1594. Carta de João de Morais, pseudónimo de Francisco Rodrigues, mercador, para o filho, Manuel Rodrigues, mercador.

Instructions letter from João de Morais, alias of Francisco Rodrigues, a merchant, to his son, Manuel Rodrigues, also a merchant.

The author gives instructions to his son, who is in Lisbon. According to the father, he must attend several businesses and join his family in Seville as soon as possible. He must sell everything, see that their mulatto and mulatta slaves are properly dealt with and depart without spending whatever amount he gathers.

Custódio de Carvalho, a priest with New Christian ancestors, helped a relative of his, Francisco Rodrigues, to hide and escape from the Inquisition persecution. In 1594 Francisco Rodrigues was in Seville, from where he sent to Lisbon the three letters published here, with instructions to his son, to a cousin and to another merchant. The letters were always signed with an alias, that of João de Morais, and were mostly concerned with the sugar trade and with the need to have his son with him, in Seville.