Abrir ListaAntónio Cardim was son of Dr. Jorge Cardim Fróis – inspector general, ombudsman and appeal court’s judge in different instances of the royal administration, and of his wife Catarina Andrade. He was born in Viana do Alentejo in 1596 and joined the brotherhood of Companhia de Jesus in 1611, shortly after his 15th birthday, having been a novice at the Colégio Jesuítico in Évora thtat is nowadays the Évora University.
He had a brother in the brotherhood of the Ordem de Cristo, Father Plácido Cardim, and two brothers that also joined the brotherhood of Companhia de Jesus: João Cardim and Diogo Cardim that was a missionary in India. And five sisters that were all nuns: Sister Isabel de São Francisco who professed at the monastery of Bom Jesus in Viana do Alentejo and Sister Francisca da Trindade that also professed at the same monastery a few moments before she died; Ladies Inês de Andrade, Serafina de Andrade e Leonor Froes, all of them nuns at the convent of Santa Clara in Portalegre; and also Lady Maria Cardim de Andrade, who married Diogo Marmeleiro de Noronha in Coimbra, his hometown, and a nobleman of Royal House.
His devotion to St. Francisco Xavier led him to add the name Francisco to his own name.
António Cardim left for Asia in 1618. He spent his first years in Goa (Índia), where he completed his studies in Philosophy and Theology. In the decade of 1620, he was sent to the Jesuit School in Macau, main convent of the Order of Jesus in the province of Japan (that included territories besides de Japanese archipelago). He was in charge of the missionary activities in the kingdoms of Zion and Tonquim, between the decade of the 1620s and the early 1630s. When he returned to Macau, besides having been in charge of the novices and on site prosecutor of the province, he was one of the leaders of the Company, as a dean of the Colégio de São Paulo (1632-1636) and served as commissioner of the Inquisition.
He was appointed Jesuit Prosecutor for the province of Japan in 1638, having travelled later from Macau, on the border of the Portuguese empire in Asia, to Lisbon and Rome from 1644 to 1646. In Europe, he performed some editorial activities, discreet but significant, in a clearly propaganda tone, distributing printed copies of several of his articles about the martyrs of Japan. As a prosecutor of the province of Japan, Cardim actively participated in the General Congregation of the Order in 1645. During the almost 10 years he spent in Europe, both in Rome and in Lisbon, he developed several editorial projects, being responsible for the circulation of printed leaflets and other texts, in Latin, Italian and Portuguese, about the missions in Japan and its martyrs. Cardim contributed to a type of literature about the japanese world, thought to be exotic and fascinating, that stirred the interest of European readers since the 16th century.
António Cardim wrote “Fasciciilus á japonicis Floribus, etc.”, Roma, 1646, that was translated into Portuguese with the title “Elogios e Ramalhetes de flores, borrifados com o sangue dos Religiosos da Companhia de Jesus, etc.”, Lisboa, 1650 (Praises and bouquets of flowers sprinkled with blood of the religious of the Companhia de Jesus, etc.”) Lisbon, 1650. He also wrote “Relação da província do Japão” (Inventory of the province of Japan) of which only a translation into French is known, printed in Paris in 1646. He wrote “Batalhas da Companhia de Jesus na sua gloriosa província do Japão” (Battles of the Companhia de Jesus in its glorious province of Japan) as well and that remained unknown until 1894, when they were brought to public knowledge by the Sociedade de Geographia de Lisboa (Geographical Society of Lisbon).
In the portuguese edition of "Elogios e Ramalhetes de flores...", printed in 1650, António Cardim shared news about the relics of the japanese priest, Diogo Kisai, in the pages dedicated to his life and martyrdom. There he stated that his remains were kept in Macau but that one of his arms was kept in the church of the Convento de Jesus (Convent of Jesus) in Viana do Alentejo, in the chapel of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception where his parents had been burried. Kisai was one of the three priests crucified in Nagasaki in 1597, together with six Franciscan friars and sixteen other japanese christians. Federico Palomo interpreted that all this suggests that the precious relic arrived in the Convent of Viana do Alentejo through efforts of Cardim himself and was part of the luggage he brought from Macau in the beginning of his trip to Europe. By laying it in the chapel where his parents were burried, he meant to honour his memory. But, above all, he wanted to mark his memory, connecting the place where his family was put to rest to something that, in time, became more symbolic and spiritually valuable throughout the 17th century in the Iberian Peninsula, the cult of relics. Besides the importance to his family, the decision of Cardim helped to connect, in a tangible way, a small rural village like Viana, in Alentejo to Japan, In a certain way, the relic brought by Cardim to Europe simbolized his efforts as a prossecutor of this province. The remains of a martyr from a world thousands of miles away could be worshipped in remote south of Portgal.
Father João Cardim wrote several spiritual letters to his brother, António Cardim.
António Francisco Cardim passed away in 1659.
REFERENCES:
ABREU, Sebastião de, Vida, e virtudes do admiravel Padre Joam Cardim da Companhia de Jesu Portuguez natural de Vianna de Alentejo, Évora, na Oficina desta Universidade, 1659.
CARDIM, Fernão, Tratados da Terra e Gente do Brasil, transcrição, introdução e notas Ana Maria de Azevedo, Lisboa, Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses, 1997.
ESPANCA, Túlio, Inventário Artístico de Portugal. Distrito de Évora. Concelhos de Alandroal, Borba, Mourão, Portel, Redondo, Reguengos de Monsaraz, Viana do Alentejo e Vila Viçosa, Lisboa, Academia Nacional de Belas Artes, Tomo IX, Vol. 1, 1978.
FRANCO, António, Imagem da virtude em o Noviciado da Companhia de Jesus do Real Collegio do Espirito Santo de Euora do Reyno de Portugal, Lisboa, Oficina Real Deslandesiana, 1714.
PALOMO, Federico, “António Francisco Cardim, la misión del Japón y la representación del martirio en el mundo portugués altomoderno”, Historica Vol. XXXIX, n.º 1, 2015, pp. 7-40.
PALOMO, Federico, “Procurators, religious orders and cultural circulation in the Early Modern Portuguese Empire: printed works, images (and relics) from Japan in António Cardim’s journey to Rome (1644-1646)”, e-JPH [online], 2016, Vol.14, n.2, pp.1-32.
ROSA, Teresa Maria Rodrigues da Fonseca, História da Universidade Teológica de Évora (Séculos XVI a XVIII), Lisboa, Instituto de Educação da Universidade de Lisboa, 2013.
https://repositorio.ul.pt/bitstream/10451/8258/4/Universidade%20Teol%c3%b3gica%20de%20%c3%89vora_232%20pag.pdf
He had a brother in the brotherhood of the Ordem de Cristo, Father Plácido Cardim, and two brothers that also joined the brotherhood of Companhia de Jesus: João Cardim and Diogo Cardim that was a missionary in India. And five sisters that were all nuns: Sister Isabel de São Francisco who professed at the monastery of Bom Jesus in Viana do Alentejo and Sister Francisca da Trindade that also professed at the same monastery a few moments before she died; Ladies Inês de Andrade, Serafina de Andrade e Leonor Froes, all of them nuns at the convent of Santa Clara in Portalegre; and also Lady Maria Cardim de Andrade, who married Diogo Marmeleiro de Noronha in Coimbra, his hometown, and a nobleman of Royal House.
His devotion to St. Francisco Xavier led him to add the name Francisco to his own name.
António Cardim left for Asia in 1618. He spent his first years in Goa (Índia), where he completed his studies in Philosophy and Theology. In the decade of 1620, he was sent to the Jesuit School in Macau, main convent of the Order of Jesus in the province of Japan (that included territories besides de Japanese archipelago). He was in charge of the missionary activities in the kingdoms of Zion and Tonquim, between the decade of the 1620s and the early 1630s. When he returned to Macau, besides having been in charge of the novices and on site prosecutor of the province, he was one of the leaders of the Company, as a dean of the Colégio de São Paulo (1632-1636) and served as commissioner of the Inquisition.
He was appointed Jesuit Prosecutor for the province of Japan in 1638, having travelled later from Macau, on the border of the Portuguese empire in Asia, to Lisbon and Rome from 1644 to 1646. In Europe, he performed some editorial activities, discreet but significant, in a clearly propaganda tone, distributing printed copies of several of his articles about the martyrs of Japan. As a prosecutor of the province of Japan, Cardim actively participated in the General Congregation of the Order in 1645. During the almost 10 years he spent in Europe, both in Rome and in Lisbon, he developed several editorial projects, being responsible for the circulation of printed leaflets and other texts, in Latin, Italian and Portuguese, about the missions in Japan and its martyrs. Cardim contributed to a type of literature about the japanese world, thought to be exotic and fascinating, that stirred the interest of European readers since the 16th century.
António Cardim wrote “Fasciciilus á japonicis Floribus, etc.”, Roma, 1646, that was translated into Portuguese with the title “Elogios e Ramalhetes de flores, borrifados com o sangue dos Religiosos da Companhia de Jesus, etc.”, Lisboa, 1650 (Praises and bouquets of flowers sprinkled with blood of the religious of the Companhia de Jesus, etc.”) Lisbon, 1650. He also wrote “Relação da província do Japão” (Inventory of the province of Japan) of which only a translation into French is known, printed in Paris in 1646. He wrote “Batalhas da Companhia de Jesus na sua gloriosa província do Japão” (Battles of the Companhia de Jesus in its glorious province of Japan) as well and that remained unknown until 1894, when they were brought to public knowledge by the Sociedade de Geographia de Lisboa (Geographical Society of Lisbon).
In the portuguese edition of "Elogios e Ramalhetes de flores...", printed in 1650, António Cardim shared news about the relics of the japanese priest, Diogo Kisai, in the pages dedicated to his life and martyrdom. There he stated that his remains were kept in Macau but that one of his arms was kept in the church of the Convento de Jesus (Convent of Jesus) in Viana do Alentejo, in the chapel of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception where his parents had been burried. Kisai was one of the three priests crucified in Nagasaki in 1597, together with six Franciscan friars and sixteen other japanese christians. Federico Palomo interpreted that all this suggests that the precious relic arrived in the Convent of Viana do Alentejo through efforts of Cardim himself and was part of the luggage he brought from Macau in the beginning of his trip to Europe. By laying it in the chapel where his parents were burried, he meant to honour his memory. But, above all, he wanted to mark his memory, connecting the place where his family was put to rest to something that, in time, became more symbolic and spiritually valuable throughout the 17th century in the Iberian Peninsula, the cult of relics. Besides the importance to his family, the decision of Cardim helped to connect, in a tangible way, a small rural village like Viana, in Alentejo to Japan, In a certain way, the relic brought by Cardim to Europe simbolized his efforts as a prossecutor of this province. The remains of a martyr from a world thousands of miles away could be worshipped in remote south of Portgal.
Father João Cardim wrote several spiritual letters to his brother, António Cardim.
António Francisco Cardim passed away in 1659.
REFERENCES:
ABREU, Sebastião de, Vida, e virtudes do admiravel Padre Joam Cardim da Companhia de Jesu Portuguez natural de Vianna de Alentejo, Évora, na Oficina desta Universidade, 1659.
CARDIM, Fernão, Tratados da Terra e Gente do Brasil, transcrição, introdução e notas Ana Maria de Azevedo, Lisboa, Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses, 1997.
ESPANCA, Túlio, Inventário Artístico de Portugal. Distrito de Évora. Concelhos de Alandroal, Borba, Mourão, Portel, Redondo, Reguengos de Monsaraz, Viana do Alentejo e Vila Viçosa, Lisboa, Academia Nacional de Belas Artes, Tomo IX, Vol. 1, 1978.
FRANCO, António, Imagem da virtude em o Noviciado da Companhia de Jesus do Real Collegio do Espirito Santo de Euora do Reyno de Portugal, Lisboa, Oficina Real Deslandesiana, 1714.
PALOMO, Federico, “António Francisco Cardim, la misión del Japón y la representación del martirio en el mundo portugués altomoderno”, Historica Vol. XXXIX, n.º 1, 2015, pp. 7-40.
PALOMO, Federico, “Procurators, religious orders and cultural circulation in the Early Modern Portuguese Empire: printed works, images (and relics) from Japan in António Cardim’s journey to Rome (1644-1646)”, e-JPH [online], 2016, Vol.14, n.2, pp.1-32.
ROSA, Teresa Maria Rodrigues da Fonseca, História da Universidade Teológica de Évora (Séculos XVI a XVIII), Lisboa, Instituto de Educação da Universidade de Lisboa, 2013.
https://repositorio.ul.pt/bitstream/10451/8258/4/Universidade%20Teol%c3%b3gica%20de%20%c3%89vora_232%20pag.pdf
MUNICÍPIO DE VIANA DO ALENTEJO