Cabido da Sé do Porto

Item

Country

PT

Name of institution (English)

Porto District Archive

Name of institution (official language of the state)

Language of name of institution

por

Contact information: postal address

Rua das Taipas 90, 4050-598 Porto

Contact information: phone number

00351 220046200

Contact information: web address

Contact information: email

info@adporto.dglab.gov.pt

Reference number

PT/ADPRT/DIO/CABIDO

Type of reference number

Archival reference number

Title (English)

Cathedral Chapter of Porto

Title (official language of the state)

Cabido da Sé do Porto

Language of title

por

Creator / accumulator

Cabido da Sé do Porto

Date(s)

1130/1913

Language(s)

lat
por

Extent

53 linear metres (1,681 books, 147 bundles, 1 reel, 171 pages and 291,164 folios)

Type of material

Textual Material

Scope and content

The Cabido da Sé do Porto fonds comprises documents related to the Cathedral Chapter of Porto's ecclesiastical administration and financial management. The Livros dos Originais series is part of this fonds, and it is composed of 30 volumes with over 900 documents, most of them parchments, including donations, provisions or confirmations of privileges and favours, petitions, "padroados" (patronages), tax records, "aforamentos" (emphyteusis contracts), deeds, wills, etc. Some of these documents are related to or contain information about the Jewish community settled in the city of Porto before the late 15th-century expulsion. The following are some examples:
PT/ADPRT/DIO/CABIDO/017/1676/00560: "Aforamento" (emphyteusis contract) of a piece of land owned by the Cabido in Monchique, Porto, to Mestre Jacob and his wife, Mestre Dourado and his wife, and Dona Sol, Dourado's aunt, for ten pounds, on the condition that they build houses on the land within one year. Porto, April 11, 1380.
PT/ADPRT/DIO/CABIDO/017/1677/00577: Agreement between the Cabido and the Jewish "comuna" (commune), giving license to the Jews to keep their own butcher in return for paying a special tax. Porto, July 17, 1412.
PT/ADPRT/DIO/CABIDO/017/1680/00683: Sentence ordering the payment of a Spanish golden dobra (currency) in order for the Jewish "comune" to have permission to keep a butcher in the Jewish quarter. Porto, October 6, 1424.
PT/ADPRT/DIO/CABIDO/017/1677/00570: Another sentence reinforcing the obligation of the Jewish "comuna" to pay the aforementioned "direito de açougagem" (butchery tax) after the Jews had complained against it and threatened to present their case before the Holy See. Porto, December 7, 1479.
These four documents were analysed and published by Geraldo J. Amadeu Coelho Dias (1983).
PT/ADPRT/DIO/CABIDO/017/1673/00427: Copy of a sentence imposed by King João I, ordering the Jews of Leiria to pay the "portagem" (toll) on traded goods, without enjoying the privileges of residents. Lisbon, August 8, 1414 (original sentence dated from January 16, 1412). Humberto Baquero Moreno (1984) analysed and published this document.
A part of the Livros dos Originais series was copied in the 18th century. These copies are part of another series of the Cabido da Sé do Porto fonds, the Livros das Sentenças (PT/ADPRT/DIO/CABIDO/008). Scholars alert that some of these copies are not entirely accurate. A cartulary of this fonds named "Censual do Cabido" (PT/ADPRT/DIO/CABIDO/011/1656) also contains copies of the Livros dos Originais.

Archival history

After the Proclamation of the Republic (1910), the documents of the Cabido da Sé do Porto fonds were taken from the registry of the Chapter, in the Porto Cathedral, to the Biblioteca Pública Municipal do Porto (Municipal Public Library of Porto). On October 18, 1932, part of this documentation was transferred to the Arquivo Distrital do Porto (District Archive of Porto), where it remains today. Another part was deposited in the archive of the Comissão Administrativa dos Antigos Bens Culturais (Administrative Committee of Old Cultural Goods). This part was also integrated into the collection of the Arquivo Distrital do Porto when it incorporated the archive of the Comissão Administrativa dos Antigos Bens Culturais on September 22, 1997.

Administrative / Biographical history

The Cabido da Sé do Porto (Cathedral Chapter of Porto) was a corporation or community of ecclesiastics who advised the bishop on the governance of the diocese. Over the centuries, the Cathedral Chapter took on different functions established in different synodal constitutions and by-laws.
The organisation of the Chapter of Porto dates back to Bishop D. Hugo (1114-1136) and the beginning of the Cathedral's construction. A document from 1130, which mentions a donation granted to Bishop D. Hugo and the Chapter of Porto, provides the first evidence on the Chapter. In the beginning, the Chapter lived in a community regimen and followed the rule of St. Augustin. Between 1186 and 1189, Bishop D. Martinho Pires carried out the first reform of the Cabido, based on the model of the Braga Cathedral. Then, he created two "mesas" (boards): the Episcopal or Mitre's board, which would receive 2/3 of the income to support the bishop and his household, and the Cabido's board, whose canons would be supported by 1/3 of the revenues. This division initiated a gradual process of secularisation of the canons, who left the community life.
During the 14th and 15th centuries, the archdeaconries of Porto and Meinedo (1398), Oliveira do Douro (1455), and Régua (1492?) were created. In 1596, Bishop D. Jerónimo de Meneses set out the new statutes of the Porto Cathedral, and the Cabido's structure was reorganised with new dignities: dean, cantor, schoolmaster, treasurer, and archpriest. This structure lasted until the 20th century. The current statutes, approved on December 8, 1930, contemplate the dignities of dean, cantor, treasurer-general, archdeacon, and archpriest, and establish that two canons should be elected to the Theological and Penitentiary duties.

Access points: locations

Access points: corporate bodies

Access points: subject terms

Access points: document types

System of arrangement

The Cabido da Sé do Porto fonds is arranged in 6 subfonds and 17 series. The parchments that currently compose the Livros dos Originais series were initially packaged in bundles. Later, they were reorganised and packaged in 30 books without ordering criteria. Also, the Livros de Sentenças’ documents were combined and bound without a precise order, but all books contain indexes.

Access, restrictions

Some Livros dos Originais’ parchments are in poor condition of conservation, and the access to the consultation is conditioned.

Finding aids

Links to finding aids

Author of the description

Carla Vieira, 2021

Bibliography

Published primary sources

Item sets

Linked resources

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is part (item) of
Title Alternate label Class
Arquivo Distrital do Porto Collections (official language of the state)
Biblioteca Pública Municipal do Porto Collections (official language of the state)