Professor Maria de Lurdes Rosa, from the New University of Lisbon, spoke this Saturday about the historical and scientific value of the book Tombo da Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Conceição de Machico (XV–XVII centuries). Historical studies and annotated edition, which was presented at the Machico Forum during the XVIII Colloquium of the Sixteenth Century Market. She described the volume as an extraordinary document because of both its age and its content. According to her, it is significant for the history of Machico, the history of Madeira, the colonisation process, and Portugal. Maria de Lurdes Rosa also stressed the five years of institutional collaboration behind the edition, noting that the document was first found after appearing on social networks and was later restored in Lisbon before returning to Machico. She said the transcription was especially difficult because of the handwriting and the many changes made to the text over the centuries, and that the work required successive revisions by paleography experts. The project also included a young master’s student who produced the first transcription, along with historical studies and biographies of the people named in the document. Those materials were later used by the Sixteenth Century Market for educational activities with students, and the professor praised the event as an exceptional link between historical recreation, schools, and scientific research. The book will be published by the Press of the University of Coimbra and will also be available online, although Maria de Lurdes Rosa said the paper edition remains important for making historical documents accessible to the public.
