Metadata: Collection of Letters
Collection
- Country:
- Portugal
- Holding institution:
- The National Archive of Torre do Tombo
- Holding institution (official language):
- Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo
- Postal address:
- Alameda da Universidade, 1649-010 Lisbon
- Phone number:
- 00351 210037100
- Email:
- mail@dglab.gov.pt
- Reference number:
- PT/TT/CART
- Title:
- Collection of Letters
- Title (official language):
- Colecção de Cartas
- Creator/accumulator:
- Arquivo da Casa da Coroa / Arquivo Nacional Torre do Tombo
- Date(s):
- 1499/1690
- Language:
- Arabic
- Hebrew
- Portuguese
- Turkish
- Extent:
- 12 storage units (3 books and 9 bundles)
- Type of material:
- Textual Material
- Physical condition:
- Good
- Scope and content:
-
This fonds collects letters from and to the king related to the Portuguese overseas territories in the Mediterranean Sea, Africa, India, and the Far East. Many are from viceroys and governors of India, governors of Africa, and other royal officials. Most of these letters are from the 16th century. The fonds includes letters in Arabic, Turkish, and Hebrew as well.
The manuscripts in Hebrew are included in the unit “Documentos em caracteres árabes provenientes do Oriente” (Documents in Arabic from the East). One is a book of Isaiah (PT/TT/CART/891.1/43) probably from the 13th or 14th centuries. Parts of this book were used to bind codex number 1913 of the “Miscelâneas Manuscritas” (Handwritten Miscellaneous Collection). The other one is a Book of Numbers from the 15th century, parts of which served as a cover for book 572 from the Núcleo Antigo (Old Core) collection, entitled “Livro dos Almazens d’El Rey na vila de Alcacere. Anno 1500” (Book of the royal warehouses in Alcácer, 1500). Digital copies of both these records are available online in the Torre do Tombo database (see Link to finding aids).
- Archival history:
-
This collection was created as a result of the Portuguese overseas expansion, and it gathers royal correspondence with officials in Africa and Asia.
The records were kept in the Royal Archives of Torre do Tombo. Thus, the history of this collection follows that of the archives.
In 1755, the Great Earthquake forced the records to be moved to woodsheds and later to the monastery of São Bento, in Lisbon. At the end of the 18th century, the “guarda-mor” (the High-Guardian) João Pereira Ramos de Azevedo Coutinho ordered the production of an index of the Torre do Tombo. The inventory was composed of six parts. This collection was included in the 5th part, entitled “Diversas Matérias” (Various Subjects).
In the middle of the 20th century, the director of the Torre do Tombo, João Martins da Silva Marques, numbered part of the documentation from the “Diversas Matérias” and created the fonds “Núcleo Antigo” (Old Core).
In more recent years, part of the archive was rearranged to match the original royal organisation. The Núcleo Antigo was disassembled, creating new fonds and collections and incorporating other documents into already existing collections. Then, the “Coleção de Cartas” became an independent collection.
- Administrative/biographical history:
-
The Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo is one of Portugal's oldest institutions. Its origins go back to at least the 14th century. The royal documents used to follow the itinerant medieval court, with only the most important documents being held at different monasteries. Once the court established itself in Lisbon, so did the royal archives. The first documental reference to a set location is from 1378. The archive was kept in one of the towers of São Jorge Castle, hence its name Torre do Tombo (Tower of the Archive). The "guarda-mor" (high-guardian) was responsible for its safekeeping.
Until 1755, the Torre do Tombo functioned as the Crown's archive, serving the king's administration and granting certificates to institutions and individuals. The oldest record reporting its organisation and content is from 1526: a letter from Tomé Lopes to King João III that mentions 149 books of Chancellery records and 47 of the so-named Leitura Nova (a compilation of copies of old documents ordered by King Manuel I).
In the 16th century, with the growing centralisation and the greater strength and complexity of the State, Torre do Tombo became a real State archive. Monarchs took notice of the archive, as they understood the importance of the relationship between information and power. Some documents from other areas of the central administration were incorporated into the archive. Torre do Tombo became a reference, even serving as an example to Philip II of Spain when regulating the Archive of Simancas.
The first indexes of the archive were created during the 17th and 18th centuries, as the interest in these documents increased and their reorganisation was ongoing. A 1702 index, most likely created by João Duarte Lisboa, responsible for the archive’s reformation, reveals that, in 1656, the archive was arranged in 15 “armários” (cabinets). Twenty years later, the archive had five more “armários”.
In 1755, the tower of the castle was destroyed in the Great Earthquake. The documents were then temporarily saved in a woodshed and, two years later, partly transferred to the monastery of São Bento da Saúde in Lisbon. The papers were then reorganised, and several copies were made. The new organisation did not follow the old methods; instead, it followed the logic of the enlightened 18th century, favouring a methodical and chronological order. The confusion between sections, series, collections, and fonds is noticeable, and the archive's organic structure was unclear. Many documents were lost in this new reorganisation and, even with the information given by the indexes, the original structure is still somewhat unclear.
The 18th century also brought a new way of looking at history and a new value to these documents. That explains the incorporation of the Society of Jesus' records in 1768, following the expulsion of the Jesuits from Portugal. It was one of the first examples of the incorporation in the Crown's archives of documents produced by other institutions. After the Liberal Revolution, these incorporations became customary, collecting records of old courts and religious corporations. In 1823, the royal archive changed its name to Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo (National Archive of Torre do Tombo), making it clear that it was not only an archive of the Crown but of the whole nation. However, there was no active will or ability to enable its access and to explore its documents, as the focus was only on their compilation.
The establishment of the Republic in 1911, along with the dictatorship (1926-1974), did not bring many new developments. In the 1950s, an effort was made by the director, João Martins da Silva Marques, to reorganise the documentation, leading to the creation of the Núcleo Antigo (Old Core) collection. Throughout the 20th century, many collections and documents were added to the archive, coming from different public and private institutions.
In 1990, the archives moved to a new building made specifically for that purpose, where they are still located today. In more recent years, part of the fonds and collections were rearranged to match the original organisation. For instance, the Núcleo Antigo was disassembled, creating new fonds and collections and incorporating other documents into already existing collections.
- Access points: locations:
- Portugal
- Subject terms:
- Bible
- Correspondence
- Jewish languages
- Jewish languages--Hebrew
- Manuscripts
- System of arrangement:
- This fonds has 12 storage units. The letters are arranged by type or by sender.
- Access, restrictions:
- Some documents are available online. In those instances, the original documents are not available for consultation. Permission is needed for access to some records, and it is limited to a restricted time.
- Finding aids:
-
Unpublished finding aids, available in Torre do Tombo:
Coutinho, João Pereira de Azeredo. 1776. "Núcleo Antigo: inventário". Inventory (L 299A).
"Colecção de Cartas: catálogo de cartas missivas e outros documentos" (Collection of Letters: catalogue of letters and other documents). 1946 (ID L 12).
"Colecção de Cartas: catálogo de cartas dos governadores dos lugares de África e de outras pessoas para el-rei (Collection of Letters: catalogue of letters from governors in Africa and other people to the king)". 1950s (ID C 1).
"Colecção de Cartas: catálogo das cartas dos vice-reis da Índia e outras pessoas para o rei e alguns alvarás: 1504-[1657]" (Collection of Letters: catalogue of letters from vice-roys of India and other people to the king, and other charters). 1950s (ID C 267).
Published finding aids:
Azevedo, Pedro de, and António Baião. 1989. O Arquivo da Torre do Tombo: sua história, corpos que o compõem e organizac̜ão. Lisbon: Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo; Livros Horizonte.
Farinha, Maria do Carmo Jasmins Dias, and Maria de Fátima Dentinho Ó Ramos. 1996. Núcleo Antigo: Inventário. Lisbon: AN/TT.
Mattoso, José, ed. 1998. Guia Geral dos Fundos da Torre do Tombo: Instituições do Antigo Regime, Administração Central. Vol. 1. Lisbon: IAN/TT.
Olival, Fernanda, Isabel Castro Pina, Maria Cecília Henriques, and Maria João Violante Branco, eds. 1999. Guia de fontes portuguesas para a história da Ásia. Lisbon: Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses; Fundação Oriente; Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda.
Pina, Isabel Castro, and Maria Leonor Ferraz de Oliveira Silva Santos, eds. 1991. Guia de fontes portuguesas para a história de África. Lisbon: Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses : Fundação Oriente : Imprensa Nacional-Casa de Moeda.
- Links to finding aids:
- https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/details?id=3908162
- Yerusha Network member:
- Universidade Nova de Lisboa - Western Sephardic Diaspora Roadmap
- Author of the description:
- Inês de Sá, 2021.
