Manuel de Santo António

Manuel de Santo António (* 1660 in Goa ; † 1733 ) was a bishop and Portuguese colonial administrator.

Manuel was the son of Manuel da Mata and Francisca Tavares de Sousa. In Goa he joined the Dominican Order .

In 1697 Manuel de Santo António was sent to Timor as a missionary . He traveled with the newly appointed governor of the region, André Coelho Vieira . Its predecessor António de Mesquita Pimentel had been sent back to Goa in chains by the ruling Topasse because of his behavior . During this time, the rule of the Portuguese over their possessions was only nominal. Power lay primarily in the hands of the Topasse, a mixed population of Portuguese and indigenous people who controlled Flores, Solor and, through alliances with indigenous rulers, most of Timor. Vieira didn't even get to Timor. He was already captured and sent back on Flores by Domingos da Costa , the ruler of the Topasse.

Manuel de Santo António was allowed to travel on and reached Lifau , the headquarters of the Portuguese in Timor , in the spring of 1698 . With the help of his friend João de Deus , Manuel de Santo António expanded his missionary work to Viqueque , Bibiluto , Samoro , Dilor and Vesoro in the east of the island. He settled in the kingdom of Luca , in the southeast of the island. From here he carried out his missionary work in the region around 1700 and was able to convert several Liurais (Timorese kings) to Christianity : Luca, Viqueque, Manatuto , Samoro, Fatu Lete Luli and Alas . 1701 appointed Pope Clement XI. Manuel de Santo António as Bishop of Malacca . However, he did not receive episcopal ordination until 1705 in Macau . He kept his seat in Timor and was thus the first bishop on the island.

With the support of Manuel de Santo António, António Coelho Guerreiro (1702 to 1705) succeeded for the first time as governor in Lifau. Manuel de Santo António had negotiated with Lourenço Lopes , the brother-in-law of Domingos da Costa. For this Lopes received the rank of lieutenant general ( tenente-general ). Guerreiro called Manuel de Santo António a "human angel". This began to interfere more and more in the politics of the colony. After Guerreiro was recalled prematurely, Manuel de Santo António took over the administration himself for a short time. After Lourenço Lopes (1705 to 1706) and Manuel Ferreira de Almeida (1706 to 1708) led the fortunes of the colony, Manuel de Santo António, at Domingos da Costa, made sure that the new Portuguese governor Jácome de Morais Sarmento (1708 to 1709) ) was recognized. But there was a dispute between Morais Sarmento and Manuel de Santo António. The governor let Manuel de Santo António run against his will with the soldiers on a military expedition against the rebellious kingdom of Motael . Then in 1708 Morais Sarmento had Dom Mateus da Costa, the Liurai of Viqueque , arrested against all rights , and humiliated him. Manuel de Santo António had converted the ruler to Christianity himself. Domingos da Costa then besieged Lifau until 1709. Manuel de Santo António saved the situation by going to the camp of Domingos da Costa and persuaded the Topasse ruler to submit to the Portuguese crown again. The subsequent governor Manuel de Souto-Maior (1709 to 1714) rehabilitated Dom Mateus, but the alliance between the clergy and the civil administration was destroyed.

After Governor Francisco de Melo e Castro (1718 to 1719, other source: 1721) had been expelled in the course of the Cailaco Rebellion , Manuel de Santo António took over the official duties until the new Governor António de Albuquerque Coelho arrived in Lifau in 1722 . In the same year Albuquerque Coelho expelled Bishop Manuel de Santo António, who was considered a difficult character, from the colony. When Albuquerque Coelho returned to Goa in April 1726 after his tenure, he was arrested. The reason was the expulsion of the Bishop of Timor. Apparently Albuquerque Coelho was able to defend himself, because he was soon released.

See also

• History of East Timor

literature

• Artur Teodoro de Matos: D. Frei Manuel de Santo António: missionário e primeiro bispo residente em Timor. Elementos para a sua biografia (1660-1733) (Portuguese)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Artur Teodoro de Matos: D. Frei Manuel de Santo António: missionário e primeiro bispo residente em Timor. Elementos para a sua biografia (1660-1733) ( Memento from May 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (Portuguese)
2. ↑ Religion Catholicism and ancestral cults - Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Northern Illinois University
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Instituto Camões ( Memento from August 5, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
4. ↑ ^{a b} Hans Hägerdal: Rebellions or factionalism? Timorese forms of resistance in an early colonial context, 1650-1769
5. ↑ Artur Teodoro de Matos: Tradição e inovação na administração das ilhas de Solor e Timor: 1650-1750 ( Memento of June 5, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
6. ^ J. Clement Vaz: Profiles of eminent Goans, past and present , New Delhi, ISBN 81-7022-619-8
7. ↑ Chronologie de l'histoire du Timor (1512-1945) suivie des événements récents (1975-1999) (French; PDF; 887 kB)
8. ↑ ^{a b} António de Albuquerque Coelho (Portuguese)
9. ↑ Geoffrey C. Gunn: History of Timor , available from Centro de Estudos sobre África, Ásia e América Latina , CEsA of the TU Lisbon (PDF file; 805 kB)

predecessor	Office	successor
António Coelho Guerreiro	Governor of Portuguese Timor 1705	Lourenço Lopes
Francisco de Melo e Castro	Governor of Portuguese Timor 1719–1722	Antonio de Albuquerque Coelho