Vereações

Country

PT

Name of institution (English)

Porto Municipal Historical Archive

Name of institution (official language of the state)

Arquivo Histórico Municipal do Porto

Language of name of institution

por

Contact information: postal address

Rua da Alfândega 10, 4050-029 Porto

Contact information: phone number

00351 222060400

Contact information: web address

http://gisaweb.cm-porto.pt/

Contact information: email

dmah@cm-porto.pt

Reference number

A-PUB

Type of reference number

Archival reference number

Title (English)

City Council meetings

Title (official language of the state)

Vereações

Language of title

por

Creator / accumulator

Câmara Municipal do Porto

Date(s)

1390/1926

Language(s)

por

Extent

182 books

Type of material

Textual Material

Physical condition

Good

Scope and content

The Vereações collection is part of the Câmara Municipal do Porto (Municipality of Porto) fonds, and it comprises the city council meetings' minutes. Some books include records of elections of municipal officials, taxes, by-laws, payments, inspections, leasing contracts, petitions, copies of royal provisions and letters, among other document types. Therefore, the 14th- and 15th-century meetings' minutes include evidence related to the Jewish community of Porto. For instance, a meeting minute from June 3, 1391, reveals how prevailing the Jews were in the medical profession in Porto (A-PUB/1). Then, the council decided to hire a physician from Coimbra because there were no Christian physicians in Porto for a long time. On July 11, 1401, the representatives of the Jewish "comuna", Mestre Moussem e Mestre Ysaque, presented their position on an article of the city's Ordenações (ordinances) that stated that only Jews could sell and buy bread, wine, meat and other goods inside the "judiaria" (Jewish quarter). The Jewish comuna's representatives presented a royal letter ordering the Porto city council not to impose any ordinance on Jews, but they added that they accepted the said ordinance (A-PUB/2). Another example can be found in the meeting of August 18 1431, in which the city council required Jacob Baru, a Jewish merchant dwelling in Porto, to pay 1000 reais (currency) as the penalty for having resold a quantity of sardines (A-PUB/3) illegally.
The first minute book, dated from 1390-1395, was transcribed and edited by Artur de Magalhães Basto ([1937?]). There are also editions of the books from the first half of the 15th-century, published in 1980 and 1985.

Archival history

The Vereações series is part of the Câmara Municipal do Porto (Municipality of Porto) fonds, the original fonds of the Arquivo Histórico Municipal do Porto, which preserves documentation produced by the city of Porto from the Middle Ages until the present times.

Administrative / Biographical history

The origin of Porto's municipal administration dates back to the 13th century, when the city was under the authority of the bishop. The oldest document preserved in the Municipality of Porto fonds is a letter from 1286 sent by king D. Dinis to the prosecutor of the city council with a copy of the city charter (1123) attached.
In the mid-14th century, the municipal administrative structure already included "vereadores" (councilmen), judges, and prosecutors. Such structure became more and more complex throughout the following centuries. Also, the activity and functions of the city council were progressively regulated.
From 1369 to 1834, the Municipality of Porto's jurisdiction comprised the so-called "Termo do Porto", which included the territory currently corresponding to the municipalities of Matosinhos, Vila Nova de Gaia, Maia, Gondomar, Paredes, Penafiel and Santo Tirso. After 1834 and throughout the Liberal regime, the city council's jurisdiction, structure, and responsibilities were reformed. The position of "Juiz de fora" was replaced by the president of the Municipality. Also, the number of councilmen increased from 4 to 9, and the city services' organisation became more sophisticated.
After the implementation of the Republic in Portugal (1910), the city council suffered constant changes. After the 28 May 1926 coup d’état, the city council was dissolved and replaced by an administrative committee composed of military staff. Following the new Administrative Code of 1936-1940, the municipal administration's leadership was formed by the president nominated by the government and 12 elected councilmen. After the Revolution of 1974 and the Republic's new Constitution in 1976, the municipal administration was again organised. The Assembleia Municipal (Municipal Assembly) and Câmara Municipal (City Council) became the Municipality's representative bodies, both elected by universal suffrage.
In 1980, the Arquivo Histórico Municipal do Porto was founded and began to host all the documentation produced by the Municipality of Porto and various private archives and fonds.