Paper short abstract:

This paper will address the question of the circulation of judicial agents between the different spaces of the Portuguese Empire during the 17th and 18th centuries. It will analyze and question the existence of an Atlantic network as well as describe how it developed throughout the period.

Paper long abstract:

The circulation of its agents is probably one of the distinctive characteristics of the Portuguese imperial experience. Justice officials, namely the magistrates, are part of this dynamic body of administration. In this paper we will try to develop some research lines that we have pursued in recent years, on the analysis of judicial careers and the way they weave a transatlantic network of circulation. As far as these agents are concerned, the specificity of the judicial field translates into a different geography of the Portuguese imperial spaces, with the creation of two different zones that hardly communicate: the Atlantic and the Indian worlds. By using methods of prosopography and network analysis, combined with cartography, we will propose a way of mapping this circulation, paying a special attention to the question of network evolution. In a reality that is extremely dynamic - with and extremely active creation of new judicial posts in colonial spaces - the chronological dimension plays a crucial role in achieving an accurate perception of how the system worked. The paper will, therefore, aim at identify both communicating and non-communicating points; define regularities and trends in the circulation; establish its chronology; and understanding the functioning of this administrative system.

Paper short abstract:

This communication intends to reflect the dimension and performance of the Regal ombudspersons and local powers in the Captaincy of Ceará through the practical and dynamic exercise of power in its extremities, or within the limits of the plots of "good ruling".

Paper long abstract:

The proposal of this communication intends to discuss the power of relationships in administration of Justice through the establishment of the political-administrative body of the Portuguese Empire in the Captaincy of Ceará, in the 18th century. It turns out that in this historical context not only complaints against many administrators have increased, but also intensified the conflicts between all spheres of power showing, this way, that the multiple interests that have been formed that the Crown had to deal with to ensure the exercise of Justice in the Captaincy due to accusations of administrative interference of royal officials. In this context, the political power of jurisdiction played an important role as an instrument of control for Royal power metropolitan officers. Our intention is to understand which devices made the exercise of command possible within the scope of local government, causing, this way, an important reflection on the practice of the Portuguese Colonial administration. It is considered that the problems withconflicts of jurisdiction among local powers sets up another dimension of power, thus revealing cracks and ruptures in the connection between the administrative policy on captaincy and metropolitan institutions. From this issue, great contradictions come up, that need to be considered in relation to the political practices in the Captaincy in the 18th century.

Paper short abstract:

This project aims to reflect on the role of chambers of the Mines during the first half of the 18th century, trying to analyze the management of local issues and the management of metropolitan demands, understanding that they presented themselves as opportunities for negotiations and conflicts.

Paper long abstract:

The present work is part of a doctoral research under the guidance of Professor Dr. Junia Furtado, and has as one of its goals to reflect on the activities of local power in Minas in the first half of the 18th century.

The analysis will be divided into two phases: Initially enlightening about the early years of the implementation of royal power over auriferous areas, seeking to show the importance of the Senate chamber in the process of implementation of metropolitan authority overseas, and a second time

It will seek to analyze the management performed by the chamber in a more consolidated position as an administrative institution.

The chamber, formed by members of the local elite, was the organ responsible for the organizing of society and the governance of the empire as well, which meant the management of the municipality and the administration of metropolitan demands in the locality. Therefore, to enlighten the thinking about the role of municipal councils it will seek to reflect on the concept of a negotiated authority from the reality of the chambers. I understand that these were not just opportunities of negotiation, but also of conflicts that were processed among the members of the elite themselves, as well as tensions between the local power and the Portuguese Crown. For this, it will rely on the documentation that is in the Public Archives of the state of Minas Gerais, at the Historical Archives of the Municipality of Mariana and the Overseas Historical Archive.

Paper short abstract:

The objective of this paper is to understand the relations stabilished between juízes de fora and the officials in the City Council Vila do Carmo . We will focus mainly on the path made by those officials, in wich these demonstrate their connections with the councilmen and local powerful people.

Paper long abstract:

This paper is still the beginning for what I intend to accomplish in my Doctor's degree thesis which is currently ongoing in Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. The general objective is to verify, through trajectories of people named by the king for the position of juiz de fora in Vila do Carmo (Mariana/Brasil), between 1730 and 1777, how they stabilished themselves locally in terms of social, political and economical interactions with the councilmen, analysing through such trajectories if there was any form of insertion in networks of local Power.

The first nomination of an juiz de fora for Minas Gerais happened in Vila do Carmo in 1730. Because he was a foreign official, he was inicially nominated with the purpose of breaking the bounds among locally influential people and, mainly, to consolidate the Royal interests in with the City Council. It's noticed, for all the documents previously consulted,that only two quarrels involved the councilmen in Vila do Carmo and the juiz de fora in Mariana between 1730 and 1777.

Such statement is interesting for the development of this paper, for his arrival would generate conflicts with either the local population or even other Royal officials. The statement shows that, even at first, the officials weren't an inconvenient to the member of the City Council. To sum it up, what is observed with the work with the documental sources is that the judges often did not accomplished what was designated in the Ordenações do Reino.

Paper short abstract:

The aim of the presentation is to analyze and compare the differences and the similarities in the almotaçaria jurisdiction of several Portuguese municipalities, located within and outside the mainland Portugal, focusing particularly the magistracy in charge of the building disputes.

Paper long abstract:

The almotaçaria was one of the most enduring Portuguese institutions. Its origin goes back to the beginning of the Portuguese nationality (being, in fact, an Islamic legacy), and it was extinct in the mid-nineteenth century. This municipal institution had three basic attributions of control: the market, the sanitary and the construction activities. The almotacé was, therefore, an urban magistrate acting as a supervisor, inspector, administrator and judge. This last competence was particularly relevant in building disputes between neighbours, since the almotacé acted in conflict management being compelled to intervene whenever any inhabitant call him.

Since the fifteenth century, the almotaçaria institution was propagated outside the mainland Portugal, following the establishment of the municipalities and being an important piece in the local administration. The Kingdom Ordinances defined the almotaçaria jurisdictions, but in several municipalities some aspects of the central law were adapted to the particular urban situation. Due to the urban size, number of inhabitants and administrative requirements, the almotacé was subdivided in two officials and its service time became diverse. However, the most extreme variation occurred in Lisbon. Nevertheless, the constructions laws remained always the same.

In the presentation, it will be shown the differences in the almotaçaria jurisdiction of several towns and cities, located in mainland Portugal, Atlantic islands or in Brazil. It will also be explained how this differences can be considered as superficial within the underlying institutional structure, particularly in the building control, by which resulted a strong similarity in the buildings and in the urban forms.

Paper short abstract:

Our talk will focus on the nature and the results of the “pluralistic” legal project assumed by Portuguese metropolitan government when Portuguese Civil Code of 1867 was enforced in colonial territories.

Paper long abstract:

When Portuguese Civil Code of 1867 was enforced in colonial territories in Africa, the right to be judged according to their consuetudinary private and criminal law was recognized to a large set of native communities. This law - the usos e costumes -, was deemed to be enforced by ordinary or special colonial courts, and headed by colonial judges or administrative officials, sometimes with the support of native authorities. Being aware of the difficulties these officials would face while applying norms which they hardly knew about, the metropolitan government gave instructions to codify those usos e costumes, in order to provide colonial officials with a written record of the native law they were expected to use.

Our talk will focus the nature of this "pluralistic" project assumed by Portuguese metropolitan government, strongly influenced by previous representations about the character of native communities, namely their general backwardness. "Usos e costumes" were the opposite of the "civilized" legal culture and their recognition was in tension with universalistic ideas associate with the codification of law and "assimilationist" ideas associated with the civilizing mission, a problem that needed to be solved by the doctrine.. We also intend to make some reflections on the way the "usos e costumes" were applied, focusing on the equivocal aspects involved in their application.

Paper short abstract:

According to Gerald Bender, the Portuguese relied on degredados to maintain a colonial presence in Angola, where, he argues, they committed almost every crime imaginable. Nonetheless, historians have largely neglected crime in this context. This paper uses crime to explore the emergence of a police state.

Paper long abstract:

In 1681 an anonymous poet described Angola as: "[the] dunghill of Portugal where she purges her scum." The 'scum' referred to the Portuguese convicts (degredados) exported to the Portuguese colony of Angola. According to Gerald Bender, the Portuguese could not attract free settlers and relied on degredados to maintain a colonial presence in Angola. There, he argues, they committed almost every crime imaginable and posed a major threat to the peace and well-being of "Africans and Europeans alike." Although Bender paints a dangerous picture of Angola, historians have largely neglected crime in this context. In particular, the 19th century saw major economic changes and demographic growth, which are important factors in understanding crime and criminality. The colonial administration, anticipating a rise in crime, increased the police force and Governor General Pedro Alexandrino da Cunha introduced a series of prison reforms. This paper uses cases published in the Boletim Oficial de Angola (BOA), from the mid 19th century, speficially cases from the Parte da Polica Occurrencias section. By describing crime and punishment, it will highlight the emergence of a police state.

Paper short abstract:

This paper aims to analyze the judge conservator action in the Conservatórias do Comércio (as one instance of Casa da Suplicação), taking into account the tensions between the attempts of its regulation by public authorities and the autonomist practices related to the mercantile tradition.

Paper long abstract:

Although it is possible to conceive the law of merchants, ius mercatorum, as a product of special jurisdiction based on rules, rights and specific courts, and also as independent of the institutionalized forms of control of modern States, it is suitable to proceed with caution. Despite their attempts of autonomy, and the consequent tensions therefrom derived, it cannot be sustained that it has existed totally separate from the institutions created by the public powers of monarchies whose enlightened projects of reform and great intervention in the privileged legal spaces, were a turning point in the 18th century Ibero-American history. Then was created, in the Portuguese Empire, a specific instance in the scope of the Court's resources (Casa da Suplicação), called Conservatórias de Comércio, for the resolution of trade issues and with the election of a judge conservator. This privileged jurisdiction was carried to Brazil with the Royal Family in 1808 and would carry on after its Independence in 1822. This paper aims to analyze the formation of the judge conservator action, taking into account the tensions between the attempts of its regulation by public authorities and the autonomist practices related to the mercantile tradition. We will argue that, despite the attempts for a great standardization of laws, the commercial jurisprudence remained linked to traditional moral values of trade.