Saldanha da Gama, Francisco de, Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon (1723-1776). Manuscript copy of a circular letter.

€ 500.00

This interesting circular was issued in connection with Saldanha da Gama's appointment as Apostolic Visitor for the investigation of allegations against the Jesuits that had been raised in the name of King Joseph I of Portugal. The ageing Pope Benedict XIV had appointed Saldanha da Gama based on a recommendation of the powerful Marquis de Pombal, a staunch anti-Jesuit, but tried to retain control over the investigation as he was sceptical of the allegations and concerned about the reputation of the Society of Jesus. The circular seems to be a preliminary step towards Saldanha da Gama's eventual condemnation of the Jesuits for exercising "illicit, public, and scandalous commerce both in Portugal and in its colonies" (Pollen 1912). It is a reminder of the Papal condemnations and interdictions of trade and financial investments for all ecclesiastics, citing the Papal bulls "Ex debito pastoralis officii" (Urban VIII, 22 Feb. 1633) and its renewal and extension by Pope Clement IX "Sollicitudo Pastoralis officii" (17 June 1669). These bulls explicitly addressed missionaries and other ecclesiastics in the colonies, though with limited success. Saldanha da Gama orders all recipients to summon their congregations "with bell-ringing" and read the circular aloud, have it registered in their books and, most importantly, to do their part in impeding all mentioned transgressions: "faccino su bito in suo adempimento cessare le sud.e transgressioni, e scandali, con tutte e tutti quelli, che fossero a quelle, o questi somiglianti; senza che, affine di palliarle, negoziando in qualunque sia modo, possano valersi di qual si voglia pretesto, titolo, colore, intelligenza, causa, occasione, o modo [...]". Benedict XIV died on 3 May 1758, and Saldanha da Gama moved to condemn the Jesuits on 15 May without conducting the thorough house-to-house visitation as ordered by the Pope. Together with the so-called Távora affair, an attempt on the life of King Joseph I that was wrongly attributed to the Jesuits, Saldanha da Gama's condemnation gave the Marquis de Pombal the necessary leverage to accomplish the expulsion of the Jesuits from Portugal and its colonies in 1759. France and Spain would soon follow the Portuguese example, a development that led to the Papal suppression of the Jesuits in 1773. The circular shows that economic competition with the powerful Jesuits, especially their reduction in Latin America, was an important factor in the push against them.

The remark "Num. VIII" in the upper right corner of the first page might indicate that this was the 8th copy of the circular.

Some browning. A final, probably blank leaf is missing.