Antonio de Gouvea, O.E.S.A. (1575 – 18 August 1628) was a diplomat in the service of

Habsburg Spain Habsburg Spain is a contemporary historiographical term referring to the huge extent of territories (including modern-day Spain, a piece of south-east France, eventually Portugal, and many other lands outside of the Iberian Peninsula) ruled be ...

, who served as ambassador (envoy) to

Safavid Iran Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...

between 1602 and 1613. An Augustinian

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

missionary by origin, during his service as diplomat he was appointed as

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox a ...

of Cyrene (1611–1628) and as Apostolic

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

of the

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...

of the Safavid royal capital of

Isfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Region, Isfahan Province, Iran. It is lo ...

."Bishop Antonio de Gouvea, O.E.S.A."
''

Catholic-Hierarchy.org ''Catholic-Hierarchy.org'' is an online database of bishops and dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Catholic Churches. The website is not officially sanctioned by the Church. It is run as a private project by David M. Cheney in ...

.'' David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 29, 2016"Cyrene (Titular See)"
''

.'' David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 29, 2016"Titular Episcopal See of Cyrene"
''GCatholic.org.'' Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016 He was succeeded as ambassador to the Safavid Empire by

García de Silva Figueroa Don García de Silva Figueroa (December 29, 1550 – July 22, 1624) was a Spanish diplomat, and the first Western traveller to correctly identify the ruins of Takht-e Jamshid in Persia as the location of Persepolis, the ancient capital of the Ac ...

. During his service as diplomat, De Gouvea also wrote two books on Safavid Iran; the ''Jornada'' and the ''Relaçam''.

Biography

Antonio de Gouvea was born in

Beja, Portugal Beja () is a city and a municipality in the Alentejo region, Portugal. The population in 2011 was 35,854, in an area of . The city proper had a population of 21,658 in 2001. The municipality is the capital of the Beja District. The present Mayor ...

and ordained a priest in the Order of Hermits of St. Augustine on 4 June 1591. On 19 August 1611, he was appointed during the papacy of

Pope Paul V Pope Paul V ( la, Paulus V; it, Paolo V) (17 September 1550 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death in January 1621. In 1611, he honored ...

of Cyrene. On 8 January 1612, he was consecrated bishop by Alexeu de Jesu de Meneses,

Archbishop of Goa The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Goa and Daman ( la, Archidioecesis Goanae et Damanensis, gom, Gõy ani Damanv Mha-Dhormprant, pt, Arquidiocese de Goa e Damão) encompasses the Goa state and the Damaon territory in the Konkan r ...

. He died on 18 August 1628. While bishop, he was the principal co-consecrator of

Agustín Spínola Basadone Agustín is a Spanish given name and sometimes a surname. It is related to Augustín. People with the name include: Given name * Agustín (footballer), Spanish footballer * Agustín Calleri (born 1976), Argentine tennis player * Agustín C� ...

Bishop of Tortosa The bishop of Tortosa is the ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tortosa in Catalonia, Spain.

(1623),

Agustín Antolínez Agustín Antolínez, O.S.A. (6 December 1554 – 19 June 1626) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela (1624–1626) and Bishop of Ciudad Rodrigo (1623–1624).Bishop of Ciudad Rodrigo The Diocese of Ciudad Rodrigo ( la, Dioecesis Civitatensis) is a Roman Catholic diocese in Spain, located in the city of Ciudad Rodrigo in the ecclesiastical province of Valladolid.Juan Roco Campofrío Juan Roco Campofrío (8 June 1565 – 16 September 1635) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Coria (1632–1635), Bishop of Badajoz (1627–1632), and Bishop of Zamora (1625–1627). ''(in Latin)''

, Bishop of Zamora (1625).

References

Sources

* 17th-century Roman Catholic titular bishops 1575 births 1628 deaths Bishops appointed by Pope Paul V Augustinian bishops People from Beja, Portugal Ambassadors of Spain Armenian Catholic Church Apostolic vicars Eastern Catholicism in Iran Ambassadors of the Spanish Empire to Safavid Iran {{RC-archbishop-stub

Biography

See also

References

Sources