The VINCULUM project (ERC Co. Grant 819734), which main objective is the conceptualization of the phenomenon of entailing in modern and medieval societies in Southern Europe, had special prominence in the Madeira media, which hosted the “Vinculum Project Day”, on the day March 6th.
Organized in collaboration with the Direção Regional do Arquivo e Biblioteca da Madeira (DRABM), within the scope of the partnership established between the Secretaria Regional de Turismo e Cultura, and the Vinculum-IEM-FCSH Project, the event was open to the entire community, boosting the scope of disclosure of Madeira’s entails. The communication of science to the community is one of the pillars of the project, and each of the communications was scrupulously designed with this objective in mind.
The communications presentation began in the auditorium of the Arquivo e a Biblioteca da Madeira, by the archivist Dr. Fátima Barros (ABM), and the historian Madalena Trigo de Sousa (Centro de Estudos de História do Atlântico). There was also a toured visit to the Direção de Serviços de Conservação e Restauro of the archive, where it was possible to observe the work of restoration of records of accounts of chapels, funded by the Vinculum project, within the scope of the collaboration protocol between the institutions. The Vinculum Project Day proceeded, in the afternoon, to the auditorium of the Centro de Estudos de História do Atlântico Alberto Vieira, where the presentations continued by project members and some associates. It ended on a high note at the Igreja Paroquial de Machico with the presentation of the 16th century book with records of the undertakings of the chapels, restored under a protocol with this parish.
The fruitful protocol of cooperation, signed a year ago between the Secretaria Regional de Turismo e Cultura and the Universidade Nova de Lisboa/Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, is based on the analysis of the documentation that is in the care of DRABM, sparing no efforts in the preservation and dissemination of the archival, documentary and bibliographic heritage of the Autonomous Region of Madeira. The promotion of scientific research, as well as scientific and technical cooperation, are also some of the cornerstones of this collaboration. Formalized since 2022, the partnership has allowed the DRABM to share around 1,600 archival records with the Vinculum project, which currently has around 600 documented Madeiran entails in its database – expecting to have many more in the future.
One of the highlights of the Vinculum project’s presence in Madeira was the presentation of the book “Tombo I”, dating from the 16th century, after restoration actions in Lisbon, according to the signed protocol. This book, with almost five centuries of existence, was able to return home and be presented to the community in the parish of Machico, where it was discovered in mid-2021 by Canon Manuel Ramos. The restoration of this priceless piece represents an enormous added value for the recovery of the religious heritage and reflects not only a piece of inestimable material value but also an immaterial one, containing information about masses ordered to be prayed by entail makers. The restoration actions for this book were promoted by the intervention of the Vinculum project, which intervened immediately, allowing it to be carefully transported to Lisbon, where it was restored by the conservator-restorator Dr. Theresa Pereira. The intervention was promoted and funded by the Vinculum project.
The “Vinculum Project Day” will have a new edition in Évora, during the month of July, and another one next year, in Braga.
