"Casos de Vida e Morte" - Ciclos epidêmicos e administração das freguesias no contexto de embate entre o regalismo e o ultramontanismo em Alagoas (1845-1875)

Abstract

It is known that the analysis of the participation of the Roman Catholic Church in the formation of contemporary Brazil is indispensable for its historical understanding. It is understood that one of its roles in this long period was the task of ordering the social space, together with the Imperial State in political, cultural and ideological spheres. In this regard, regalism and ultramontanism can be understood as the two predominant ecclesiological paradigms during its formation. The first would represent the historical relations established between the clergy and the power structures of the royal patronage; while the second came to affirm a catholic principle that constituted as "opposition" to the of liberal thought, in particular the defense of its precepts and the subjection to the Roman Pontiff. The purpose of this study is to identify and discuss a documentary framework that allows the elaboration of an explanatory hypothesis about the presence and performance of the Catholic clergy influenced by the regalist and ultramontanist ideas and practices in the Alagoas territory, between 1845 and 1875. Using the documentary collection of the Public Archive of Alagoas (APA) and the Digital Library of the National Library. Specifically, seeks to understand the conflicts in the relationship between these assumptions and the social impact that legal and administrative changes had in the towns and cities within the province; in particular, the public health crises cause by the epidemics and the administration of public cemeteries that were managed by government officials and by regular and vicarious orders, understanding the calamity as a modifying agent of space and traditional customs.