Manuel Pinto da Fonseca | |
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Grand Master of the Order of Saint John | |
In office 18 January 1741 – 24 January 1773 | |
Monarch | King Charles V (until 1753) |
Preceded by | Ramon Despuig |
Succeeded by | Francisco Ximénez de Tejada |
Personal details | |
Born | Lamego, Kingdom of Portugal | 24 May 1681
Died | 23 January 1773 Valletta, Hospitaller Malta | (aged 91)
Resting place | St. John's Co-Cathedral |
Relations | Rosenda Paulichi |
Children | José António Pinto da Fonseca e Vilhena |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Kingdom of Portugal Order of Saint John |
Manuel Pinto da Fonseca (also Emmanuel Pinto de Fonseca; 24 May 1681 – 23 January 1773) was a Portuguese nobleman, the 68th[1] Grand Master of the Order of Saint John, from 1741 until his death.
He undertook many building projects, introducing the Baroque style throughout Malta. The cost of these projects contributed to bankrupting the Order in the decades following his death. His views were comparatively liberal. In 1764, he agreed to the re-unification with the Protestant Prussian branch of the Order, without, however, receiving the approval of Pope Clement XIII. The pope did agree, reluctantly, to the expulsion of the Jesuits from Malta in 1768.