Handwritten letter from Dom João VI (1811)

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In 1811, Prince Dom João VI grants titles to the nobles who finance the court and the army.

• Handwritten letter from Prince Dom João VI to Manoel Marquês da Silva Brandão, from Bahia.
• 4 pages.
• In Portuguese.
• 24.5 cm x 38.3 cm.
• Rio de Janeiro, in 1811.
• Average condition.
• Unique piece.

I, the Prince Regent of Portugal, and of the Algarves, and of=
Masters, Knighthood, and Order of Our Lord Jezus Christo. I make
know, that Friar Francisco de Souza Paraizo Junior Cavalleiro Novice
of the same Order; He sent me to say that having true devotion
live, and remain in the Order, he desired to make his Profession, to
who asked Me for the sake of admitting him to her, and being
I was spared from collecting a sheet of paper, and seeing his devotion, to be he
person, that the Order, and Me can serve: Hey, I'd better admit it
Profession, and by this Command, I give power, and Commission to the same person
constituted in Ecclessiastical Dignity that will give him the Habit of
Novices, so that in the same Church in which I ordered him to be cast and Receive
the Profession in the form of the Definitions, a copy of which will be delivered to you with this
and how the Receiver will give you a Certificate in the accounts of this Alvará
that the Professed, after three months, will send to My Royal Capel=
of Our Lady of Monte do Carmo, which serves as the Head of =
Order in this Court, to be based on the Registration Book; is at
his title will be put to the fund, and will be collected in the Coffer of Profissoens, and the Prior
Mor, or whoever takes his place will give him the Certificate, which will serve him
on guard. This will be completed by being passed through the Chancellery of Or=
dem. Rio de Janeiro eight of January of one thousand eight centers, and eleven.

Prince

Extract from the book "A History of Brazil in Manuscripts" by José Augusto Bezerra

Dom João VI (1767 - 1826) was predestined. He was not born to be King, according to the order of succession to the throne, but he ended up being so. He became Prince Regent seventeen years before the death of his mother, D. Maria I. He was the only one to disorient Napoleon, maintaining the kingdom of Portugal and the Bragança dynasty, which had been erased from the map of Europe by the secret treaty of Fontainebleau , signed between France and Spain in 1807.

Although misunderstood by some historians, who describe him as fearful, he was a winner in his endeavors and truly loved Brazil since he arrived here. He made difficult decisions and became immortal as a skillful and progressive sovereign.

In 1808, when he arrived in Brazil, Prince Regent D. João had the firm intention of preparing himself militarily to fight Napoleon, as he assumed that the conflict between Portugal and France would inevitably reach the Americas. He sought to quickly organize the land forces, which were few and had no unity of command: this was the origin of a future Brazilian army.

D. João was a skilled politician. To minimize conflicts between members of the nobility, who accompanied him on the Atlantic crossing, and the land elite, made up mainly of rich businessmen, he adopted as a strategy the ennoblement of those who could financially support the court's stay in Rio de Janeiro. .

As King, after the death of his mother D. Maria I, on March 20, 1816, he was lavish in distributing titles of Knights, Commanders and Grand Crosses of the Orders of Christ, Saint Benedict of Avis and Santiago . His successors, his son Dom Pedro I and his grandson Dom Pedro II, would do the same, granting titles of Baron, Viscount, Marquis and Count to the Brazilian aristocracy.

This document constitutes a testimony to the procedure described above. The habit of novices of the Order of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the aegis of which Brazil was discovered, is granted to Manoel Marquês da Silva Brandão, an honor duly confirmed by the document presented here. As for the recipient, it is known that he was from Bahia.

This document was written in 1811, just 3 years after the arrival of Dom João VI in Brazil. The Prince signed many documents, but those written entirely by hand by him are rare.