Convento de Santa Clara de Coimbra
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
http://antt.dglab.gov.pt/contactos/
https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/
Contact information: email
mail@dglab.gov.pt
Reference number
PT/TT/CSCC
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (English)
Convent of Santa Clara of Coimbra
Title (official language of the state)
Convento de Santa Clara de Coimbra
Language of title
por
Creator / accumulator
Convento de Santa Clara de Coimbra
Date note
1243/20th century
Language(s)
lat
por
Extent
43 books and 42 bundles
Type of material
Textual Material
Physical condition
Good
Scope and content
The Convento de Santa Clara de Coimbra fonds comprises documentation related to or produced by this convent in Coimbra, including pontifical and royal documents, records concerning the election of abbesses and the admission of nuns, property and financial records, donations and privileges, etc. Among its property records, there is some scattered information regarding social groups living in the localities where the convent had properties, including information related to social and religious minorities in Medieval times, such as the Jewish minority. For instance, in book 42, there is a reference to a Jewish couple dwelling in the Judiaria (Jewish quarter) of Viseu, Junça Barrocas and his wife Cinfana, to whom the convent "emprazou" (leased by emphyteusis contract) a house next to the Judiaria's gate for 70 "reais brancos" (currency) per year (caderno 5º, fol. 7v). This record dates from March 14, 1482.
Archival history
The first units of the Convento de Santa Clara fonds arrived in the National Archive of Torre do Tombo before the convent's extinction. Indeed, the bundles 24 to 38 were sent to the archive in 1864, following a decree on October 2, 1862, and an ordinance from the government on July 9, 1863. These bundles were described in the inventory composed by D. Maria Antónia do Patrocínio, the abbess of the convent, and João Pedro da Costa Basto, the "oficial-mor" (major official) of the archive. Later, in 1912, the volumes of the Convent of Santa Clara’s collection that remained in the Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal (books 1 to 41) were also transferred to the National Archive. It is unknown when book 42 was moved to the Torre do Tombo. Some units were included in the collection named “Colecção Especial” (special collection). Between 1938 and 1990, this collection was reorganised and its records were gradually incorporated into other fonds in an effort to reproduce the original fonds. The documents were chronologically ordered and divided into bundles with 40 documents each. In the late 1990s, the old organisation by place name was replaced by an organisation by religious order.
Administrative / Biographical history
The construction of the Convent of Santa Clara in Coimbra started in 1286, after a few years of controversy. The initiative came from D. Mor Dias, a noblewoman, daughter of the “alcaide-mor” (chief provincial governor) of Coimbra, and from D. Boa Peres, granddaughter of the chancellor Julião Pais, who, at the time, lived in the monastery of São João das Donas of Coimbra, a dependency of the monastery of Santa Cruz of Coimbra. This institution was against the creation of a new monastery, as it threatened some of its possessions.
The Convent of Santa Clara was extinct in 1311; however, it was restored three years later by Queen Saint Isabel. The feud with the monastery of Santa Cruz of Coimbra ended in 1319. The Queen ordered new construction works in the convent, including a hospital and a palace. She would later move to the latter, after the death of her husband, King D. Dinis. Queen Isabel requested to be buried in the monastery. She also reserved on her will some goods and money to the monastery. Later, King Pedro I’s lover, D. Inês de Castro, would also be buried in this monastery until her body was moved to the Monastery of Alcobaça.
In 1667, due to the Mondego floods, the convent was transferred to a higher location in the city. The new monastery became known as Santa Clara a Nova (Saint Claire the New). At the time, the monastery housed 80 nuns, in spite of the fact that it purportedly only had a capacity for 70 nuns. The construction plans of the new structure laid out by King João IV included a sumptuous chapel to house the kings' tombs and an annexe building for the royal family. However, the building was never completed, as the works took over a century to come to an end.
In 1834, the new Liberal regime extinguished religious orders and male monasteries in Portugal. Only female monasteries and convents were allowed to remain open, until the death of the last nun. This was the destiny of the Convent of Santa Clara, extinct in 1886, after its last nun died.
Some of the convent's assets and artworks were sent to museums in Lisbon and Coimbra. The building was kept under maintenance by the Real Confraria da Rainha Santa Isabel (Royal Confraternity of Queen Saint Isabel). Throughout the following centuries, it also served as a college of priests, a military unit and, at last, as a museum.
The Convent of Santa Clara was extinct in 1311; however, it was restored three years later by Queen Saint Isabel. The feud with the monastery of Santa Cruz of Coimbra ended in 1319. The Queen ordered new construction works in the convent, including a hospital and a palace. She would later move to the latter, after the death of her husband, King D. Dinis. Queen Isabel requested to be buried in the monastery. She also reserved on her will some goods and money to the monastery. Later, King Pedro I’s lover, D. Inês de Castro, would also be buried in this monastery until her body was moved to the Monastery of Alcobaça.
In 1667, due to the Mondego floods, the convent was transferred to a higher location in the city. The new monastery became known as Santa Clara a Nova (Saint Claire the New). At the time, the monastery housed 80 nuns, in spite of the fact that it purportedly only had a capacity for 70 nuns. The construction plans of the new structure laid out by King João IV included a sumptuous chapel to house the kings' tombs and an annexe building for the royal family. However, the building was never completed, as the works took over a century to come to an end.
In 1834, the new Liberal regime extinguished religious orders and male monasteries in Portugal. Only female monasteries and convents were allowed to remain open, until the death of the last nun. This was the destiny of the Convent of Santa Clara, extinct in 1886, after its last nun died.
Some of the convent's assets and artworks were sent to museums in Lisbon and Coimbra. The building was kept under maintenance by the Real Confraria da Rainha Santa Isabel (Royal Confraternity of Queen Saint Isabel). Throughout the following centuries, it also served as a college of priests, a military unit and, at last, as a museum.
Sources:
Access points: locations
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
System of arrangement
This fonds is organised into 17 series: Documentos pontifícios (papal records); Patentes (patents); Documentos régios (royal documents); Documentos para confirmação régia (documents for royal confirmation); Visitações (visits); Autos de eleição (election records); Tomadas de hábito (new clerics); Profissões (professions); Óbitos (deaths); Tombos de propriedades (property records); Demarcações de propriedades (property demarcations); Prazos (emphyteusis contracts); Sentenças (sentences); Recibos (receipts); Forais (forals); Índices (indexes); Documentos vários (various documents). In each series, records are tendentially organised by chronological order.
Access, restrictions
No restrictions, except for records in poor condition or available in digital format.
Finding aids
Unpublished finding aids available in the archive:
"Inventário dos cartórios recolhidos da Biblioteca Nacional, em 1912" (Inventory of the registries collected by the National Library in 1912). (L 283), fols. 48-51.
"Inventário dos documentos pertencentes ao Mosteiro de Santa Clara de Coimbra que, em virtude do Decreto de 2 de Outubro de 1862 e Portaria de 9 de Julho de 1863, foram transferidos para o Arquivo da Torre do Tombo, em 26 de Setembro de 1864" (Inventory of the documents belonging to the Monastery of Santa Clara of Coimbra that, following the decree of October 2, 1862, and the ordinance of July 9, 1863, were transferred to the Archive of Torre do Tombo on September 26, 1864). (L 288).
Published finding aids:
Links to finding aids
Author of the description
Inês de Sá and Teresa Oliveira, 2021
Published primary sources
Linked resources
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| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo | Collections (official language of the state) |