Os jesuítas e a política pombalina em Pernambuco no século VXIII

Abstract

The objective of this dissertation is the confrontation between the Society of Jesus and the centralizing politics of the Portuguese metropolis as conducted by Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, the Marquis of Pombal in the eighteenth century. We focus on the situation in Pernambuco, especially Recife and Olinda, without forgetting the policies of Pombal and colonial Brazil. We also want to understand the nature of the threat that the project of the Society of Jesus could represent for the interests of the king s minister as well as how to interpret the relationship of the Jesuits and the pernambucan society, specially at the moment of the expulsion of the Society. Capital transference, conflictive indian legislation, restrictive economics, excessive fiscal control and the monitoring of certain industries in the Portuguese juridical system, all have a role in Pombal s administrative project for Brazil in the eighteenth century. For this reason they all are subjects of our study. In addition, we include the evangelizing and socio-political role of Religious Orders and restrictions imposed on them. In the process of colonization, the Jesuits assumed nuanced positions. The Society of Jesus adopted values different than the those of the metropolis. The Priests acted also as fathers, brothers and friend or the colonialists. They were present in their daily lives, they cried and smiles with their coreligionists, practicing a jesuit piety to minimize the difficulties and the suffering of the colonial society. The expulsion, and later suppression of the Society of Jesus was not enough to dampen the civic memories nor the developmental role of these companions of Jesus in the luso-pernambucan community. The people of Recife and Olinda were deeply affected by the expulsion of their religious representatives. They went on hunger strikes, they denounced the poor quality of the subsequent education, and they wanted the return of their former teachers. In Recife, the people went out in the streets and shouted for the minister s removal. For them, this was the only was possible to correct the situation of the Jesuits