1691. Carta de Rui Gomes Raposo, vigário, para António Ferreira Baião, prior e comissário do Santo Ofício.

Private letter from Rui Gomes Raposo, vicar, to António Ferreira Baião, prior and commissioner of the Inquisition.

The author tells the recipient about the case of a bigamist.

The defendant in this process is António Francisco, also known as António Rodrigues, born in Sirol (Leiria), who then lived in Azinhaga (Santarém). He was 50 years old at the time he was accused of bigamy: he married Maria Monteiro while his first wife, Catarina Francisco, was still alive. It was his second wife who denounced him to the Inquisition, and the three letters included in his file tell about his crime and his escape from prison. Although he alleged he did not know that his first wife was still alive, he was later condemned to be publicly flogged and to row in the galleys for seven years, among other penances.