Church in colonial Brazil
"The main concern that led me to populate Brazil was that the people of Brazil should be converted to our holy Catholic faith."
This programmatic statement of João III. to Tomé de Souza , the first governor-general in Brazil , clearly demonstrates what a major role the Christian sense of mission played in the colonization of the country, at least in the official terminology. Although one must be careful not to see a noble missionary order as the greatest motivation for Portuguese Brazil policy, the religious aspect of the settlement should not be underestimated. In addition to proselytizing the indigenous people and regulating social life in the colony, the influence of Christian thought extended far into the areas of colonial administration and royal politics.
Methodical approaches to a Brazilian church history
Different approaches to a church history in Brazil move roughly between two poles. Traditional approaches generally describe the development of the church in the course of the settlement of Brazil and, based on the statements of contemporary clerics, point to the merit of the church in bringing the "correct" faith to the indigenous people. The representatives of the theology of liberation contrasted this perspective with history from the point of view of the indigenous people affected. Above all, the work of a group around the theologian Eduardo Hoornaert triggered a more problematic discussion of the past of the Brazilian Church. For a balanced presentation it is certainly necessary to consider both aspects, since Christianity played a central role both in the development of colonial society and in dealing with the indigenous population.
Church and Mission in the Process of Colonization
Influencing factors in advance
In order to better understand the importance of the church and religious thought for the process of Portuguese colonization, it is helpful to note some influences that played a central role in the run-up to the expansion.
The Conquista
The overseas expansion of Portugal was viewed by contemporaries primarily as a seamless continuation of the Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula. While most of the economic rationale was certainly clear, the religious motivation of fighting the infidels and caring for the souls of the pagans provided the necessary justification. In the course of the displacement of the Moors, the Crown tried to gain a foothold in Africa in the form of factories in order to be able to open up the trade route to Asia directly. The dispute with the Muslims was largely religiously motivated, although in practice there was no great difference between a certain sense of mission and the safeguarding of economic interests. This religious trait was shaped and promoted in a special way by the orders of knights, above all the order of Christ.
The order of Christ
The Order of Christ was a successor to the Knights Templar founded by the Portuguese king . The members saw it as their job to spread the Catholic faith around the world. The legitimate means for this was the war against the “pagans”, as the widespread opinion prevailed that the submission of the Indians was a necessary step towards their conversion. The Order of Christ quickly developed into a main body when it came to the Portuguese mission. From the Pope he got the right to the entire ecclesiastical jurisdiction, as well as the full right of investiture for all offices in the newly created dioceses. In return for the missionary work of Portugal, the Pope confirmed the country's claim to all areas already discovered and yet to be discovered in the new world. When the King finally became Grand Master of the Order, the mission and the Church in the conquered territories became completely dependent on the Crown.
The Padroado Real
The high point of the royal gain in power in this matter, however, was the Padroado Real from 1551. With this, the Pope guaranteed the king the dignity of Grand Master forever and placed the entire church in the colonies under his power. The king thus became a kind of lay pope for the new areas, who awarded all offices and benefices. Even the administration of the church tithe was incumbent on the crown. In return, the king undertook to spread the faith in the areas, to take over the construction of the church institutions and to pay the clergy. In particular, the administration of the church tithe and the assumption of all financing tasks quickly made the clergy completely dependent on the crown. As a result of this development, Rome was so thoroughly deprived of its influence on the missionary churches that in 1622 the Curia felt compelled to use propaganda fide to try harder to intervene in church activities in the colonies. The total dependence of the Mission Church on the Crown accordingly had profound effects on its development, which are shown below.
The formation of the church structures
The development of the dioceses
The development of the entire structure of a regional church in Brazil was very slow. In the first decades, the crown paid very little attention to the expansion of the church in the colony. For a long time, all of Brazil belonged to the Funchal diocese on Madeira. With the establishment of the General Government in Brazil in 1551, the first diocese in Salvador (Bahia) was also established. It was not until 1677 that two further dioceses were established in Olinda (Pernambuco) and Rio de Janeiro, while Bahia was elevated to an archbishopric. Overall, it can be said that the dioceses followed the general expansion of the colony. The situation of the church reflected the crown's lack of interest in the colony in the 16th and 17th centuries. Church and mission could not bring in any additional dynamism here either.
The clerics
Due to this poor development situation, the official clergy did not have any particular influence on the actual practice of faith in the country. This development was reinforced by the fact that some of the highest clerics, who were eo ipso a bit older, did not even begin the long journey to the “uncivilized colony”, but instead sent a representative. Most of the spiritual work in society fell mainly to the lower clergy. This usually had a relatively stable, often also financial connection with a landowner and took care of all matters in the area of influence of an estate or a smaller village that had to be regulated by the church, such as weddings, baptisms, masses, etc. They were also responsible for the school education of the Children of the rulers and the Christian upbringing of the slaves. A very contentious issue of the time was the question of clerics from the indigenous population. While there were always positive voices in the camp of the missionary orders, the idea never really caught on. Individual examples of Indians or even mestizos can be found at the highest levels in the lower grades. One of the reasons is certainly that in the colonial era there was never a university in Brazil as a training center for higher clerics. However, the source situation is only very marginal and there are few serious research approaches.
The social influence of Catholicism
As a result of the weak church structures, the spiritual life in Brazil was often decentralized to the local mansions and plantations, which, however, including their slaves, lagged behind the small population of the cities. A special form of Catholicism developed that was strictly oriented towards the social order. Like the royal padroado on a large scale, the landlord was the patron saint of the small church, under whose instructions priests and chaplains worked. The landowners used this position as the quasi supreme church lords to increase their status as head sacred and to create a kind of religious legitimacy. When it comes to seats in the church, a strict distinction was made between the master families, the mestizos and the indigenous and later black slaves. Even when the sacraments were conferred, rulers were clearly preferred. Social life took place in large parts in Catholic brotherhoods, which in turn were separated from one another according to skin color and social class. The oppressed victims of this system were preached that their sufferings were comparable to those of the Savior, and apparently no one was bothered by the fact that their originators were devout Catholics. Thus religion confirmed the rule of the whites and instructed the colored people to submit to this "holy" order. The church, which was a political instrument in this way, has accordingly had little missionary work. Due to its strong appropriation for the colonial rulers, it lacked the dynamism of an active mission church. In his influential work “Herrenhaus und Sklavenhütte”, the historian Freyre writes: “... with regard to the impulses that the church had developed at the beginning to become the master of the country in Brazil, it was ultimately subject to the manor”. Another expression of this state of the church were the diverse economic activities of the clergy. Because they collected many taxes in the form of natural produce, the church quickly developed into a trading center for agricultural products. Financial transactions, especially lending, were added, so that Hoornaert writes: "The spacious corridors of some convents were like banking halls". The legitimation of this procedure lay in the fact that the churches and missions so z. T. could pay for their maintenance themselves. But this activity has often become independent, so that dealing with the indigenous population has suffered accordingly. In general it can be stated that the Catholic faith played a great social and economic role in the development of the colony. However, this role was z. Partly misappropriated and proselytizing the locals, as João III. still particularly emphasized, often also detrimental. The transfer of the ecclesiastical structures of Europe to Brazil did not prove itself, at least in the early days of the colonial church. Various attempts to solve this problem also failed because of the power struggle between Rome and Lisbon. So for a spiritual conquest of Brazil it was necessary to entrust someone else with this task. The appropriate staff was found mainly in the religious clergy of the order members.
The activity of the Orders in Brazil
The evangelism of the new world was mainly in the hands of religious orders, so that the activities of the mendicant orders will be briefly outlined here. This is followed by a more detailed account of the activities of the Jesuits, the most influential and strongest order in Brazil.
The mendicant orders in Brazil
The Franciscans
Of the mendicant orders that arrived in Brazil for missionary work, the Franciscan order was the most influential and important. In 1500 the first mass on Brazilian soil was celebrated by Franciscans. In 1510 the first chapel was built. Until 1585 it remained with individual Franciscans who worked here and there without planning and coordination in the Brazilian coastal strip among the Portuguese and the Indians. It was only when the Donatario of Pernambuco asked King Philip II to send Franciscans to Brazil in writing that their expansion in Brazil developed. They then began their activities from 1585 with Olinda as their center. In the following years monasteries were built in Salvador (1587), Igaracu (1588), Paraiba and Vitoria (1589) and Rio de Janeiro (1607). By the middle of the 17th century they had grown to more than 20 monasteries. Two custodies were established: in Olinda and Rio de Janeiro. The activities of the Franciscans were nowhere near as vigorous as those of the Jesuits . In Spanish America the Franciscans were the first to begin systematic missionary work among the Indians, in Brazil it was the Jesuits. The relationship between the two orders was full of conflict and was largely sparked by the Indian question. The Franciscans did not join the debate about the freedom of the Indians. On the contrary, they participated much more in the "just wars" against the Indians, such as B. the campaign against the Caetén in 1560.
Benedictine
This order arrives in Bahia in 1581. From there they spread to Rio de Janeiro, Olinda, Paraiba, São Paulo, São Vicente, Santos and Sorocaba, as well as Jundiai. The Order did not manage many mission settlements, the main focus of their activities was in the monasteries. They maintained a considerable number of slaves who were referred to as the slaves of the saints. In the 17th century the order suffered from the consequences of the Dutch invasion, but was able to intensify its activities, especially in the south of the country17.
Carmelites
The Carmelites arrive in Brazil in 1580. They have their center in Olinda. In 1586 they extended their effectiveness to Salvador, where shortly afterwards they built one of the largest monasteries on the continent on donated land. Further activities followed in the following cities: Pernambuco, Paraiba, Maranhao, Para, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Minas Gerais. They were able to enjoy increasing popularity and find wealthy donors, which meant that they could lavishly decorate their churches and fill them with jewels. The order maintained a large number of African slaves. Overall, the Carmelites played a minor role in proselytizing in Brazil. They had a fixed daily schedule and had to take an entrance exam.
Orders that did not find access to Brazil
The Dominican Order was an important order in Hispaniola, but due to the strong conflicts that arose with the Jesuits there, it was unable to expand into the Portuguese area. The Augustinians were another order that worked in Hispaniola but could not find access to Brazil.
The Jesuits
Building the Order in Brazil
The Jesuit order was the first to come to Brazil and quickly found its way into the country. That was not the case in the rest of the Spanish-dominated part of South America. João III. entrusted the order with the "spiritual conquest" of Brazil. Their influence on the development of Brazil can be described as very formative. There was a rapid development of the order in Brazil, because as early as 1553 the Jesuit Province of Brazil was established with its seat in Salvador under the first Provincial Manuel de Nóbrega. At the end of the 16th century there were three colleges in Brazil, namely in Salvador, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. The order developed very positively. The indicator for this is the number of order members. In the year of the immigration of the Jesuits (1549) there were six, in the year of the expulsion of the Jesuits from Brazil the order numbered 670 people. The Jesuits developed the Aldeia system to systematize mission. With the recognition of this system by the crown in 1587, part of the indigenous population was placed directly under the order, "which thereby created an institutional position in colonial society that clearly exceeded its religious character." The focus of their activities was clearly on Indio mission. Because the order was tightly organized and strictly aligned with the Roman Curia, Horst Pietschmann came to the conclusion that the Jesuits were able to develop a coherent missionary culture. This included sophisticated social activities such as singing or acting. There was a well-thought-out mission didactics through which contents of the Christian faith and Christian ethics and lifestyle were conveyed in various ways. In general, it can be said that the Jesuits were very rational and clearly structured. With this they are often in contradiction to the mendicant orders, which also take an active part in the missions in Brazil. The Jesuits created their own mission architecture and painting. They had a very strong ethnographic interest in the Christianization and civilization of the Indians. This also explains their success in the mission. Among other things, the children of the Indian leadership class were taught to read and write, as well as the basics of mathematics. In addition, the Jesuits introduced European craft and agricultural techniques and adapted them to the respective conditions. They showed a keen interest in the Indians themselves, as they learned about the Indians' special skills, their healing arts and their religious ideas. This concentrated development of systematic missionary work has certainly been favored by the Aldeia system. The Jesuits had a strong influence on education and the economy. They founded colleges (Latin schools), where primarily the sons of the colonial elites, but also other young people, were given access to higher education. You have had a huge impact on education. This can also be proven by the few schools that belonged either to the Jesuits or to the Franciscans. So that they could finance their colleges, the order maintained agricultural goods that were managed according to strict rules and economic principles. Research has referred to these properties as "model properties". As a result, the Jesuit order also acquired considerable economic influence over time, the extent of which, however, is still unclear in research.
The geographic expansion of the Jesuits
Several foundings are mentioned here: In the 16th century: Salvador, Porto Seguro, Vitória, Rio de Janeiro, São Vicente, São Paulo, Olinda. In the 17th century: Ilhéus, Paraíba, Recife, São Luís do Maranhao, Belém do Pará, Santos In the 18th century: Fortaleza, Paranaguá, Florianópolis, Colônia do Sacramento. Numerous missions founded by the Society of Jesus developed into major cities such as São Paulo, Baia and Rio de Janeiro.
Areas of influence of the Jesuits
The Jesuits had four very strong areas of influence in particular. Firstly, they were extensively involved in proselytizing the indigenous population. To do this, they even learned their languages. Furthermore, they shaped the educational system by founding churches, schools, etc. Their role in cultural development must also be mentioned. The last area of influence that must be mentioned is the economy, although the exact influence in this area has not yet been clarified. As a central merit of the Jesuits, their commitment to protecting the Indians from the encroachments of the colonists must be highlighted and appreciated.
Conflicts with the missionary work of the orders
The Jesuit order is always the focus of the conflicts. Most of the clashes arose primarily between the settlers and the Jesuits. The Jesuits had put their emphasis on the Indian mission. As a result, they constantly came into conflict with the settlers. This is due to the lack of workers. Due to the high workload, the settlers simply lacked workers. That is why they often attacked missions, destroyed them and made the Indians into slaves . The Jesuits reacted by uniting the Indians in paramilitary groups and forbidding any interference in their villages. This is how real local resistance developed. The Jesuits stood up resolutely for the rights of the Indians, so that they developed as champions for the rights of the Indians. They did not deviate from this position either, which resulted in constant conflicts with the settlers. This even led to the fact that they were expelled from several areas (1640 from São Paulo; 1662 from Maranhao) and finally had to leave Brazil in 1759. During the reign of Jose I (1750–77), a police ship was embarked from Portugal, which then ensured that the Jesuits had to turn their backs on Brazil when the conflict with the Jesuits broke out again. But the Jesuits not only had to endure constant clashes with the settlers; conflicts also had to be constantly dealt with with the bishops sent from Portugal. There were disputes with the first bishop in Brazil, Pedro Fernandes Sardinha, because almost any enslavement of the Indians seemed fair to him. Prien describes it as a strange coincidence that Sardinha fell victim to the man-eating Caeté after a shipwreck on the coast of Alagoa, along with almost one hundred crew members and passengers . Under the second governor, Duarte da Costa , there was also an almost complete break between state and ecclesiastical authorities. A sensible missionary work of the Jesuits could only begin under the third governor Mem da Sa, who was benevolent towards the work of the Jesuits. In addition, there were also conflicts. a. in São Paulo, with the other orders ( Benedictines , Franciscans , Carmelites ). That was due to the different attitudes towards the Indians. The other orders had a largely pro-settler attitude, which inevitably led to arguments with the Jesuits.
The inquisition
The Inquisition was also introduced in Brazil, but only played a marginal role there. There were only two visitations, namely in 1591 and 1618 under Heitor Furtado de Mendonca and Marcos Teixeira. The Inquisition's legislation was primarily aimed at former Jews who had converted to Christianity, but were suspected of secretly living out their Jewish faith. This charge was the most common (21.78% of all cases). Other offenses were the lack of veneration of Christ or the saints (18.75%), blasphemy (9.52%). These three were the main charges. In almost every other case, one of these three grounds was brought before the Inquisitors. Disrespectful words, bigamy, barbarism, sodomy, sorcery, fornication, words against church and clergy, devil's pact, superstition or insulting the Holy Office were also included in the series of punishable missteps. The main places of the Inquisition were Salvador, Olinda, Rio de Janeiro and Belém. For American new Christians, i.e. H. The Inquisition was not responsible for baptized Indians or African slaves because they were assigned a different status than the Jewish new Christians. In contrast to the Jews, according to the theory, the locals had never heard of God before and could not immediately be subjected to the rigors of the Inquisition. The increased work of the Inquisition falls into the period of the Portuguese-Spanish personal union and is certainly due to Spanish influence, where St. Office had a great influence. Significantly, the establishment of a permanent seat in Brazil was lost in the course of the dissolution of the Union.
literature
- Hoornaert, Eduardo: Church history of Brazil from the perspective of the oppressed 1500 - 1800 . Mettingen 1982.
- Hoornaert, Eduardo: The Catholic church in colonial Brazil . In: Bethel, Leslie: Cambridge history of Latin america. Vol. 1.
- Prien, Hans-Jürgen: The history of Christianity in Latin America.
- Bernecker, Walter: A little history of Brazil.