Author(s) |
Francisco de Assis
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Addressee(s) |
Maria Antónia da Encarnação
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In English
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Love letter from the friar Francisco de Assis, priest, to Maria Antónia da Encarnação.
The author complains to his lover about something that happened between them, and he makes some threats.
The defendant in this process is the friar Francisco de Assis, priest, accused of "solicitação" in 1741. Francisco de Assis gave some assistance at the home of Maria Antónia da Encarnação and her family. Since she felt that he always dealt with her in a special way, in November 1740 she sent him a message, asking him to confess her. Given that she was happy with his advice, she made him her permanent confessor. On the eve of dia de Reis, 1741, he wrote her a letter, to which she replied, and the two started to correspond, treating each other as if they were siblings. As a disguise, the letters were addressed in the name of her father, Francisco da Silva. The priest then used to spend several days in her house, seducing her with kisses and hugs, convincing her that he had good intentions and that none of it was a sin. Finally, on Easter of that same year, the two had sex. After Easter, however, when she confessed again, the two had a falling out. He stopped visiting her, and Maria Antónia da Encarnação asked him to stop writing so often, which offended him. The correspondence between them declined, and they stopped seeing each other. Following this, Maria Antónia da Encarnação confessed to the priest of S. Pedro de Óbidos, who told her to go talk to the commissioner of the Holy Office, at the parish of S. João. Since she was a demure girl, who just came out of home with her mother and sisters to go to church, and was now afraid that her different behavior would raise suspicions, she asked the priest of S. Pedro to send himself her confession, written on July 7, along with a piece of paper that the friar Francisco de Assis had written with his own blood, and even some of his letters that she had not burnt. The letters PSCR1522, PSCR1523 and PSCR1524 appear to have been written before Easter 1741, which was on 25 March, because there is still no coldness between the two. The letter PSCR1521 must have been written after Easter, because Francisco mentions the events that had occurred on that day. The letter PSCR1525 seems to allude to the disagreement between the two, thus it must have been written between Easter and July, when she denounced him.
After that indictment, Francisco de Assis fled to Rome, trying to avoid being imprisoned. On his way to Rome, in Genoa, he met Pedro Duarte, a young Portuguese who had been a soldier at the service of the king of Spain, but had fled in 1744. Francisco de Assis asked him to be his companion during this trip to Rome, taking him as his lover. When they returned to Portugal, however, Pedro Duarte ran away from him and Francisco de Assis ordered that his lover was arrested, accusing him of sodomy and making efforts to release him only after he promised not to abandon him. In September 1745, Pedro Duarte told all this to the Inquisition of Évora. An arrest warrant was released in the name of Francisco de Assis, who by then was living in Elvas, where he had told another priest that he had harassed several women during confession. Franscico de Assis fled again, this time to Lisbon, on October 10, 1745. The letter PSCR1526 must have thus been written between 7 and 10 October, as the author announces he is going to Lisbon. Among other issues, he complains about the ingratitude of Joaquim Carvalho, actually Pedro Duarte, who had denounced him.
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Ma rica manna, e adorada Ma e não sei se diga,
q neste mdo o meu Dz plaz atençoens com q estudei de dia de sta Cata the
o fim da ma vida tratarvoz; poiz retrato do mesmo Sr voz contemplo. e asim
nao será offença sua, amandoo em vóz, e com tanta singularide ca só eu sei
reconhecer; e Basta ma rica manna, q voz persuadieis a q estava eu mal
comvosco; pa tanto nas vosas cartas mo repetires; e escreveresme ahinda esta ultima
com esses recehios e por isso asim como desconsoladinha; o certo he ma querida Mar
ia, q tudo voz desculpo pla falta da experiencia, pretexto, q sempre voz dize me fazia
a mim algum mal, não teres aqle conhecimt q qualquer sendo mais experta o po
dera já ter; entendieis q me não custará, e custaria se em vós devisaze a minima
novide; e qm duvida, q asim havia ser; porq de outra sorte seria descuidarme eu de vós e
darme pouco do vosso querer; o q talvés succedesse à outro qualquer, e tendo as ocazioens, q
aqui se me tem offerecido, nä digo bem metido plos olhos; porem caprixei, e caprixo em nä
pôr pé fora senä como gam com q me livro de mtaz vezitas, e nä menos conresponde
ncias; porq estas só sä pa qm em mim empregua todas as suas devidamte.
Não há duvida q qdo me apartei de vós, en esses dous dias, q lá estive ou fosse
por não estares boa, o q sentia em mo nä dizeres, ou por falta de continuação, e querervos me
ter no coração, e delle voz nä apartar hũ só instante, he verde q senti a falta dos vossos
agrados; e posto q estivestes the as duas horas, bem sabeis, q nesse tempo nä me podieis dar
noticias vossas, tä particulares, respeitando à manna Joanna, pois sei q nem da propria camin
sa já hoje se pode nimguem fiar; nem imagineis, q eu me lembro pa a Dz N Sr offender de obrares
por mim a fineza de me teres a vossoz virginaes peitos, e nelles como o proprio, e entranhavel fo me
reclinares; nä, nä voz pareça q me servio isso nem serve de inquietar a consiencia nem me
levar semilhante lembraça aos péz do confessor; antes sim de me ratificar tanto mais e m
sem fim vos querer, q desprezando tudo o q vejo, e se me offerece, só me recordo do bem q Dz foi
servido em vós darme pa me desviar de todo o mal; e se eu fui, e sou hinda o q só vos quis e
dezo todo todo o bem, como presumis, q em mim haveria o contrario; pois ássas tendes visto,
o qto tenho feito por voz roubar todas as atençoens, sem mais fim, q olhando pa a fragil natureza
de molher, não fosseis tä desgraçada, como tem socedido, hinda a milhores juizos, q o vosso, precipita
remse mizeravelmte; e sendo eu o q voz propús, q de actos lascivos, o q depois redundava era aborrecimto
e odio, como me passaria pella imaginaçä similhante couza; olhai; qm me dera, q vós agora viseis a
ansia, com q voz digo isto, olhai era eu capas, áo nunca visto amor, q vos tomei e dos estremos eternos
com q voz protestei querer, era eu capás de se tal me viesse sequer à imaginaçä com hu cordel lan
çalo áo pescozo, e afogarme, ou dezaparecer, em forma, q nunca mais de meus olhos fosseis vista; e
nesta pte já vos podieis fazer conta, q nem eu pa vós era homẽ, nem nunca por tal me tive, qdo com
vosco me tenho visto só, e asás bem o tendes conhecido; e vos podieis já dezenganar, de q na materia de
semilhantes escrupulos deixame falarvos asim, haveis de advertir q sou capado. e já vos dize
q se a ma inclinação, ou genio fora o apetite lascivo, bem entendeis vós de vós pa vós q se eu quizesse
ou procurasse hinda couza de supoziçä, q o alcançaria nä só com pouco trabalho, senä tambẽ
com menos vigias; porẽ nem o meu genio, nem a ma pessoa álem de o nä apetecer, nunca por tal dei
hua só pasada; e nesta certeza voz podieis ratificar, pa me nä dizeres q se me agravava a consiencia
ou a inquietava vendonos de perto vós sempre mo dizias, qdo vós mesma precensiastes q hindo nas ocazioens
em q podieis imaginar, q eu como homẽ me inquietase, viste tanto plo contrario, q parecia hua pedra.