Publication Date
2009
Categories
A merchant that settled in Macau in the first half of the 17th century, he was born in the city of Tomar in 1584 and was the son of Belledor Tavares de Souza and Isabel Sanches. He opposed the Society of Jesus in the 1621 dispute of the Green Island and held the office of municipal clerk at the Macau Santa Casa da Misericórdia (charitable institution) in 1622.
A resident of the village of Santo António, he is listed in the 1625 "Lista De La gente Efetiua que Ay Em esta Ciudade Assy, Visinos Como Estrauagantes forasteros E gente De lla tierra" as Rodrigo Sanches. Married with Maria Cordeira, he had two sons and a daughter, with the latter entering to the Convento de Santa Clara (Saint Clare Convent) in Macau. In this very year, he supported the Society of Jesus against Friar António do Rosário over the question of the Governance of the China Bishopric. Having lived for some 19 years in the city of Macau, he was part of the economic and ruling elite of the 1620s that was integrated into the wealthy, ruling and educated elite of the 1630s. He was a Councillor at the Senate.
He took part in the 1631 and 1637 debate on the new type of election for the travel administrator of the voyage to Japan, imposed by the Viceroy, the Count of Linhares, following a proposal of Chief Judge Sebastião Soares Pais.
On 1 November 1639, the Senate and the representatives of the central power chose the Governor of the Bishopric Father João Pereira, Governor-general Dom Sebastião Lobo da Silveira and Judge António de Macedo to announce to Goa the cutting of ties with Japan. He, in turn, headed the 1640 Embassy to Japan, together with Simão Vaz de Pavia, Luís Paes Pacheco and Gonçalo Monteiro de Carvalho, and died as a martyr, along with most of the delegation, in Nagasaki on 3 August of the same year.
Bibliography:
BOXER, Charles, O Grande Navio de Amacau, Macau, Fundação Oriente e Museu e Centro de Estudos Marítimos de Macau, 1989. PENALVA, Elsa, A Companhia de Jesus em Macau (1615-1626), Universidade de Lisboa, 2000 (dissertação de mestrado policopiada). IDEM, Lutas pelo Poder em Macau (c. 1590-c.1660), Universidade de Lisboa, 2005 (tese de doutoramento policopiada). PIRES, Benjamim Videira, A Embaixada Mártir, Macau, Instituto Cultural de Macau, 1988.
Translated by: John Silva
A resident of the village of Santo António, he is listed in the 1625 "Lista De La gente Efetiua que Ay Em esta Ciudade Assy, Visinos Como Estrauagantes forasteros E gente De lla tierra" as Rodrigo Sanches. Married with Maria Cordeira, he had two sons and a daughter, with the latter entering to the Convento de Santa Clara (Saint Clare Convent) in Macau. In this very year, he supported the Society of Jesus against Friar António do Rosário over the question of the Governance of the China Bishopric. Having lived for some 19 years in the city of Macau, he was part of the economic and ruling elite of the 1620s that was integrated into the wealthy, ruling and educated elite of the 1630s. He was a Councillor at the Senate.
He took part in the 1631 and 1637 debate on the new type of election for the travel administrator of the voyage to Japan, imposed by the Viceroy, the Count of Linhares, following a proposal of Chief Judge Sebastião Soares Pais.
On 1 November 1639, the Senate and the representatives of the central power chose the Governor of the Bishopric Father João Pereira, Governor-general Dom Sebastião Lobo da Silveira and Judge António de Macedo to announce to Goa the cutting of ties with Japan. He, in turn, headed the 1640 Embassy to Japan, together with Simão Vaz de Pavia, Luís Paes Pacheco and Gonçalo Monteiro de Carvalho, and died as a martyr, along with most of the delegation, in Nagasaki on 3 August of the same year.
Bibliography:
BOXER, Charles, O Grande Navio de Amacau, Macau, Fundação Oriente e Museu e Centro de Estudos Marítimos de Macau, 1989. PENALVA, Elsa, A Companhia de Jesus em Macau (1615-1626), Universidade de Lisboa, 2000 (dissertação de mestrado policopiada). IDEM, Lutas pelo Poder em Macau (c. 1590-c.1660), Universidade de Lisboa, 2005 (tese de doutoramento policopiada). PIRES, Benjamim Videira, A Embaixada Mártir, Macau, Instituto Cultural de Macau, 1988.
Translated by: John Silva