Estudo do acervo documental da Catedral Metropolitana Nossa Senhora da Imaculada Conceição/Santa Maria - RS

Abstract

This research seeks to elucidate the importance of ecclesiastical archives as historical sources, through the transcription of some pages of two of the tombo books of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, in the city of Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul. Ecclesiastical archives sometimes do not receive the due importance and archival treatment they deserve, having their collections lost, dispersed or degraded. The Catholic Church had for years, during the pre-republican period in Brazil, the importance to be the producer of the civil registries and was responsible for guarding them, becoming one of the institutions that have a substantial set of documents on the population in Brazil. Besides the transcription of the contents of the books, this study sought to be based on authors that focus they work on ecclesiastical archives and the archival practices applied to these types of archives. As a result of the transcription, it was observed that the content of the documents actually can rebuild the story, both through events and references to local people, and also with references to important events in the country's history. It is indispensable that these documents receive archival treatment, since they are handwritten primary sources endowed with permanent value and had the important part of been testimony of the history of Brazil.