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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 220046200
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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/CVSFPRT
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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 Francisco
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Title (official language of the state)
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Convento de São Francisco
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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 Francisco
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Date(s)
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1366/1832
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Language(s)
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lat
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Extent
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16 books
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Type of material
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Textual Material
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Physical condition
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Satisfactory
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Scope and content
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The Convento de São Francisco fonds comprises documentation related to the ecclesiastic administration and financial management of the monastery. Records include wills, legacies, property records, bulls, royal correspondence, provisions, appointments, decrees, licenses, donations, inventories, etc.
In this fonds, there is the will of Mestre João da Paz, a New Christian physician and astrologist from Porto, dated from April 6, 1536 (PT/ADPRT/MON/CVSFPRT/002/6059A/00019). João da Paz was a Spanish Jew who moved to Portugal after the Jewish banishment in 1492. Years later, when the Jews and Moors were also expelled from Portugal, he converted to Christianity. Paz became close to King João II and later King Manuel I, serving as a physician and also as an astrological and nautical expert. He was also a wealthy businessman and contractor. In his will, João da Paz expressed his desire to be buried in a chapel in the monastery of São Francisco, whose erection he had commissioned. He instituted a legacy of 3,000 reis per year to the monastery in exchange for masses by his and his wife's souls.
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Archival history
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The Convento de São Francisco's archive was devastated during the French Invasion of Porto on March 29, 1809. Years later, during the Liberal Wars, in the sequence of a fire during the siege of Porto, the collection was again seriously damaged. In this same year, following the dissolution of the monasteries in Portugal, the archive was delivered to the Comissão Administrativa dos Bens Culturais (Administrative Committee for Cultural Assets). Later, it was transferred to the Direcção de Finanças do Porto (Porto Financial Directorate). In July of 1934, the Convento de São Francisco fonds, like other male monasteries' fonds, was relocated to the Arquivo Distrital, which had been founded a few years before, on June 27, 1931.
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Administrative / Biographical history
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The Convento de São Francisco was founded in the mid-13th century, after a troubled process of establishment of the Order of Friars Minor in Porto caused by the bishop and the cathedral chapter's opposition. In 1271, King Afonso III bequeathed a legacy of 100 pounds to the monastery. The monastery soon played an important role in the development of its surroundings and the spiritual guidance of its populations. The building of the monastery's church started in 1383. The church suffered several changes and restorations over the centuries. The current building reflects the campaign of works undertaken in 1792.
In 1568, the Convento de São Francisco went from the Conventual Franciscans to the Observants. Decades later, in 1633, the convent also began to receive the Third Order of Saint Francis, whose coexistence with the Observants was not always harmonious.
During the Liberal Wars, the convent was completely destroyed by a violent fire in 1833. In the following year, the monasteries were dissolved in Portugal, and the Convento de São Francisco's assets were nationalised. In 1842, the Palácio da Bolsa, the headquarters of the Associação Comercial do Porto (Porto Trade Association), was erected in the place of the monastery.
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System of arrangement
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This fonds is organised into four series: Títulos de privilégios (Privileges); Instituição de legados e capelas (Legacies and Chapels); Receitas dos legados (Legacies incomes); and Pagamento de esmolas (Alms). Numerical sorting by reference number.
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Access, restrictions
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The fonds is partially microfilmed and/or digitalised.
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Author of the description
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Carla Vieira, 2021
