Natie van Portugal

Item

Country

BE

Name of institution (English)

FelixArchief (Antwerp City Archives)

Name of institution (official language of the state)

Language of name of institution

dut

Contact information: postal address

Oudeleeuwenrui 29, 2000 Antwerp

Contact information: phone number

0032 33389411

Contact information: web address

Contact information: email

stadsarchief@antwerpen.be

Reference number

BE SA 175011

Type of reference number

Archival reference number

Title (English)

Portuguese nation

Title (official language of the state)

Natie van Portugal

Language of title

dut

Creator / accumulator

Schepenenbank

Date(s)

1411/1751

Language(s)

dut
fra
spa

Extent

8 storage units

Type of material

Textual Material

Scope and content

The Natie van Portugal collection is part of the Stadsbestuur (City Council) fonds. It comprises rich documentation on matters related to the inhabitants of Antwerp of Portuguese origin. This community included many New Christian merchants, and the collection comprises extensive information on their networks and properties in the city.
This collection includes seven censuses of the Portuguese population living in Antwerp from the 1570s to the 1660s, which were published by I. S. Révah (1963). It is the case of the lists of Portuguese people living in Antwerp in 1571 (book, fols. 103-103v) and 1591 (book 2, fols. 132-132v). The 1571 list refers to 85 Portuguese families and 17 individuals living in the city in 1571. Although there was a decrease in the number of Portuguese New Christians living in Antwerp since the end of the 16th century and early 17th century, a list of the Portuguese convened for the yearly election of the consuls in 1611 mentioned 75 names, mainly New Christians (book 2, fols. 184-185), such as members of the Ximenes, Veiga, Rodrigues de Paiva, and Andrada families. Another list from 1666 composed by the secretary of the Portuguese nation, Francisco Henriques, counted 38 men and 27 women (Révah, 1963, 145-147).

Archival history

In the 13th century, the city of Antwerp kept its documents in the Town Hal, in a chest about two meters long, named "privilegiekom". The chest had 13 locks, whose keys were distributed among the city officials, and it could only be opened with the 13 keys. The development of the city and the growing complexity of its administration resulted in an increase in the number of documents. Therefore, the "privilegiekom" became too small to store all records.
Prior to the French Revolution, the various city institutions headquartered in the Town Hall had the responsibility of keeping their own documents. However, in 1796, a city archivist was appointed to preserve and manage the archives. The city archive remained in the Town Hall until the first half of the 20th century. After that, the archive was moved to several different locations. During World War II, the most valuable documents were secured in a castle near Rochefort. In 1953, the archive was temporarily accommodated at Meirbrug. At last, on December 15, 1956, a new place in Venusstraat was inaugurated, and the city archives remained there for about 50 years. In 2006, the archive moved to the Sint-Felixpakhuis. Since then, it has been called the FelixArchief.

Administrative / Biographical history

The Schepenbank (Court of the Aldermen) was a court usually composed of seven members appointed by the "heer" (lord), under the chairmanship of the "schout" (sheriff), "drossaard" (landdrost) or "meier" (mayor), as the lord's representative. In some cities, as Antwerp, there were "dubbelheerlijkheden" (double lordships), whereby the lordship was divided between two lords, who often jointly appointed the members of the Schepenbank.
The presence of all "schepenen" (aldermen) was only required when pronouncing sentences in criminal cases. For other court hearings, the presence of five or two "schepenen" was sufficient.
That was the case of the Vrijwillige Rechtspraak (Voluntary Justice), which only demanded the presence of two "schepenen". It consisted of matters such as the registration of transfers of ownership, interest transactions, inheritances, etc. The "schepenen" also acted as guardians of orphans, and of mentally disabled or incapacitated people, and acted as protectors of their heritage and interests. They were also responsible for collecting the "belasting" (tax). For this specific task, they were assisted by "bedezetters" (tax officials) and "burgemeesters" (burgomasters).

Access points: locations

Access points: persons, families

Access points: corporate bodies

Access points: subject terms

Access points: document types

System of arrangement

The records are arranged chronologically.

Links to finding aids

Author of the description

Kevin Soares, 2022

Bibliography

Published primary sources

Item sets

Linked resources

Filter by property

Place of distribution (Deprecated)
Title Alternate label Class
Feitoria Portuguesa de Antuérpia Existence and location of copies
is part (item) of
Title Alternate label Class
FelixArchief (Stadsarchief Antwerpen) Collections (official language of the state)