Jaime de Lencastre
Bishop of Ceuta
(–1569)

Biographical

Bishop of Ceuta 1545–69†
1st Inquisitor General of the Kingdom of Portugal
Prior of San Pedro de Torres Novas
Chief chaplain to Queen Catharina

Jayme’s ecclesiastical career began with his appointment as Prior of São Pedro and of three other churches in the town belonging to the House of Aveiro. Queen Catharina subsequently appointed him her chief chaplain. He was later appointed Bishop of Ceuta and confirmed in this office by Pope Paul III through the bull Gratiae divinae praemium, dated 9 October 1545. In 1551, he attended the transfer of the remains of Queen Maria, mother of King João III, from the convent of Madre de Deus to that of Belém. On 16 July 1557, Jayme was present at the acclamation of King Sebastião, and on 13 December 1562, he attended the Cortes summoned by the king in Lisbon. In 1567, he took part as a suffragan bishop in the provincial council convened by Archbishop João de Mello. In Torres Novas, he founded the Carmelite convent, to which he donated the hermitage of St Gregory and the head of that pontiff as a relic.

Place of burial: Convent of Carmo in Lisbon

Son of Jorge de Lencastre and Brites de Villena