Um Beato Vivo : o P.António da Conceição, C.S.J.E., conselheiro e profeta no tempo de Filipe II

Abstract

P. António da Conceição (1538-1602), CSJE (the Confraternity of St John the Evangelist), also known by the name of «Beato António» and celebrated by his saintliness, was an outstanding figure of the late 16th Century Lisbon, during the last years of Filipe II of Spain as king of Portugal. His aura of saintliness also derived from his powers of prophecy and thaumaturgy, attracting followers from all social classes and their contributions which provided the means to build the new Confraternity’s church in Lisbon. He was also able to congregate the interest of the dominant classes, supporting their efforts to «pacify» the city of Lisbon – in fact, the whole Kingdom – in a period of such turbulence with the English ships attacking the Portuguese ports. Based on excerpts from his beatification process, a process which was suspended in the beginning of the 18th Century by unknown causes, the author attempts a first approach to this personage who, because of the suppression of his Order, had never been object of an in-depth study.