Holy and Unholy Alliances

In his História da America Portugueza, the Bahian historian Sebastião da Rocha Pitta noted two qualities essential to a monarch. The first was religion, “a mais firme columna das monarchias.” The second was generosity, “a generosidade é o segundo atributo nos príncipes.” Rocha Pitta observed that both qualities were not merely present but superabundantly so in the persona of Dom João V. The former found its expression in his financial and spiritual support for churches in Lisbon, the unprecedented splendor of the royal chapel, his appointments to bishoprics and high ecclesiastical office of persons of exceptional spiritual and scholarly gifts, and the unparalleled splendor of processions, most notably Corpus Christi, whose magnificence and pomp bedazzled visitors from other Catholic nations. His generosity (generosidade and liberalidade) found expression in his financial support for wars against Islam and in his unstinting satisfaction of infinite requests for financial assistance which he was able to provide with gold from Minas Gerais. Rocha Pitta would have been far too circumspect to comment that it was that selfsame Brazilian gold that permitted Dom João V to be the most absolutist monarch of Europe, but in his often baroque vision of the world, the Coimbra-educated scion of a leading planter family of Bahia made the connection between riches and the church and suggested how Brazilian gold—in the right hands—could contribute to the greater glory of the church (and by extension, of Portugal and her king).1The impact on the Portuguese-speaking world of the discovery of the first placer mines on the Rio das Velhas in Minas Gerais was but a small sampling of what was in store. With further strikes in Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, Goiás, Bahia and as far afield as Ceará and Sergipe, the first half of the eighteenth century witnessed the irresistible attraction exercised by Brazil over men and women of every vocation or profession, civil status, slave or free. They came from Portugal, the islands of the Portuguese Atlantic (Madeira, the Azores, and Cape Verde), Angola, and the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe. Some who were homeward-bound from Macao, Goa, or Cochin stayed in a Brazilian port rather than continuing to Lisbon. Some achieved wealth beyond their wildest dreams and invested their new found riches in their new found land; others returned to hamlets in the Alto Douro or Trásos-Montes or to fishing communities in Portugal or the Atlantic islands and discovered that their gold could acquire for them lands, respect, and social status to which they would not otherwise have been entitled. But the vast majority discovered physical hardships and disillusionment, finding employment other than in mining, eking out a living in Brazil, or suffering destitution and death. Gold enabled the more successful entrepreneurs to offset the chronic shortage of capital and invest in commerce. The burgeoning of Rio de Janeiro as the major commercial entrepôt of the South Atlantic in the eighteenth century was attributable to gold “from them thar hills.”The original name for what came to be known as Brazil was “Land of the True Cross.” We do not know when the first clerics arrived in Portuguese America, but their presence was evident during the donatarial period (1532–49). Accompanying Tomé de Sousa, charged by Dom João III with the establishment of royal government in the colony and the building of a capital, were six Jesuits under the leadership of Father Manuel da Nóbrega to whom the king had entrusted spiritual leadership in the colony.2 A papal bull of 25 February 1551 created the bishopric of Bahia, which was elevated to an archiepiscopal see in 1676. Before the end of the colonial period Brazil had six bishoprics. During the ensuing two centuries, the Society of Jesus prospered, both spiritually and materially. Other religious orders, most notably the Carmelites, Franciscans, Dominicans, and Benedictines also established monasteries in Brazil. The convent of Nossa Senhora do Desterro in Salvador was the first to be established in Brazil (1677), but several other conventual institutions were set up soon afterwards. It is extremely difficult to estimate the aggregate number of Brazilian ecclesiastics, with or without requisite authorization, during the colonial period, but the following breakdown for Salvador in 1759 confirms the strong clerical presence in the colony. There were at least 2000 secular clergy in Salvador, of which nearly 66 clerics—ranging from the archbishop down to parish priests and their assistants—were on the royal payroll. Besides, there were 201 Jesuits (excluding the 80 seminarians). Among the regular Orders, there were about 96 Carmelites, 70 Benedictines, 45 Capuchins of St. Anthony of Padua, 28 Italian Capuchins, 24 of Santa and In there were in the convent of Santa in the convent of Nossa Senhora da and in the convent of the In in the of Salvador there were at least 2000 secular 201 and out of a of under and in the a by the to to the of from and of the often about the of priests and in the and by in Society of Jesus most and religious to a greater or were the colonial was attributable to their in in it was the of the of as and whose religious in of the which they would for the in Portugal Brazil not as a for but also as a to be in their to from financial and clerics were from the to from the to the and of who to what they as it was selfsame who were at the of to in or Portugal, by of as to a on colonial the to more there were men and women in the there were priests and who their and in and was in the In his do the Italian noted a strong clerical presence in the a of the of in Minas Gerais, Dom de of São and Minas Gerais, to the da by clerical and and of ecclesiastical and for and were of the secular religious orders, and the Society of them to in the as men and to to Portugal from the of their as of and from commercial or which religious institutions to Portugal were in for or or in their as for persons who had in Brazil. by men of the have been but in the of which were not with of or The of is to the of during the of Dom João V as in the of and for homeward-bound from Brazil. number for the period in the da of Lisbon. the to is for to the for from Salvador and Rio de to a from and more from São and In the of Salvador and Rio de in and on from or Portuguese America on in the from the to the and the impact of and gold on and in the of the of the most on and the in as have the of and gold to from the have witnessed and the gold in Minas Gerais, Goiás, and Mato Grosso, and the impact of Brazilian gold on the of Portugal, on the of Dom João V in and on Portuguese with other notably is the of and the of be and the on Brazilian gold an with to in the and in to Portugal and Brazil. a the for so by be in of on in by of the in and the de and the of in the da in have been for is to but of how be by social of or civil status, persons homeward-bound from Brazil were to and a royal of de were to be to Brazil for and the of the royal in Brazil was to and number the of the Brazil, the was to on the an on who was gold in on his or on of to a could be made at of the to the the of of gold would be for to gold and other were and the of a by the of the in that a had been a it was difficult to the gold at a Portuguese were by a by a do A further was to the to a and the of a could out the most and had been the were for that and gold were to the of the who a and by of their could or gold in the first half of the eighteenth of February that and other gold to Portugal had to be in on and of were for the first for the homeward-bound from Rio de Janeiro that The also a on gold gold and gold also for the first for The was by a new of 28 February that the of for the period from to between and of gold in or in the of or de religious or during the of Dom João V were gold or from in colonial of more and of were in a from of to at and In there were of and half from to and de often the was an de a of when his de in a Gold was often in a or in a an for The provide on financial and on and royal They provide the and of of civil status, and of the and They for to the of women and the of commerce. there is a from and Brazil. The that be in the is The of the world to on of of clerical and in the of from Brazil to Portugal as in the of in the da in Lisbon. There were to the to the in a Brazilian of of by the or and in to the In the following present to clerical at every would be the of a who was as in a Brazilian who and was also the who in Lisbon. it is to that he was from Brazil to Portugal and had the or in his or at least on the on which he was was Father Manuel who returned to on the from a of the parish of São das he had in in Salvador, and on in Lisbon, of gold of The second would be the whose was to the on or to the in Lisbon. In a the or the on the former or the had the greater in the In the the had in the and his was to the on or to it in Lisbon, with by a In it is to that the be he in Rio de Salvador, or Lisbon, was on of that and was on a or was the of a in was João whose office as of the of Salvador in the eighteenth century to to in with by the who be an or the in clergy and and to a were at least in of the of clergy as and were both for and on of there were priests homeward-bound with the of a to or in Brazil, it was for them not also to on who had but had returned to Portugal, to from their former of In Dom former of Angola, in at his a from Rio de Janeiro in of In the archbishop of Bahia was a on the homeward-bound Nossa Senhora da from Salvador, to Portugal as of was a of his he the and there is to his João of the of the on to on Nossa Senhora da which arrived in on but he on in The of Rio de Janeiro and Dom do of were also and on to Lisbon, but have been in their rather than as to the as to the would to a Salvador and which arrived in in of of made in the name of de in who made a further to of Rio de in was the from Rio de Janeiro of the of by Dom de São to the of São de in Lisbon. There were to be further to of for the of for his there was a In de da on the homeward-bound Rio gold of to his in Lisbon, the João da de The Nossa Senhora da São from and Salvador, arrived in the on 28 with which in gold and of had been on by the of the of Salvador and was a from the of Angola, Dom Manuel da to his in of the Society of Jesus were as and Father da homeward-bound as on the Nossa Senhora da de São out of Salvador in of of which and were to the of in and the of the in Lisbon, but a further were for Jesuits and to Benedictines, Carmelites, Dominicans, Franciscans, and more their and presence in the most in was the Society of is the of and in Lisbon, Brazil, and the of of the the most were from and to of the Society with and who as of or In Brazil, in Salvador, São and as as the of or they at their but at the of to in Lisbon, most to the of the of or of the of of the in of the de São and to the of the of of is with the of the Society in as the from in Salvador and Rio de Janeiro between and for the of the of the de were from Brazil to the de who as a in and with their There was also a at São Brazilian merely as for in or and for which Brazilian were for for from the in Brazil and were to the of the in to as the of or of in not be with the of the of Goa, also in there were from the of and from the do in the and which were also and Brazil and for the in of the of also to from the in a Brazilian port for to the of the of The in was to the of the das which on to Portugal Salvador and Rio de were the of a of from Rio de Janeiro in with the of in the to the in Lisbon. it in the of the or or the of or was by the original in Goa, Brazil, or the But when the in two of to in with the homeward-bound from Rio de there was of by the of also as for in their were for the of the Society in Lisbon. when the in Salvador a of gold of in six on the the on for and had the of the of Brazil in as the The to who and The Society a for and be as a the first two not be present in to of a The on a of of in for to an in in his the of the da Santa or of the Jesuits in in of and other religious not the or of the The of the of St. Anthony in Brazil and the of the were in their as Other the of the of of the of in for monasteries of the and the of the in Brazil of São of monasteries of the of Nossa Senhora do Desterro of in convent of Santa in Salvador to the of the in the convent of Corpus in Other were the of the of the in Salvador to the of the of in the of the of St. for to the of the Brazilian of St. in Lisbon, was to the in which to the of the of the in to the of the of St. in the of Nossa Senhora do Desterro in to the of the of St. of the to be a of and gold from the of the in for to the of the in and to the of the of St. in In the and there were from the monasteries of the da in and to the of the monasteries of the in the da in from Brazil of the of the and the of the in for to the of the in from or were for other than the the more two of and on the of the from Salvador in in and and for the of the of the of the of de of from Brazil had the Portuguese-speaking A of of from Salvador in was for in to the João de of the of In a in in of for to the of the of religious also as for by on or in on the do not the for In it is difficult to for a commercial the or vocation of the is there the following Father de of the of the in a of of to in the name was as and his was as In the for a of from Salvador to was by Father Dom of the de Santa in and the was the Dom de of the of São de in In of the and there of from Brazil to Portugal, for the in the of São de in Lisbon. During the the in São de was the Father Dom who was by Father Dom João de Nossa Senhora da regular de in of was not an and were in from Brazil to Portugal, but the was women were not to the to that of priests as or was it for a to be a there to in in Portugal as During the there were to a in the of Santa in Lisbon, by a or in Brazil, for her In Santa to have a Brazilian the number of to the in from Salvador and Rio de Janeiro in and The convent of Santa in was also a for Brazilian was the of the of of by the de in Rio de The were other than his two and da in the convent of Santa Some as and the of in the Manuel do of the the which to and six in the of São das of It difficult to two further of made by Manuel in Salvador for in in were also for his Other from Brazil were for in the of and and for The of Brazil, de of of in as for of the of Santa de São in The of were not to in Brazil to Portugal rather than their a in the colony. was that a royal of women from Brazil, under and an The was to to women who in a of their of most Brazilian women who were from Brazil to in Portugal In the there were from Bahia to in the of de de of of were at their a in Santa in in the of was the her of on Nossa Senhora da São of the Bahia which arrived in on The status as of the of is was a in the das in and a her of from Bahia in the by the of Salvador to the of the Desterro in had been by two to have in Bahia a for the of as a or her or a her was or as who would their or to the of to Portugal of every for the down on to a convent and for than as to contribute to the shortage of in Salvador in the The building of more in Salvador and de was to in women and It also have been the would be difficult to a from a in Brazil. The do not from the colony from or commercial by In the Brazilian there were by in a convent and the of not from in and were for would to an as or her was as an or on of her The of the of Santa do Desterro in Salvador, at her was the of several small to of the of Santa in was also the of a as as but from secular and not religious in The and of the do in Lisbon, at their were of several from The of the of in was also a of often for which as too was her at in Lisbon, a convent of the of Dom João V with was of not the of ecclesiastical in the of a religious were of from made in Brazil by the and for in to the who as do of the the of to be by of the to on in the is that were more to be made on from Rio de Janeiro than from other Brazilian Rio was the major port for of gold also a of in gold The São homeward-bound from in a of a gold gold and gold to Lisbon. had been by the of the royal in and from by the of for to the of the in to the in also by in Brazil, at their the of is In a of was by the of the in from the of from de and her da of the There were also from the in Goa, at the of the de were of is not also on two further institutions which have to the they The first was the established for the de Santa de from Brazil to Portugal for In Brazilian port there was an In the of Salvador in the was the and de of the and of the Santa da in The in the of de A was the da Santa with Brazilian in and the in as the or of the in gold and gold were regular and and not from Brazil but from the of the on the of São but were There was a of in and with religious which were of from Brazil, to the of for da and secular but the of social and the of the were the which Brazil and whose every of Brazilian in Brazil from the and of the and the Santa da to the of Nossa Senhora do of slave and and In the of the it is difficult to the was on its or as the for was the major by of the as of of persons in Brazil, that a major of and to and institutions in in and of have an religious for for for the of for the of the in his or her for to or to be to the religious as for to to the and for to a or church in the of or in In the were by of the a which to and of Brazil and of Portugal, the of to the other as it was that their would beyond their or in of Brazil were not in in of St. the Carmelites, and St. in Brazil were for for which the were of in the of St. were by the of the of the in Lisbon, whose was in the of São de The of Nossa Senhora do of at its of gold to the of the of Nossa Senhora do in Other Brazilian the of the of of of the parish of da in Salvador, and of the of The of the Rio de Janeiro which arrived in on a of by the of Nossa Senhora do of the of a of by the São São of was Bahia and arrived in on of to the as the do in the of in In to the do in Lisbon, was the in the da is in so far as the was to in the of whose was that of and who in da and who to have in Salvador in on the as his In the was as the on the Atlantic The were not in but in A sampling the do Jesus de in de São of de Nossa Senhora do of do do in São de of and das of da by from Brazil were of a religious was the in with the of the of in from two of for the two of gold of for churches and of for the of de a major of and from the colonial in Portugal the royal or at least the of the do which was to the in and the de by a religious It for the of the but also of the of Dom João that when the in Rio de Janeiro of gold to the in of the of Brazil on the of the from Rio which arrived in the on the and of His of the was not on but also on a of from the and to the to their or commercial of gold from Brazil to Portugal during the of Dom João V to support the in Portugal in Brazil. It would be difficult to the of in the could be as a of the it was during the of Dom João V that new São Minas and Mato new and and the bishopric of and major in commercial and in the port of colonial Brazil, and more so than in Rio de It was during his that and in Brazil to from on for and on There was greater capital in the wealth found expression in the and of and and in religious as the of Corpus or an to a to Minas Gerais. Minas Gerais major as do Nossa Senhora da do do São João and São were The of do to the status of and with São the in the colony which was not a and the of a bishopric were and its was by a as a de Gold enabled of the in to their wealth on the building and of the of Brazilian baroque and were from of were in the gold with gold and and and were in Bahia, the of and have by the of St. and by the the Santa da for the greater glory of (and social of the and of gold to Portugal for to a to of gold for the of the da of Rio de in Brazil was in the number of religious made of gold which were on homeward-bound from Brazil. in the with a of on in Rio de and the of Rio as the port for gold not from Minas Gerais and São but from the more strikes in Mato and gold on for homeward-bound from Brazil gold with gold most gold with gold for gold with gold a de São with their gold with of and with gold in Portugal in Brazil a for their made of Brazilian there was the to Brazil for of religious made in is is that often were to Portugal, in Brazil. the a to was that Portugal were not to the on gold and from Brazil. was the with of gold which Manuel de with from Rio de Janeiro in over it there in the a of The was Manuel da in Lisbon. A on Nossa Senhora do of the from Salvador to Lisbon, was a with had been to Bahia for but had to a it is to in that it was Brazilian gold royal and other of which the most was the that enabled Dom João V to and churches and in Portugal, support the church spiritually and in its more and contribute to social the of the of a and A that the as for the of the royal between the of Portugal and in to the of the church and its Brazilian gold permitted the king to up to the of the monarch set by Sebastião da Rocha support for and generosidade both spiritually and materially. The Bahian had that a a da as do not of his there be that men and women of the in Brazil and in Portugal, both and from the and from the gold strikes in Brazil during the eighteenth both in Portugal and in Brazil, religious were able to attributable to and or the of their and of and to monasteries and was the other of the the of gold to men of the a in to the social of and provide a to the of the church in colonial Brazil

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