"He heaped insult upon insult": A report on the expulsion of the Portuguese ambassador from Rome

Torriggiani, Ludovico Maria, Cardinal Secretary of State for Clement XIII (1697-1777). "Rotture diplomatiche tra il Portogallo e la Santa Sede". Report on the events leading to the departure of the Portuguese ambassador Francisco de Almeida de Mendonça from Rome on 7 July 1760.

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This historically important document sheds light on the famous diplomatic row between the Vatican and Lisbon in the immediate aftermath of the expulsion of the Jesuits from Portugal that had been orchestrated by the Marquis of Pombal. The report that includes the original attachment of copies of four letters in relation to the events offers the perspective of Cardinal Secretary Torriggiani, a defender of the Jesuits, who was the target of diplomatic affronts by the Portuguese ambassador.

The origin of the row was the marriage of the later King Pedro III to Princess Maria of Portugal on 6 June 1760. Torreggiani seeks to prove that the Papal nuncio Cardinal Filippo Acciaiuoli had not been invited to the wedding ceremonies, arguing against the Portuguese position that there had only been a general invitation. The first attachment to the report is the copy of a letter by the Portuguese Secretary of State Luis da Cunha to the French ambassador, announcing the diplomatic protocol for the wedding, which is supposed to contradict the official Portuguese statements concerning the treatment of Acciaiuoli. It is known today that the Portuguese deliberately broke protocol so as to provoke a reaction by the nuncio that would serve as a pretext to expel him, as he had been opposed to the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1759. Not having been properly invited to the marriage, Acciaiuoli did not order to illuminate his palace during the three-day festivities. In consequence, he was ordered to leave the country within four days on 14 June 1760. A copy of the letter by the Portuguese State Secretary Luis da Cunha conveying the royal order is part of the attachment.

According to Torriggiani's report, nuncio Acciaiuoli was not allowed to inform Rome of his expulsion upon the delivery of the letter and was immediately escorted to the Spanish border near Badajoz. He was "placed in a bad carriage", accompanied by 30 dragoons, "supposedly to protect him against all insults but who were actually deployed to guard him like a prisoner".

Meanwhile in Rome, the Portuguese ambassador had received several directives from Lisbon and demanded an audience with the Pope. Once news of the expulsion of the nucio reached Rome, the Pope adjourned the scheduled audience until he would have personal notice from Acciaiuoli. The ambassador reacted with an open letter from 2 July 1760, copied in the attachment, accusing Torriggiani of denying him access to the Pope and announcing his departure from Rome in protest of his treatment. Another public announcement by the ambassador followed on 4 July, wherein he demanded to sideline Torreggiani in the diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Lisbon in favour of the Portuguese Cardinal Protector Neri Maria Corsini, repeating the Portuguese accusations of attempted regicide against the Jesuits in the so-called Távora affair. Torreggiani claims that the Pope summoned Corsini to tell him that he would not cede to the ambassador's demands and ordered his expulsion from Rome, but it is more likely that the ambassador was recalled by the Marquis de Pombal. Francisco de Almeida de Mendonça left Rome on 7 July 1760. The diplomatic relations between Lisbon and the Vatican were not restored until after the death of the Marquis de Pombal in 1777.

The report was published in a slightly different but faithful version in the Italian original with a German translation in an anonymous anti-Jesuit publication in Göttingen in 1850.

Slight damage due to ink corrosion and minor browning overall. The first bifolium of the report has a long tear to the fold, slightly affecting the text. The first copied letter shows a large corroded ink stain and a minor pink stain.