Handwritten letter from Dom João VI (1811)

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In 1811, Prince Dom João VI granted titles to the nobles who financed 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. Middle state. Single piece.

I The Prince Regent of Portugal, and the Algarves, and the=
 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 to
 to live and remain in the Order, he wanted to make his Profession, for the
 who asked Me to have it for the sake of admitting it to her, and being
I Exempted from gathering a running sheet, and seeing his devotion to being him
person, that the Order, and Me can serve: Hey for good Admittilo a-
Profession, and by this Order, I give power and Commission to the same person
constituted in Ecclesiastical Dignity that launched the Habit of the
Novices, so that in the same Church where I sent you to launch and receive
the Profession in the form of the Definitions, a copy of which will be given to you
and how the Receiver will issue a Certificate in the accounts of this Alvará
that the Professed at the end of three months, will send to My Royal Capel=
Nossa Senhora do Monte do Carmo, which serves as the Head of =
Order in this Court, to be registered in the Registration Book; is at
its title will be put on the sum, and it will be collected in the Coffer of the Profissoens, and the Prior
Mor, or whoever takes his place will pass him the Certificate, which will serve him
on guard. This will be fulfilled by being passed by the Chancellery of the Or=
dem. Rio de Janeiro January eighth 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, in order of succession to the throne, but he ended up being. He became Prince Regent seventeen years before the death of his mother, D. Maria I. He was the only one to mislead 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 ever since he arrived here. He made difficult decisions and went on to immortality 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 lacking in unity of command: this was the origin of a future Brazilian army.

D. João was a skillful politician. To minimize conflicts between members of the nobility, who accompanied him across the Atlantic, and the elite of the land, consisting mainly of wealthy businessmen, he adopted as a strategy the ennobling of those who could financially sustain the court's permanence in Rio de Janeiro. .

As King, after the death of his mother D. Maria I, on March 20, 1816, he was generous in distributing the titles of Knights, Commanders and Grand Crosses of the Orders of Christ, São Bento de 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 testament 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.