Abstract
This article discusses the political trajectory of priest Marcelino Duarte, a native of the state of Espírito Santo then a peripheral province of Brazil, who became notorious in the political life of the Regency period. The priest kept different political orientations throughout his life, from government supporter to an exaltado liberal and finally became a caramuru. Based on different sources, we investigated his family relationships, political vocabulary, network of contacts and political alliances, aiming to understand his complex personality and his ability to adapt to the intense political transformations of the period. The results of the research, whose main contribution is to better understand the trajectories of this first generation of men of politics in Brazil, suggest that Marcelino was both a person who ascended in politics on his own merits and for belonging to the political establishment of the time.
Keywords:
Brazilian Empire; Espírito Santo; priests in politics; press; liberalism in the nineteenth century