Pedro. on 1 Jul 2004  •  Link

Francisco de Mello a Torres (1620-1667).

Godfather to Catherine of Braganza.
Made Conde da Ponte in 1661, and for his success in the marriage arrangements, was made Marqu

Pedro Ornelas on 7 Oct 2004  •  Link

Francisco de Mello *e* Torres, not 'a Torres'

Pedro. on 7 Oct 2004  •  Link

What

Pedro on 8 Jun 2005  •  Link

More on Mello.

(Summary from Portuguese writers Rau and Casimiro.)

Francisco de Mello was General of the Artillery when he was persuaded by D. Luisa (Catherine

San Diego Sarah on 13 Oct 2019  •  Link

The match between Charles and Catherine took ages to arrange:

This wikipedia page is well referenced, so I give it more credence than most. (As usual, edited):
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ca…

From an early age Catherine was looked upon as a way to establish friendly relations between Portugal and England. Not content with the commercial treaty of 1642, her father, King Jaoa IV, proposed in 1645 that Catherine should become the wife of Prince Charles (Quadro Elementar, xvii. 54; cf. Charles I's Works, i. 247, ed. 1649).
The idea came to nothing.

When the Restoration seemed likely, the Portuguese ambassador Dom Francisco de Mello asked Gen. Monck about renewing the project (ib. xvii. 221; EACHARD, History of England, p. 81; KENNET, Register and Chronicle, p. 394).

Charles II's return in May 1660 was immediately followed by a formal proposal of the alliance. The terms were tempting: Tangiers, at the mouth of the Mediterranean; Bombay, with full trading privileges in the Indies; religious and commercial freedom for English subjects in Portugal, and the vast portion of 2,000,000 of crusados (about 300,000l.) Providing protection from Spain and Holland, and the defined liberty of Catholic worship for Catherine were small concessions for the English.

In a secret council at the Chancellor's house, Charles II agreed to proceed.

In the autumn, 1660 a confident de Mello returned to Portugal for instructions. 'A good peace with England was regarded as the only thing under heaven to keep Portugal from despair and ruin' (Maynard to Nicholas, in LISTER'S Life of Clarendon, vol. iii., Appendix, No. lviii.)

In February, de Mello returned to England to negotiate the match, with the title of Conde da Ponte.

On reaching London he found things had changed. Spanish and Dutch influence had been exercised to stop the match. George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol was looking for an alliance acceptable to Spain as well as Charles II.

The Spanish ambassador declared that Catherine, besides being no beauty, was incapable of bearing children (Quadro Elementar, xvii. 152; cf. KENNET, p. 698, for the similar report of the English merchants at Lisbon). He offered an equal portion to ANY princess approved by Spain that Charles might choose. Protestants were amused by the envoy of the Catholic king arguing a Protestant king should wed a Protestant bride. (D'ABLANCOURT, Mémoires, p. 73 sq.)

The adoption of the match by the French court saved the Portuguese from despair.

In November 1660 the Queen Mother came to London to win Charles II over.

In March 1661 Louis XIV sent M. de Bastide to England on a secret mission to press for the match.

Finally, on 8 May, 1661 Charles II and Chancellor Clarendon announced to parliament that the marriage negotiations had been completed. The news was favorably received by all (Calendar of State Papers, Dom. 1660-1, pp. 586, 595).

San Diego Sarah on 13 Oct 2019  •  Link

PART 2

On 23 June, 1661 the marriage treaty was signed (it is given in LA CLEDE, Histoire de Portugal, ii. 711).

The news of Catherine's betrothal spread joy in Portugal. English merchants declared it the 'most beneficiallest trade that ever our nation was engaged in' (Maynard to Nicholas, in LISTER, App. No. lviii.)

Portuguese traders were pleased by the protection of their property from the Dutch navy, and the expected invasion from Spain was no longer feared.

In July 1661 the Conde da Ponte arrived back in Lisbon, bearing letters from Charles II to Catherine and her mother (MISS STRICKLAND gives translations of these, Queens of England, v. 495).

The Earl of Sandwich was appointed extraordinary ambassador to Portugal, and at once set sail for Lisbon.
Nearly a year later Catherine set sail (Algerian pirates had to be chastised, Tangiers occupied, and the queen's portion shipped -- and when Sandwich was ready in the spring of 1662, a dispute arose about the payment). (Sandwich to Clarendon, in LISTER, iii. App. No. xciv.)

On 13-23 April, 1662 festivities began to celebrate Catherine's departure. The pope refused to recognize Portugal's independence, so it was politic to omit the proxy marriage ceremony (LISTER, iii. App. No. ccxxxviii.; EACHARD, p. 801, is wrong), although Catherine was already called the queen of England in Lisbon.

San Diego Sarah on 15 Oct 2019  •  Link

When I posted the above I did not remember that George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol was the English Ambassador to Spain, so those two references in part I above are to the same person.

San Diego Sarah on 15 Oct 2019  •  Link

Now I'm having second thoughts on that, too ... it's true Bristol was the Ambassador to Spain, and he opposed the match as it was part of Frances' efforts to deprive Spain of allies. But Spain also had a very colorful Ambassador in London:

According to several sources, including Clarendon: After the marriage treaty was signed on 23 June, 1661 the only person to excite any opposition was the Spanish Ambassador, Carlos, Baron de Vatteville, who tried to stir up excitement by distributing papers, stating alarming evils to England likely to occur from a popish Queen. He was caught in the act of flinging papers out of a window to the soldiery and the populace. Charles II ignored his pleas for pardon, and hurried him out of the Kingdom. https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…

So the Spanish Ambassador could be either of them. I think I'm going to favor de Vatteville AKA de Watteville AKA de Batteville.

San Diego Sarah on 27 Oct 2024  •  Link

Ambassador Mello had an English Catholic interpretor named Dr. Richard Russel(l):

Russell, RICHARD, Bishop of Vizéu in Portugal, b. in Berkshire, 1630; d. at Vizéu, November 15, 1693.
He was of humble station, and when 12 years old became servant to Dr. Edward Daniel, newly appointed President of Lisbon College.

Five years later [1647], having meanwhile applied his leisure to study, he was admitted an alumnus of the college and took the oath, 14 Aug, 1647.
In 1653 he went to Douai College, and thence to Paris, where he was ordained.
In 1655 he returned to Lisbon as procurator, but two years later was summoned by the Chapter to England, where he spent three years as a chaplain to the Portuguese ambassador.
On his return to Portugal he received the title of Secretary to the Queen, and a pension, in consideration of his services to the crown of Portugal. Shortly afterwards he was again in England on business connected with the marriage treaty of Charles II and Catharine of Braganza, and on this occasion he was elected a Canon of the English Chapter (June 26, 1661).

Having declined the Bishopric of the Cape Verde Islands, Russell accompanied the Infanta to England.
The English Chapter hoped that he might be consecrated bishop of a Portuguese see and that then he would return to England, resign his diocese and become head of the English clergy with episcopal powers; for the English Catholics had long been without a resident bishop, and they had had no episcopal superior at all since the death of Bishop Smith in 1655.
This plan came to nothing.
[DOES THIS MEAN RUSSELL STAYED WITH QUEEN CATHERINE IN LONDON FOR 10 YEARS?]

When Russell was persuaded to accept the see of Portalegre in 1671 he decided to remain in his diocese. He was consecrated bishop in the chapel of the English College, Lisbon, on September 27, 1671.
Overcoming the first opposition of his clergy to a foreign bishop, he spent ten years in zealous and apostolic labor and effected a complete reformation of the diocese.

In 1682 he was transferred to the diocese of Vizéu where he spent the last 11 years of his life.
His portrait is preserved at the English College, Lisbon.
FROM:
https://www.catholic.com/encyclop…