page_title: Royal Patriarchal Music Seminary of Lisbon
section_title: The pope submits to the king
hierarchical_section_title: Royal Patriarchal Music Seminary of Lisbon / The Patriarchate of Lisbon and its Seminary / The pope submits to the king
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait of Tomás de Almeida (1670-1754), 1st Cardinal-Patriarch of Lisbon Português: Retrato do Patriarca D. Tomás de Almeida (c. 1725), por Domenico Duprà. Encontra-se no Mosteiro de São Vicente de Fora, em Lisboa, Portugal.
context_page_description: The Royal Patriarchal Music Seminary of Lisbon was founded in 1713 by Portugal's king João V to train singers for his Royal Chapel of Saint Thomas at Ribeira Palace.
  Its role was similar to that of other schools which for some centuries had been training singers and musicians for European abbeys, cathedrals, parish and collegiate churches, and court chapels. Over time, its influence expanded as it produced singers, instrumentalists and composers of merit, many of whom took on careers in sacred and secular music including opera outside Portugal.
  According to the records, the official date of the Seminary's foundation was 9 April 1713, three years before the Patriarchate of Lisbon came into operation. At that early stage, the Seminary was housed in the Archbishop's Palace near Lisbon Cathedral; but from the outset, the Seminary's function and purpose were directly associated with the court, and once the position of Patriarch of Lisbon was created and the holder became chaplain to the king, the Seminary as part of the patriarchal household continued to serve its primary purpose in providing music in the Royal Chapel.
context_section_description: The Patriarchate of Lisbon came into being following extensive pressure by João V on the papacy. Papal approval was issued by Pope Clement XI on 7 November 1716 in the so-called "Golden Bull", In supremo apostolatus solio by which the former archiepiscopal see of Lisbon was divided in two, the court's collegiate church was elevated under dedication to Our Lady of the Assumption to be the cathedral for a new see of Western Lisbon, and the episcopate was given a new title of patriarch with a leadership role within the wider church in Portugal and its empire. At the same time, the patriarch was to fulfil a role as First Court Chaplain (Portuguese: Capelão-mor). The first patriarch was Tomás de Almeida (See Illus. 5) whose formal entry into Lisbon and enthronement took place on 13 February 1717. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 1737 and remained in office until his death in 1754.
  This sublimation of the patriarch to the authority of the king was demonstrated by the co-relationship of the patriarchal throne within the king's court, the fact that the patriarch was also the king's chaplain, and by virtue of the way the king constructed the patriarchal residence as a wing of Ribeira Palace. As a member of the court, the patriarch was in a position to be consulted by the king but at the same time subject to his commands.
  Although the Seminary's foundation preceded the establishment of the Patriarchate of Lisbon by three years, once this new church structure was in place, the Seminary was absorbed into the patriarch's household. While its primary function, according to the king's own intention, was to train singers to perform within the court's liturgies provided by the patriarch, the Seminary's staff and students were seen as members of the patriarchal staff and its operating costs were met out of the patriarch's own budget.
caption: Illus 5: Tomás de Almeida, first Patriarch of Lisbon. Painted c. 1725 by Giorgio Domenico Duprà (1689–1770). Collection of the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora, Lisbon.
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