1617. Carta de António Álvares Cardoso, padre, para Fernando de Ataíde Vasconcelos.

Private letter, dictated, from António Álvares Cardoso, priest, to Fernando de Ataíde Vasconcelos.

The author shows his alarm because of the lack of news of a third party, referred to as Cunha.

The files 2388 and 4203 of the Lisbon Inquisition are related, since their defendants ‒ Antonio Álvares Cardoso and Alonso Carrillo de Albornoz, respectively ‒ were denounced by the same person, Fernando de Ataíde Vasconcelos, an accusation that also involved Mariana Galindo and António de Cáceres. They were among the various members of a group that was said to practice witchcraft, and exchanged correspondence with each other. Fernando de Ataíde Vasconcelos was invited to one of their meetings, in March 1617. Since then, some of the letters were also sent to him, being later included in the files as criminal evidence against the people he denounced. Father António Álvares Cardoso was arrested in 1618. Alonso Carrillo de Albornoz, Spanish, resident in Lisbon and a professional comedian, who signed his letters as Martim Lopes, was also found guilty of witchcraft and sentenced to exile for eight years to the island of Príncipe.

«I'm not sure what could be the reason for Cunha not coming back here, because he came right after you left and he said he had the money. I told him that you said to leave it here and to go and appropriate the houses for three months and, in case they refused to give them to you, to appropriate them for six months. He went, appropriated the houses he was supposed to appropriate here, and he sent the keys through Cáceres. He didn't come back, nor did he leave any money, I don't know if he took it to the Castillian. I've had no news from you, and I don't know what to do. If you have ordered anything else, let me know, or see what I can do. On 4 of June, 617. Your captive, António Álvares Cardoso»