British Connections with the Palace of Necessidades

Author:

Manuel Corte Real

Report:

8

Page:

62

Year:

1981

Subject Matter:

Diplomatic and General History

Excerpt:

The stay of  Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, at the Palácio das Necessidades from 1801 to 1804 (¹) may have led to some disagreeable consequences for the Prince. Though still a young man at the time, it was during his years at the Palace that he develped his taste for old books and works on theological subjects. It wad all too easy for him to climb the stairs connecting the Palace with the Convent and there to consult at his leisure the very important library belonging to the Priests of the Oratorian Congregation which by that time would have comprised some 25,000 books. He may well then have acquired the taste for reading books on theology which was to lead him to collect such works later on in England. And this in turn caused public opinion to accuse him of being a Papist. 

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