Letter from the Morgado do Esporão to King João III
Updated: 3 hours ago
Coat of arms of Álvaro Mendes de Vasconcelos, in one of the apartments of Casa Morgado Esporão.
Álvaro Mendes de Vasconcelos, whose residence stood where Casa Morgado Esporão is today, in Évora, was in Naples in the company of Emperor Charles V. The letter refers to the visit of the Portuguese envoy, the Count of Viana do Alentejo, D. Henrique de Meneses, who, on the orders of the Portuguese king, came to discuss matters of the Inquisition with Emperor Charles V.
It is known that the Inquisition was established in Portugal following pressure from Castile. The pressure is thought to have begun in the reign of Isabella the Catholic, but it was in the reign of her grandson, Charles V, that it bore the desired fruit. The closeness of Álvaro Mendes de Vasconcelos to both monarchs (he was King João III's ambassador at the court of Emperor Charles V for 12 years, and his wife was lady-in-waiting to Isabel, Princess of Portugal, wife of the Emperor and Queen Regent of Spain) will not have been irrelevant to the success of so unfortunate a mission.
King João III
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