José de Jesus Maria Mayne
José de Jesus Maria Mayne (7 June 1723 – 23 December 1792) was a Portuguese Catholic priest born in Porto and who died in Lisbon. He served as Minister General of the Third Order Regular of Saint Francis, Chief Chaplain of the Royal Armada, and confessor to King Peter III. He is closely linked to the Lisbon Academy of Sciences. Following the era’s curiosity about nature, he helped create a natural history program for the Academy, donated his collection to form a cabinet of curiosities, and contributed to the Academy’s library. Mayne believed that studying the wonders of Creation could defend religion and the state against materialist ideas associated with Enlightenment thinkers in France and Britain, such as Voltaire, Rousseau, Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley, and Diderot.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 15:15 (CET).