Devotion and instrumentalization of the faith: Africans and Afro-descendants in Portuguese Catholicism, 18th century

africanos e afrodescendentes no projeto cristão da América Portuguesa, século XVIII

Abstract

In the following pages, the movements undertaken by the Church and the Portuguese Crown will be outlined in order to constitute an empire based on the reproduction of the Catholic faith and the success of mercantile dealings. For this enterprise, investment in devotions that would promote identification between the faithful and the entities was essential for religious expressions to conform to slave colonization. The devotions that brought together specific social groups, and in an exclusive way, would have played an important role in the reproduction of the prevailing social order, especially since the naturalization of African slavery needed daily reinforcement. However, privileging the studies of the brotherhoods as interesting environments for understanding lay religiosity, it was observed that these institutions could confer a certain autonomy to Africans and Afro-descendants, through the management of these unions. In addition, it stands out the constitution of groups culturally represented by their devotions, which tensioned the social cleavages in the daily life of the Old Regime.