“Com favor de Deus quer casar”: família, igreja e sociedade – Freguesia de N.S. da Conceição das Alagoas (1881-1890)

Abstract

Family History is a field of Social History that seeks to know society through analyzing family groups, their components, and the processes by which they are regulated. As Family historiography in Alagoas is barely existing, this work sought to examine documents referring to 542 matrimonies performed by the Catholic Church at the parish of Nossa Senhora da Conceição das Alagoas between 1881 and 1890, using its pieces of information to verify qualitative and quantitative data related to that society. For this analysis, data on marriage records were extracted and organized on spreadsheets, and processes were organized and classified, for cross-checking sources. It was also performed a historiographic review on the subject, allowing comparison. It was verified that some info was not registered to all the engaged, as age and profession, but it broadly includes data such as the place of birth and residence, filiation, existing degree of relatedness, among others, as data on matrimonial dynamics, as to date, place of celebration and priest. Therefore, it is possible to establish these documents as rich in info on both the profile of those who sought Catholic marriage and the Church itself, on its practice in the locality, serving as a source to writing the history of the Alagoas family.