Feitoria Portuguesa de Antuérpia
Item
Country
PT
Name of institution (English)
The National Archive of Torre do Tombo
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
por
Contact information: postal address
Alameda da Universidade, 1649-010 Lisbon
Contact information: phone number
00351 210037100
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
mail@dglab.gov.pt
Reference number
PT/TT/MNE-FPA
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (English)
Portuguese Feitoria of Antwerp
Title (official language of the state)
Feitoria Portuguesa de Antuérpia
Language of title
por
Creator / accumulator
Feitoria Portuguesa de Antuérpia
Date(s)
1411/1810
Language(s)
dut
fra
spa
lat
Extent
363 storage units (9 books and 354 documents)
Type of material
Textual Material
Physical condition
Good
Scope and content
The Feitoria Portuguesa de Antuérpia (Portuguese Trading Post in Antwerp) fonds comprises documentation related to trade and diplomatic relations between Portugal and Flanders. It contains privileges granted to merchants, payment orders, regulations of commercial activity, royal orders, payment sheets, assets of debts, and letters.
The fonds also includes the register of the consuls and deputies appointed to the Portuguese Feitoria of Antwerp (three books, 1552-1788), records on interventions and reparation of ships (two books, 1535-1572), economic and financial documentation, including registration of debts and cash movements (one book, 1578/1662), documentation related to other topics (two books and four boxes with 354 documents, 1411/1810) and inventories (one book, 1870).
Given the importance of the New Christian mercantile community in Antwerp and its close ties with Portugal and Portuguese institutions, almost all documentation contains information on New Christian and Sephardic economic and social dynamics. Some examples are the following:
PT/TT/MNE-FPA/1/2, fols. 86v, 107, 118-118v; liv. 5, fol. 14, liv. 2, fols. 89v-90: information regarding Alexandre Reinel (alias Isaac Abendanam), who had been persecuted by the Portuguese Inquisition and charged in 1578. In 1585, he was in Antwerp, where he was an active member of the New Christian community and of the Portuguese Feitoria.
PT/TT/MNE-FPA/1/2, fols. 87v-88; 110v-112: information on Heitor Mendes de Brito and his family. He had also been persecuted by the Portuguese Inquisition and was one of the New Christians who negotiated the concession of a general pardon with the Portuguese king. He and his family achieved great wealth and high offices. His brother, Fernão Dias, was a consul in the Portuguese Feitoria of Antwerp in 1586. Mendes de Brito left the city in 1598, probably travelling to Hamburg.
PT/TT/MNE-FPA/1/3, fols. 187-199v.: first known translation into Castilian of Benjamin de Tudela's (1130–1173) travel book, "Libro de Viajes de Benjamín de Tudela".
PT/TT/MNE-FPA/3/1, fols. 194-194v.: ordinace entitled "baillio d'Auge em Arramua reçeber a Naçam dos navios purtugeses", dating from December 1544. It is an ordinace sent to the 'bailio' (tax official), who was responsible for collecting the tax paid by the masters of Portuguese ships, giving them instructions about how to proceed. There were two appointed 'bailios' for the cities of Amsterdam and Middelburg. A document published in Frade (2006), 397-398.
PT/TT/MNE-FPA/2/7, fol. 111: letter from King Sebastião of Portugal (1554-1578) to the Portuguese Feitoria of Antwerp on March 7, 1578, thanking the contributions to support his military campaigns in Africa. Portuguese New Christians settled in Antwerp participated in this money raising.
PT/TT/MNE-FPA/4/5, fol. 287v.: information about the Carlos family, one of many Portuguese New Christian families that gained noble status.
Book 7 and boxes 1-4: records of the exceptional privileges obtained by Portuguese merchants in Bruges since 1411 and especially during the government of John the Fearless (1371-1419). Given the gradual decay of this city as a commercial entrepot, the Portuguese merchants gradually moved to Antwerp, where they sought to obtain the same privileges that they enjoyed in Bruges. Only after the city authorities granted these privileges, did they accept to establish the Portuguese Feitoria of Antwerp.
Mostly using this fonds, Florbela Veiga Frade (2006) has compiled and organised information regarding the appointment of representatives ("feitores" and consuls), secretaries, and clerks of the Portuguese crown in Antwerp, among them it is possible to find several New Christians. Frade also explored in detail the cases of some of the most important New Christian/Sephardic families that settled in Antwerp in the 16th century and first half of the 17th century — such as the Mendes de Brito, Mendes, Ximenes, Veiga, Rodrigues de Évora and Azevedo e Paz — often using documents from this fonds.
Some records were published by Braamcamp Freire (1908-1910).
The fonds also includes the register of the consuls and deputies appointed to the Portuguese Feitoria of Antwerp (three books, 1552-1788), records on interventions and reparation of ships (two books, 1535-1572), economic and financial documentation, including registration of debts and cash movements (one book, 1578/1662), documentation related to other topics (two books and four boxes with 354 documents, 1411/1810) and inventories (one book, 1870).
Given the importance of the New Christian mercantile community in Antwerp and its close ties with Portugal and Portuguese institutions, almost all documentation contains information on New Christian and Sephardic economic and social dynamics. Some examples are the following:
PT/TT/MNE-FPA/1/2, fols. 86v, 107, 118-118v; liv. 5, fol. 14, liv. 2, fols. 89v-90: information regarding Alexandre Reinel (alias Isaac Abendanam), who had been persecuted by the Portuguese Inquisition and charged in 1578. In 1585, he was in Antwerp, where he was an active member of the New Christian community and of the Portuguese Feitoria.
PT/TT/MNE-FPA/1/2, fols. 87v-88; 110v-112: information on Heitor Mendes de Brito and his family. He had also been persecuted by the Portuguese Inquisition and was one of the New Christians who negotiated the concession of a general pardon with the Portuguese king. He and his family achieved great wealth and high offices. His brother, Fernão Dias, was a consul in the Portuguese Feitoria of Antwerp in 1586. Mendes de Brito left the city in 1598, probably travelling to Hamburg.
PT/TT/MNE-FPA/1/3, fols. 187-199v.: first known translation into Castilian of Benjamin de Tudela's (1130–1173) travel book, "Libro de Viajes de Benjamín de Tudela".
PT/TT/MNE-FPA/3/1, fols. 194-194v.: ordinace entitled "baillio d'Auge em Arramua reçeber a Naçam dos navios purtugeses", dating from December 1544. It is an ordinace sent to the 'bailio' (tax official), who was responsible for collecting the tax paid by the masters of Portuguese ships, giving them instructions about how to proceed. There were two appointed 'bailios' for the cities of Amsterdam and Middelburg. A document published in Frade (2006), 397-398.
PT/TT/MNE-FPA/2/7, fol. 111: letter from King Sebastião of Portugal (1554-1578) to the Portuguese Feitoria of Antwerp on March 7, 1578, thanking the contributions to support his military campaigns in Africa. Portuguese New Christians settled in Antwerp participated in this money raising.
PT/TT/MNE-FPA/4/5, fol. 287v.: information about the Carlos family, one of many Portuguese New Christian families that gained noble status.
Book 7 and boxes 1-4: records of the exceptional privileges obtained by Portuguese merchants in Bruges since 1411 and especially during the government of John the Fearless (1371-1419). Given the gradual decay of this city as a commercial entrepot, the Portuguese merchants gradually moved to Antwerp, where they sought to obtain the same privileges that they enjoyed in Bruges. Only after the city authorities granted these privileges, did they accept to establish the Portuguese Feitoria of Antwerp.
Mostly using this fonds, Florbela Veiga Frade (2006) has compiled and organised information regarding the appointment of representatives ("feitores" and consuls), secretaries, and clerks of the Portuguese crown in Antwerp, among them it is possible to find several New Christians. Frade also explored in detail the cases of some of the most important New Christian/Sephardic families that settled in Antwerp in the 16th century and first half of the 17th century — such as the Mendes de Brito, Mendes, Ximenes, Veiga, Rodrigues de Évora and Azevedo e Paz — often using documents from this fonds.
Some records were published by Braamcamp Freire (1908-1910).
Archival history
This fonds was sent and incorporated into the National Archive of Torre do Tombo by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs following a governmental decree on July 23, 1870. In 1990, when the National Archive was moved from São Bento Palace to its current location in the Cidade Universitária (Lisbon University Campus), the documentation followed this transfer.
Administrative / Biographical history
The commercial relations between Portugal and Flanders date back to the 13th century at least. As the trade increased, Portuguese merchants were gradually given privileges by the dukes of Bourgogne. Among them, was the right to elect a consul with jurisdiction over litigations between the Portuguese who resided in the city. In the 15th century, the Portuguese community and merchants had their own civil jurisdiction with their own set of rules.
In 1455, a new Portuguese "feitoria" (trading post) was built in Bruges, but it was relocated to Antwerp in 1488, endorsed by Archduke Maximilian of Austria (1459-1519), who promised to grant privileges in exchange. The reallocation was completed in 1499 and, in 1511, the Portuguese merchants received the status of most favoured "nação" (nation, community) in Flanders.
Two consuls were elected every year and one of them also took the post of "feitor" (royal officer in charge of commercial affairs). It was their responsibility to manage the warehouse, sell goods, deal with cases of piracy and shipwreck, handle insurances, hold the merchant’s assembly and deal with diplomatic and economic demands.
The Feitoria of Antwerp had an important role as a trading hub where products from the Atlantic islands, Africa, Asia, and Portugal, as well as goods from other European territories, were permanently exchanged
The rise of Dutch companies, especially the East India Company (VOC), established in 1602, led to the decline of the Portuguese Feitoria in Antwerp. In spite of that, it maintained its activity until 1794.
In 1455, a new Portuguese "feitoria" (trading post) was built in Bruges, but it was relocated to Antwerp in 1488, endorsed by Archduke Maximilian of Austria (1459-1519), who promised to grant privileges in exchange. The reallocation was completed in 1499 and, in 1511, the Portuguese merchants received the status of most favoured "nação" (nation, community) in Flanders.
Two consuls were elected every year and one of them also took the post of "feitor" (royal officer in charge of commercial affairs). It was their responsibility to manage the warehouse, sell goods, deal with cases of piracy and shipwreck, handle insurances, hold the merchant’s assembly and deal with diplomatic and economic demands.
The Feitoria of Antwerp had an important role as a trading hub where products from the Atlantic islands, Africa, Asia, and Portugal, as well as goods from other European territories, were permanently exchanged
The rise of Dutch companies, especially the East India Company (VOC), established in 1602, led to the decline of the Portuguese Feitoria in Antwerp. In spite of that, it maintained its activity until 1794.
Access points: locations
Access points: persons, families
Access points: corporate bodies
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
System of arrangement
The fonds is organised by document type. Series are ordered chronologically.
Access, restrictions
Extensive documentation is available online:
Finding aids
Unpublished finding aids:
Anvers, Mairie. Archives Communales. [1870]. "Inventaire des documents concernant la Factorerie Portugaise à Anvers qui existent dans les archives de cette ville ". Manuscript file available in PT/TT/MNE-FPA/5/1.
Bruges, Mairie. Archives Communales. Factorerie Portugaise à Bruges. 1870. "Liste des documents publics, enregistrés par ordre du magistrat de Bruges, concernant les rapports politiques et commerciaux entre la ville et les autorités consulaires". Manuscript file available in PT/TT/MNE-FPA/5/1.
Instituto dos Arquivos Nacionais / Torre do Tombo. 1951. "Feitoria Portuguesa de Antuérpia: catálogo dos documentos e livros avulsos". Manuscript file. It does not include documents in Flemish.
Published finding aids:
Links to finding aids
Existence and location of copies
Author of the description
Inês de Sá and Kevin Soares, 2021
Bibliography
Published primary sources
Linked resources
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