ARRABIDA MONKS

The community of Arrábida friars was founded by D. Martinho Benevides (Friar Martinho de Santa Maria), who had come to Portugal from the convent of St Francis in Cartagena at the invitation of the Duke of Aveiro. The first convent of monks from this Franciscan province was founded in 1538 or 1539 in the Serra da Arrábida, from where the name by which they would become known was derived. The exact date of their arrival in Mafra is not known, but it is known that since at least the 17th century, their presence had become regular every year during Lent, staying in the hospice next to the chapel of the Holy Spirit, once located in Quinta da Raposa (Vila Velha). Unexpectedly, since they had been refused by the same monarch's request to found a religious house in Mafra, they managed to obtain the donation of the convent of Santo António next to the same town from Dom João V in 1711 (the last of the fourteen convents of this Order in the country). The Arrábida monks left the convent of Mafra in April 1771 after living there for 40 years, 6 months and 11 days. They returned on 12 May 1792, surrendering to the Canons Regular, who had replaced them two decades earlier.

Dona Maria I intended to have another cenobium built for this Order at Quinta da Roussada and laid the foundation stone for this purpose, but the transfer of the court to Brazil as a result of the first Napoleonic invasion (1808) definitely jeopardised the realisation of the project.