"For Fear of the Holy Office": Accusations from Minas Gerais at the Inquisition Court (18th century)

Resende, Maria Leônia Chaves de; Sousa, Rafael José de

doi:10.1590/0104-87752016000100009

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Articles • Varia hist. 32 (58) • Jan-Apr 2016 • https://doi.org/10.1590/0104-87752016000100009 copy

"For Fear of the Holy Office": Accusations from Minas Gerais at the Inquisition Court (18th century)

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

This article identifies and analyzes the accusations set down in the Lisbon Inquisition's Cadernos do Promotor (Prosecutor's Notebooks) and Documentação Dispersa (Miscellaneous Documents) relating to Minas Gerais. These sources are deposited in Portugal's Torre do Tombo (ANTT) national archives in Lisbon. The article aims to build a quantitative overview of the nature of the accusations, the time periods, and the regions, comparing results with recent historiography of the Holy Office's work in Portuguese America. From this perspective, it assembles the cases, from 1692-1821, placing them in their respective categories under the Inquisitorial Regulations to give an overview of the work of the Inquisition, its network of agents and the people caught in the inquisitorial web in Minas Gerais.

Keywords
Inquisition; accusations; Minas Gerais

Motive	Number
Of heretics and apostates of the Holy Faith.	31
Of schismatics.	02
Of blasphemers and those who utter heretical, reckless or scandalous propositions.	271
Of those who offend or show irreverence toward the Blessed Sacrament on the altar or sacred images or receive the Blessed Sacrament without fasting.	53
Of witches, sorcerers or diviners who invoke the devil and have a pact with him or use the art of judicial astrology.	294
Of bigamists	60
Of those who say mass or hear confession, not being priests.	04
Of confessors solicitant during the sacrament of confession.	35
Of those who impede or obstruct the ministry of the Holy Office.	24
Of those who read or keep books by heretics or of some unholy sect.	75
Of those who commit the abominable crime of sodomy.	39
Of those who break the seal of confession.	25
Of perjury.	03
No information.	11
Other.	62
Total	989

Accusations per County	Number
Rio das Mortes	155
Rio das Velhas	270
Serro do Frio	82
Vila Rica	396
Not reported	86
Total	989

Pós-Graduação em História, Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais Av. Antônio Carlos, 6627 , Pampulha, Cidade Universitária, Caixa Postal 253 - CEP 31270-901, Tel./Fax: (55 31) 3409-5045, Belo Horizonte - MG, Brasil - Belo Horizonte - MG - Brazil
E-mail: variahis@gmail.com

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[TFN03] Sources: ANTT, IL, Cadernos do Promotor e Documentação Dispersa (1700-1820).