Name
These documents are identified simply as letters (cartas) (see Diplomatic analysis – Final clauses). The administration warrants transcribed in the expositio of most of the specimens, dating from the 16th century onwards, identify these documents specifically as cartas de administração (“administration letters”) (see the entry “Grace warrant of administration”).
The corresponding English term is based on Beal, 2008, p. 229.
Specific bibliography
Unless mentioned otherwise, the following typological analysis is based on Beal, 2008, p. 229, and the diplomatic analysis of the document(s) chosen to exemplify this document type.
Definition
A royal document granting the recipient the administration of pious (chantries, hospitals, shelters), ecclesiastical (monasteries), or lay (entail) institutions, such as the ability to manage their patrimony and pay the liturgical obligations imposed on such institutions.
Author/producing institution
These documents were produced by the Desembargo do Paço in name of the monarch.
Recipient(s)
The person receiving the royal grace of the administration of a chantry or entail.
Legislation
The issuing of these letters fell into the category of royal letters that had to be drafted up to four months after the date of the royal warrant authorising their issuance (OM, liv. 2, tit. 18, proemio; OF, liv. 2, tit. 38, proémio) and styled as a letter in the name of the monarch (“cartas patentes que comecem «Dom Manuel» (OM, liv. 2, tit. 20, par. 5) or «Dom Filipe» (OF, liv. 2, tit. 40, proémio).
Processing
This document served as proof of the royal concession of the administration of a chantry or entail belonging to the crown, which could result from a direct grace of the monarch or from a judicial decision declaring the institution as vacant and belonging to the crown.
In both cases, its issuing depended on the presentation of written proof by the beneficiary, typically a grace warrant of administration in case of direct concession by the monarch and a denunciation warrant of administration and a favourable judicial sentence, if judicial proceedings had preceded the royal grace. These warrants were then examined by the magistrates of the Desembargo do Paço, since this higher court was responsible for dispatching the requests for graces presented to the monarch (see above; OM, liv. 1, tit. 3, proémio and par. 16; OF, liv. 1, tit. 3, proémio). If everything was correct, the Desembargadores issued the administration letter, which had to be issued within four months of the date of the abovementioned royal warrant (see above – Legislation).
Organization of documents of the same type/related documents
From the 16th century onwards, the relevant administration warrants tended to be copied into this document, while the judicial sentence was only mentioned, without any exemplification (see the entries “Denunciation warrant of administration” and “Grace warrant of administration”).
Administrative validity
When the legal transaction described in this document was valid for more than one year, the document had to be styled as a letter and not as a warrant (OM, liv. 2, tit. 20, par. 5; OF, liv. 2, tit. 40, proémio).
Recording and archiving conditions
In the final clauses of a late 17th-century exemplar of this document, the monarch ordered the Provedor das Capelas da Coroa to establish a register book to account for the management of the chantry or entail, at the beginning of which this letter had to be transcribed (see Diplomatic analysis – Final clauses – doc. 3).