Colegiada do Salvador 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 210 037 100

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/CSLC

Type of reference number

Archival reference number

Title (English)

Collegiate of Salvador of Coimbra

Title (official language of the state)

Colegiada do Salvador de Coimbra

Language of title

por

Creator / accumulator

Colegiada do Salvador de Coimbra

Date(s)

1144/1569

Language(s)

lat
por

Extent

4 books and 18 bundles

Type of material

Textual Material

Physical condition

Satisfactory

Scope and content

The Colegiada do Salvador de Coimbra fonds comprises documentation related to or produced by this Collegiate. It includes donation letters, deeds of sale, exchanges, "emprazamento" and "aforamento" (emphyteusis contracts), sentences, wills, inventories of properties, among other records concerning the estate and activity of the church of São Salvador in Coimbra. Among the oldest documents of this fonds, there is some scattered information on the Jewish community of Coimbra. Some examples are the following:
PT/TT/CSLC/M05, unnumbered document from January 18, 1379: letter from King D. Fernando determining that some Jews who were "foreiros" (tenants by emphyteusis contract) of three houses in the parish of São Salvador, in Coimbra, should move to the "judiaria" (Jewish quarter) in Sansão, in the city outskirts. The record also contains a note regarding an auction of seized assets, including a Hebrew prayer book that was bought by a Jewish man named Jacob. Published in Gomes (2013).
PT/TT/CSLC/M14, unnumbered document from June 10, 1413: a sentence against Levy(?), a Jewish blacksmith who lived in the parish of São Salvador. The Collegiate demanded him to pay parish taxes. The document also mentions that he had a vineyard with olive trees in the city outskirts.

Archival history

In 1848, following the law of June 16 and the instruction of September 17, the assets and incomes of all collegiates in Portugal were applied to the maintenance of seminaries. Another law on December 27, 1849, determined that the documents of the collegiates should be stored in the registry of the seminary that received their assets and incomes. The assets, incomes and archive of the Colegiada do Salvador de Coimbra were transferred to the seminary of Coimbra. In 1862, another order of the government determined that the documents dated before 1600 should be incorporated into the Torre do Tombo. Thus, the records of the Collegiate of Salvador that were stored in the seminary of Coimbra were transferred to the Torre do Tombo in the following year. Some of these records were included in the so-called "Colecção Especial" (special collection). Between 1938 and 1990, the records of this collection were gradually reorganised with the aim of recreating the original fonds. The documents were chronologically ordered and gathered into bundles of 40 documents each, which were numbered sequentially. At the end of the 1990s, the organisation by the locality where the respective church was originally located was replaced by an arrangement by diocese.

Administrative / Biographical history

Collegiates were communities of clerics and laymen with the purpose of ensuring religious cult in churches. The Collegiate of Salvador was under the wing of the Bishop of Coimbra.
Collegiates were based on the head church of one of the city parishes, and so was with the Collegiate of Salvador. The church was founded around the 11th century, and the Collegiate was most likely established around 1175, when Estevão Martins, "homem-bom" (notable men of the city), ordered the remodeling of the church. Like other collegiates, it was headed by a prior and composed of a number of "raçoeiros" (literally, who received a ration) or "beneficiários" (beneficiaries), who were generally clerics. They would assemble once a month in order to manage the internal administration of the canons' life. The prior was responsible for nominating the "raçoeiros". They carried out liturgical functions, such as singing in the choir or praying for the worshipers who had left donations to the collegiate. In addition, they also had the responsibility of managing the properties and incomes of the church. There was an annual election in order to select among the “raçoeiros” the ones who would undertake specific roles, such as scrivener, treasurer, wine distributor, privileges, etc. The "prioste", which was chosen among the "raçoeiros", had the responsibility of managing the collegiate's assets and distributing its incomes.
In 1848, most collegiates were extinguished by the Liberal government, especially those that could not subsist on their income only. Many collegiates were not able to endure as, since 1834, their primary source of revenue, the "dízimo" (tithe), was abolished. The Colegiada do Salvador de Coimbra had to cease its functions in the following years.
Sources:

Access points: locations

Access points: subject terms

Access points: document types

System of arrangement

One of the bundles gathers the records that once were part of the Colecção Especial (Special Collection). There is a specific numbering for each type of installation unit (books and bundles).

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 das Corporações Religiosas, desintegrado da antiga Colecção Especial , em 24 de Julho de 1978"(Inventory of Religious Organisation, extracted from the former Colecç
ao Especial, on July 24, 1978). (L 208).
"Inventário dos pergaminhos e códices pertencentes às Colegiadas de São Bartolomeu, de São Cristóvão, de São Tiago, de São João de Almedina, de Santa Justa, de São Pedro, do Salvador, todas de Coimbra, recolhidos no Seminário Episcopal desta cidade 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 15 de Setembro de 1863" (Inventory of parchments and codices belonging to the Collegiates of São Bartolomeu, São Cristóvão, São Tiago, São João de Almedina, Santa Justa, São Pedro, and Salvador, all in Coimbra, collected by the Seminary of this city that were transferred to the Arquivo da Torre do Tombo, on September 15, 1863). (L 288).

Links to finding aids

Author of the description

Inês de Sá and Carla Vieira, 2021

Bibliography

Published primary sources

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is part (item) of
Title Alternate label Class
Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo Collections (official language of the state)