Maria Francisca (daughter of Antonio da ROSA SEMIÃO and Antonia Francisca) was born 22 Nov 1831 in Ribeirinha, Faial, Azores, Portugal, and died date unknown in probably Ribeirinha, Faial, Azores. She married Manoel ROZA in Not married.
Notes for Maria Francisca: BAPTISM record & translation: Maria filha legitima de Antonio da Roza e de Antonia Francisca, naturaes e reguezes desta parochila do Apostolo São Matheus, lugar da Ribeirinha, desta ilha do Faial, neta pela parte paterna de Antonio da Roza e de Francisca Roza e materna de Matheus Pereira e de Antonia Thomazia, nasceo aos vinte e dous dias do mes de Novembro de mil outocentos trinta e hum e foi baptizada aos vinte e sete do dito mes e anno por mim Vice-vigario abaixo assignado, forão padrinhos Antonio Joze Gomes e sua mulher Rozalia Paulina, testemunhas o thezoureiro Joze Christiano de Souza e Matheus Pereira Suares, e para constar fis este termo era ut supra.
Translation: Maria Francisca, legitimate daughter of António da Rosa and his wife Antónia Francisca, paternal granddaughter of António da Rosa and Francisca Rosa and maternal granddaughter of Mateus Pereira and Antónia Tomásia, was born on 22 November 1831 and was baptized on the 31st in Ribeirinha. Godparents were António José Gomes and his wife Rosália Paulina. Witnesses were the treasurer José Cristiano de Sousa and Mateus Pereira Soares. ------------------- notes of John Miranda Raposo in February 2003.
Not too long ago I was asked to give a talk on the early presence of Jews in the Azores. The following is a summary which I hope will help:
The Holy Office of the Inquisition came to Lisbon in 1531 by a Bull of Clement VII in response to an appeal from the King and in 1550, the Cardinal D. Henrique, Inquisitor General in Portugal, promulgated its extension throughout the kingdom. Its the Azores, beginning in 1555 the Holy Office was composed of a Commissioner and clerk, head quartered on Terceira, and agents or familiares, throughout all the islands. (Francisco Carreiro da Costa, Esboço Histórico dos Açores, Instituto Universitário dos Açores, Ponta Delgada, p. 64. ) The Inquisition prosecuted many sins: Judaism, Islamism, Protestantism, heresy, blasphemy, attacks against the Catholic faith or the Holy Office itself, sorcery and witchcraft, bigamy, solicitation of a penitent by a confessor, sodomy, sigilism and freemasonry.
The ratio of Jews and New Christians to old Christians in the Azores continues to be highly contested with exaggerations on both the high and the low end of the statistics. (Isaías da Rosa Pereira, "A Inquisição nos Açores: Subsídios para sua História," Arquipélago: Ciências Humanas, :2, Instituto Universitário dos Açores. Ponta Delgada, January 1980. ) Jews and New Christians came to the Azores soon after the first settlers. They came to avoid the scrutiny of their Christian neighbors and the Inquisition to islands where the struggle of the settlers to gain a foothold on undeveloped lands would mean less scrutiny and more tolerance from their neighbors. They intermarried and were assimilated so that many of the archipelago's principle families can claim some degree of Jewish ancestry.( Carreiro da Costa, p. 64. )
Tax rolls for the first quarter of the 17th century record 11 New Christian males in Ponta Delgada, 1 in Vila Franca, 2 in Ribeira Grande, 1 in Rabo de Peixe, 26 in Angra, 2 in Vila da Praia, 10 in Horta, 1 in Feteira, 3 in Lages do Pico and 1 in Graciosa. A 1606 tax roll lists 18 New Christians in Ponta Delgada. In 1623 there are 14 in Ponta Delgada, 1 in Rabo de Peixe, 2 in Ribeira Grande, 27 in Angra, 2 in Vila da Praia, 10 in Horta, 2 in Lages do Pico and 1 from Graciosa.(Paul Drumond Braga, A Inquisição nos Açores, Instituto Cultural de Ponta Delgada, Ponta Delgada: 1997, pp. 492-497. ) These numbers clearly represent heads of households and the totals should therefore be multiplied by 5 or 6 in order to arrive at an approximation of the number of Jews and New Christians in the archipelago in the first quarter of the 17th century.
In 1501, stormy weather forced a ship load of Jews and New Christians fleeing to North Africa to put into port in the Azores. The passengers were detained, and then enslaved on orders of Manuel I and given to the Captain of Terceira and S. Jorge, Vasco Eanes Corte Real.(Pedro de Merlim, Os Hebraicos na Ilha Terceira, Angra do Heroismo, 1995, p. 27 )
In a pastoral visit in 1555 the Bishop of the Azores imprisoned some Crypto-Jews, sending some of them to the Inquisition in Lisbon.(Paulo Drumond Braga., p. 209. ) It was the beginning of their tribulations at the hands of the Holy Office and the beginning of the Inquisition's presence in the Azores.
The records of the Inquisition indicate that the majority of those turned into the Holy Office were suspected of being Jews or Crypto-Jews based on their practices and customs, believed to be Jewish in origin. Such practices might include abstaining from pork, doing no work on Saturday, keeping Queen Ether's fast and performing certain rituals associated with the Jewish rites of purification. Most of the accused readily acknowledged the practices but seemed unaware of their origin, claiming that the practices had been handed d own from their grandparents and parents. Although abstaining from pork, many of the accused slaughtered and handled pork for others. Many of the accusations were several years, and sometimes a decade or more old, by the time they were brought before the Inquisition.(Paulo Drumond Braga.,254. ) Sometimes accusations were brought against even the dead.( 9-9-1575 Hilária Pimentel accused Inês Maia, deceased, of having been a relapsed Jew. It seems the deceased had, some 18-19 years before, said that all Christian Kings and Princes would be slaughtered in a great battle, except for one who would favor the New Christians. [Arquivo Nacional da Torre de Tombo, Inquisição de Lisboa, Book 794, p. 19])
Most of those brought before the Inquisition denied that they were Jews and were released after abjuring. Some were sentenced to a term (usually a year) in prison and a period of public penance. Some were forced to attend Mass in penitential garb, heads uncovered and candle in hand. Of the many cases originating with the Azorean Inquisition between 1555 and 1620, only 28 cases were sent for trial and judgment to Lisbon. Of those, one man and two women were condemned to death, several were imprisoned. Approximately 90 were brought before the visiting Inquisitor to the Azores.
Perhaps the most heart wrenching of all of the cases brought before the Inquisition is that of an old widow, Maria Lopes, and her son Fernão Lopes of Ponta Delgada.( Paulo Drumond Braga, pp. 213-215. ) In 1573 the then 19 year old Fernão was arrested for relapsing and he quickly blamed his elderly mother for his apostasy. It seems she spoke to him of the fasts of Jesus in the desert and those of Queen Ester and they celebrated Easter with unleavened bread. His mother spoke of the fasting at Yom Kippur, but since she did not know on what day Yom Kippur fell, they did not observe those fasts. Her son was apparently full of doubts about his beliefs and a neighbor urged him to read the reflections on Christ's passion authored by Frei Luis de Granada. After reading the book, he made his confession to Frei Brás de Soares who urged him to speak with none other than Gaspar Frutuoso. The celebrated historian, genealogist and author of Saudades da Terra, sent him up the hierarchical ladder and he was eventually ordered to appear before the Holy Office. After a very long process, he was found to have been a good Christian and was absolved in 1587. His poor mother was not so lucky.
She was detained in March 1573. She was interrogated and seems to have given contradictory accounts of her beliefs so that she was condemned as an apostate. Even in prison she seems to have continued her rituals and fasts. The Inquisition determined that she was persisting in the error of her ways. She was found guilty, excommunicated and turned over to the secular authorities on 13 May 1576 and burned at the stake in an auto da fé. Even while she remained imprisoned, her son continued to provide new evidence against her.
The last documented denunciation against an alleged Jew was made in July of 1669 against one "Souto", a silversmith in Angra. It seems that a Manuel da Silva, while visiting the silversmith's house, had noticed that one of Souto's little boys was circumcised. The Inquisition ordered its commissioner to investigate the charges, but nothing is known of the results of the investigation.(Arquivo Nacional da Torre de Tombo, Inquisição de Lisboa: Vol. 242, pp. 211-219. )
The Inquisition continued its work in the Azores until the very beginning of the 19th century although its power and influence was already much reduced by the later half of the 18th century. In 1802 a priest from Flores was sent to the Inquisition in Lisbon accused of being a free mason. In 1821 Parliament declared an end to the Inquisition in Portugal.(Francis Millet Rogers, Atlantic Islands of the Azores and Madeiras,The Christopher Publishing House, North Quincy, MA: 1979, p.50. )
John Miranda Raposo
More About Maria Francisca and Manoel ROZA: Other-Begin: Not married.
Children of Maria Francisca and Manoel ROZA are:
Manoel ROZA, b. 15 Feb 1873, Espalhafatos, Ribeirinha, Faial, Azores13, 14, d. 04 Aug 1955, Ribeirinha, Faial, Azores, Portugal15.
Maria Francisca (b. 22 Nov 1831, d. date unknown)
Notes for Maria Francisca: