1770. Carta de Manuel Pedro de Horta Salema de Carvalho, fidalgo e familiar do Santo Ofício, para Francisco Xavier da Gama Sodré, escrivão da Confraria de Nossa Senhora da Anunciada em Setúbal.

Private letter from Manuel Pedro de Horta Salema de Carvalho, nobleman and collaborator of the Holy Office, to Francisco Xavier da Gama Sodré, scribe of the Fraternity of Nossa Senhora da Anunciada in Setúbal

The author writes to the Fraternity's scribe, apologizing himself for not paying his debt.

This letter was included in the proceedings of a litigation between Manuel Pedro de Horta Salema de Carvalho and the chairman and brothers of the Fraternity and Hospital of Nossa Senhora da Anunciada in Setúbal. Given the fact that Manuel Pedro de Horta Salema de Carvalho was a collaborator ("familiar") of the Holy Office, the proceedings were led back from the tax court to the Holy Office. The Fraternity lended 114.985 "réis" to Manuel Pedro de Horta Salema de Carvalho, holding in pledge Manuel's belongings, as guarantee. The need to pay the hospital's daily expenses forced the Fraternity to sell the belongings. This letter shows that the author was the debtor and not his father, as he tried to prove. The signature's recognition appears in the footnote of the letter.