author
Vicente Barbosa
1663–1721
A Portuguese Theatine priest and travel writer from Redondo, he is remembered for a rare 1692 account centered on reports from India and the mission to Borneo. His work opens a window onto early modern Catholic missions and the global horizons of Portuguese religious writing.
1 Audiobook
Compendio da relaçam, que veyo da India o anno de 1691
by Vicente Barbosa
About the author
Born in Redondo in 1663 and later active in Lisbon, Vicente Barbosa was a Portuguese Theatine religious writer. Modern library records identify him as the author of Compêndio da relação que veio da Índia o ano de 1691, printed in Lisbon in 1692.
That book is a concise historical and missionary narrative based on reports sent from Asia, especially concerning the new mission of the Clerics Regular of the Divine Providence on the island of Borneo. Because of that focus, Barbosa stands out less as a poet or novelist than as a chronicler of long-distance religious and cultural encounters in the Portuguese world.
Some reference sources disagree about the year of his death, with modern literary databases giving 1721 while older encyclopedic notices give 1711. What seems clear is that he belongs to the generation of late 17th- and early 18th-century Portuguese religious authors whose writings preserved news, travel experience, and missionary ambitions for readers back in Europe.