“Ou cismas, ou prisões, ou apostasia, ou cadeia”: mudanças e permanências do padroado régio na administração civil-eclesiástica da província de Alagoas (1817-1870)

Abstract

The creation of a brazilian public administration took place after an extensive process of adaptation and mutability, where the Catholic Church prevailed as a structural agent of the potuguese crown. Starting with the expanse of the Iberian colonization, throughout the annexation to the portuguese metropolis until the rise of the Brazilian Empire. The subservience of the clergy before the regents of the Portuguese throne, boosted the dissemination of divergent ecclesiological positions from the papal authority in clerical segments. Those who proposed the defense of the patronage were therefore called, in historiography, regalists. However, the same liberal influences that pushed the regalist position of independence before the Holy See, routinely clashed with the institution's rigging under the power of the State.Based on the contemplated historiography, mainly the new political and social history, it becomes possible to see that this notable transformation occurred in Brazil in a more pronounced way from the 19th century onwards, when the increasing loss of space in political spheres, on the part of clerics, caused the relationship between ecclesiastical and civil powers to became more intense.This dissertation investigates these power relations within the civil-ecclesiastical administration in the Province of Alagoas – between the years 1817 and 1870 – through the analysis of correspondence and reports from the province's clergy, proceedings log of the Chamber of the General Council of Province, in addition to the episodes of conflict available in periodicals of the time. Because, the disputes contained in these soucers show that the participation and direct political action of members of the provincial clergy in liberal movements, contesting the Imperial government and in armed revolts intensified throughout this period. With the aim of redefining the role of the Catholic Church, within the social space, together with the State in political, cultural and ideological spheres.