The Bishopric of Maranhão and the Indian Directory

Diocesan Government and the Assimilation of Indigenous Peoples in Amazonia (1677-1798)

Bibliographic Data

ID4314484
AuthorsPollyanna Gouveia Mendonça Muniz (0000-0002-2528-1748, Universidade Federal do Maranhão, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume14
Issue12
Pages1515
Publication date2023-12-08
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligions (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel14121515
OpenAlexW4389486897
LanguageEN
References cited8

The second half of the eighteenth century is crucial to understanding the significant role of the Catholic Church in the many transformations experienced by indigenous peoples due to the policies of the Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo (Marquis of Pombal) administration in Portuguese America. No study has yet to examine in depth the collaboration of the episcopate and its agents in this indigenist policy. Here, therefore, I analyse the case of the diocese of Maranhão, in the Portuguese Amazon, from its creation in 1677 until the end of the eighteenth century, demonstrating the jurisdictional dispute between the bishops and the regular clergy over the guardianship of indigenous peoples. I also examine how the appointment of clergy in former indigenous villages took place and how the diocesan structure was expanded to ensure the consolidation of Pombal's policy amid disputes between diverse actors and interests, including those of the Portuguese state, the bishops and the indigenous population. By analysing a variety of documents using research methodologies that involve varying the scale of observation and pursuing a connected history perspective, I show how the episcopate behaved, despite its limitations and vacancies, in the process of assimilating indigenous peoples

Amazon rainforest · Bishops · Ethnology · Humanities · Indigenous · Political science · Politics · Portuguese · Sociology · Sovereignty · Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · History of Colonial Brazil · Law

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