Manuel de Faria e Sousa

Manuel de Faria e Sousa (; ; 18 March 1590 – 3 June 1649) was a Portuguese historian and poet who frequently wrote in Spanish.

He was born into a Portuguese noble family and studied in Braga before serving the Bishop of Porto. Apart from his time with the Portuguese embassy in Rome from 1631 to 1634, he spent most of his later life in Madrid, where he died in June 1649. He was married to Catarina Machado, the "Albania" of his poems.

His early work, ''Epitome de las historias Portuguezas'' (Madrid, 1628), was well received. However, some of his commentary on ''Os Lusíadas'' and the poetry of Luís de Camões drew the suspicion of the Inquisition, leading to his temporary imprisonment and the loss of his salary. Despite this, he continued writing, producing up to 12 folio pages a day. He died on 3 June 1649, leaving his history of the Portuguese across the world unfinished.

After his death, parts of his unfinished history were published in Lisbon: ''Europa Portugueza'' (1667), ''Ásia Portugueza'' (1666–1675), and ''África Portugueza'' (1681), all edited by Captain Faria e Sousa. As a poet, Faria e Sousa was prolific, influenced by the Gongorismo style. His poems were mostly collected in ''Noches claras'' (Madrid, 1624–1626) and ''Fuente de Aganipe'' (Madrid, 1644–1646). He also wrote ''Imperio de China i cultura evangelica'' (Madrid, 1642) and completed the ''Nobiliário'' of the Count of Barcelos. English translations of his works include ''History of Portugal'' (1698) and ''Portuguese Asia'' (1695). Provided by Wikipedia