Birth. 1702, Lisbon, Portugal. Fourth of the twelve children of Manuel de Carvalho de Ataíde, "fidalgo de casa real", and Teresa Luísa de Mendoça e Melo. The other children were Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, first marquis of Pombal and prime minister of Portugal (1756-1777) (1); João de Carvalho; Francisco Xavier de Mendonça Furtado; Diogo de Carvalho, a friar who lived in Italy and taught philosophy in Ascoli Piceno; Maria Madalena de Mendonça, abbess of the monastery of Santa Joana, Lisboa; and José Joaquim de Carvalho, who died in combat in India while in military service; four of the children died young; and the other sisters also became nuns.

Education. (No information found).

Sacred orders. (No information found).

Early life. Prelate of the patriarchal cathedral of Lisbon. Commissary general of the Crusade. Secretary and supervisor of the house and estate of Queen Mariana Vitória of Portugal, wife of King D. José. President of the Council of the Holy Inquisition. Named grand prior of the collegiate church of Guimarães by King José I in March 1762; he wrote to the chapter of announcing his appointment on March 11. President of Chamber of the Senate of Lisbon by decree of September 19, 1764. His promotion to the cardinalate was requested by King José I of Portugal.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal and reserved in pectore in the consistory of December 18, 1769; he was published in the consistory of January 29, 1770; Monsignor Cesare Lambertini was named ablegato apostolic to bring the red biretta to him in Lisbon; the news of his death on January 17, 1770 did not reach Rome until February 14, 1770, in a post to Francisco de Almada e Mendoça, plenipontentiary of Portugal in Rome.

Death. January 17, 1770, in Lisbon, of gangrenous wound in a leg. Exposed and buried in the patriarchal cathedral of Lisbon, after solemn exequies (1); the cardinalitial insignias were placed in his tomb in memory of the honor he had received.

Bibliography. "Carvalho e Mendoça, D. Paulo de." Grande Enciclopédia Portuguesa e Brasileira. 40 vols. Illustrada com cêrca de 15.000 gravuras e 400 hors-textes a cõres. Lisboa; Rio de Janeiro : Editorial Enciclopédia, limitada [1936-60], VI, 90 and XXIII, 343-356; "Colegiada de Guimarães sob o signo de Pombal", Boletim de Trabalhos Históricos, Arquivo Municipal Alfredo Pimenta, XXVI (1966), 1-129; Maxwell, Kenneth. Pombal, paradox of the Enlightenment. Cambridge [England] ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 1995, pp. 3, 82 and 91; Notizie per l'anno MDCCLXXIII. In Roma MDCCLXXIII : Nella Stamperia Cracas, presso S. Marco al Corso, p. 126, no. 2; Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recientoris Aevi. Volumen VI (1730-1799). Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1968, pp. 26; Seidler, Sabrina M.; Weber, Christoph. Päpste und Kardinäle in der Mitte des 18. Jahrhunderts (1730-1777) : das biographische Werk des Patriziers von Lucca Bartolomeo Antonio Talenti. Frankfurt am Main ; New York : Peter Lang, 2007. (Beiträge zur Kirchen- und Kulturgeschichte, Bd. 18), p. 531-533; Weber, Christoph. Senatus divinus : verborgene Strukturen im Kardinalskollegium der frühen Neuzeit (1500-1800). Frankfurt am Main ; New York : Peter Lang, 1996, p. 520, no. 745.