teresa’s reign, ending with a brief note on the role of chancellor to Queen Beatriz Afonso, wife of Afonso III.