Friar Bernardo de Brito (20 August 1569 – 27 February 1617) was a
Portuguese monk and historian. He is perhaps best known for having authored the first two volumes of ''Monarchia Lusytana'', his ''
magnum opus''.
Biography
Friar Bernardo de Brito was born Baltasar de Brito e Andrade, in the fortified village of
Almeida in 1569. His father, Pedro Cardoso de Andrade, was a distinguished army captain who fought in Italy and Flanders who was killed in action during the
Siege of Antwerp;
his mother was Maria de Brito e Andrade, the sister of Rui de Andrade Freire, ''
alcaide'' of the
Castle of Almeida and ''fronteiro'' of
Terras de Riba-Côa.
His father wished he joined the military; we was sent abroad to study in
Rome and
Florence, where he became fluent in
Latin,
Italian, and
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
.
When he returned to
Portugal, he joined the
Cistercian Order; he professed his vows in the
Alcobaça Monastery, on 23 February 1585, assuming the
religious name
A religious name is a type of given name bestowed for a religious purposes, and which is generally used in such contexts.
Christianity
Catholic Church Baptismal name
In baptism, Catholic Church, Catholics are given a Christian name, which should ...
''Bernardo de Brito'' in honour of
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, reformer of his Order.
He obtained a
Doctorate in
Theology in the
University of Coimbra, on 12 April 1606.
He devised a project of a monumental
History of Portugal, in eight volumes, from the
Creation
Creation may refer to:
Religion
*'' Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing
*Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it
*Creationism, the belief that ...
to his time, which he called ''Monarchia Lusytana''. In 1597, at age 28, he published the first volume, which he dedicated to
Philip I of Portugal. As it pleased the monarch (who issued a congratulatory Royal Charter on 3 April 1597
), he continued the project and published volume two in 1609. After his death, the unfinished ''Monarchia Lusytana'' was continued by other important chroniclers.
He was named chronicler of the
Cistercians
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
in 1606
and, in 1614, was made
Chief Chronicler of the Kingdom of Portugal
Chief Chronicler of the Kingdom ( pt, Cronista-Mor do Reino) was a courtly position in the Kingdom of Portugal, formally instituted in 1434 by King Edward I. The Chief Chronicler was the official authority on Portuguese historiography, and t ...
.
He was several times offered the position of
bishop, but always refused.
He died in 1617 and was buried in the Convent of Our Lady of Aguiar, in Castelo Rodrigo, and later, in 1649, his remains were reinterred in the Chapter House of the
Alcobaça Monastery.
References
{{Authority control
Portuguese chroniclers
Portuguese Roman Catholic priests
University of Coimbra alumni
1569 births
1617 deaths