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Country
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PT
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Name of institution (English)
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Porto District Archive
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Language of name of institution
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por
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Contact information: postal address
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Rua das Taipas 90, 4050-598 Porto
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Contact information: phone number
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00351 220 046 200
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Contact information: email
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info@adporto.dglab.gov.pt
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Reference number
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PT/ADPRT/MON/CVSBVTR
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Type of reference number
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Archival reference number
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Title (English)
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Monastery of São Bento da Vitória
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Title (official language of the state)
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Convento de São Bento da Vitória
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Language of title
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por
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Creator / accumulator
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Convento de São Bento da Vitória
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Date(s)
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1394/1830
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Language(s)
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lat
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por
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Extent
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0.9 linear metres (26 books and 8141 documents)
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Type of material
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Textual Material
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Physical condition
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Poor
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Scope and content
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The Convento de São Bento da Vitória fonds primarily comprises records related to the monastery's ecclesiastic administration and financial management. It includes provisions and licences granted by the Crown and the municipality, records on the acquisition and management of estates, books of incomes and expenses, documents related to the religious activity and daily life of the monastery and its friars, etc. One of its items is the "Livro das compras e vendas das casas em que se fundou este mosteiro" (book of purchase and sale of the houses where the monastery was founded), with records dated between 1394 and 1619 (PT/ADPRT/MON/CVSBVTR/0002). This book contains a record that reports the origins of the "judiaria" (Jewish quarter) of Olival in Porto. On October 9, 1386, representatives of the Jewish community gathered in a house in Rua da Minhota and decided to appoint Ananias as their attorney to negotiate with the judges of Porto the settlement of the Jewish quarter in Campo do Olival. The "aforamento" (emphyteusis contract) of the land established the delimitation of Campo do Olival and the amount of 200 maravedis velhos (currency) paid by the Jewish "comuna" (commune) per annum. In the Council meeting on June 2, 1388, a copy of this contract was presented by Ananias and three Jewish physicians, Mestre Moussem, Mestre Dourado, and Mestre Isaque, on behalf of the Jewish "comuna" on a petition regarding the payment of taxes to the Cathedral Chapter of Porto. The "Livro das compras e vendas das casas em que se fundou este mosteiro" includes copies of this contract (PT/ADPRT/MON/CVSBVTR/0002/00064; PT/ADPRT/MON/CVSBVTR/0002/00065) attached to claims regarding the demarcation and property of these lands.
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Archival history
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In 1834, after the ecclesiastic reform carried out by Minister Joaquim António de Aguiar and executed by the Comissão da Reforma Geral do Clero (Committee for the General Reform of the Clergy), all the male convents, monasteries, colleges, and religious houses were dissolved by decree on May 30. Then, all their estates and assets, including their libraries and archives, were incorporated in the Próprios da Fazenda Nacional (National Treasury). Therefore, this was the destination of the Monastery of São Bento da Vitória's archive. In July 1934, the monastery's fonds, as well as others from male monasteries of Porto and surroundings, were transferred from the Repartição de Finanças do Porto (Porto Tax Office) to the Arquivo Distrital do Porto.
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Administrative / Biographical history
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The Monastery of São Bento da Vitória started to be built at the end of the 16th century, in the place where the "judiaria" (Jewish quarter) of Porto had been located before the late 15th-century expulsion and forced conversions. The monastery's foundation was authorised by the Municipality of Porto in 1583. In 1598, the bishop of Porto also gave permission for the construction, although the works were delayed for a long time and were only completely finished in the 18th century. Before the monastery's erection, the Benedictine community of Porto was settled in a house founded in 1580 or 1581, the Casa de São Mauro. However, the community was only officially established after the General Chapter of the Order of Saint Benedict in 1596. The monastery became an abbey in 1599. In 1623, it hosted 31 friars.
During the Peninsular War (1807-1814) and afterwards, the monastery served as a military hospital. Later, in 1832, the friars were forced to give the building to the army, although the community was only officially extinct two years after. In 1835, the monastery's church was placed in the custody of the Arquiconfraria do Santíssimo e Imaculado Coração de Maria (Brotherhood of the Blessed and Immaculate Heart of Mary).
Between 1985 and 1990, the monastery was restored. Part of the building was given back and again occupied by the Benedictines. Another part became the headquarters of both the Orquestra Nacional do Porto (Porto National Orchestra) and the Arquivo Distrital do Porto. In 2007, the State assigned a part of the building to the Teatro Nacional de São João (National Theatre).
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(source: Arquivo Distrital do Porto online database)
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System of arrangement
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Records are arranged chronologically.
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Access, restrictions
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Conditional access to the records because of their poor condition.
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Author of the description
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Carla Vieira and Rui Queirós de Faria, 2021
