The trajectory of D. Tomás José de Melo: administration, governance and Enlightenment politics in Pernambuco in the second half of the eighteenth century

• Grant number: 13/18923-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: November 01, 2013
• End date: October 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - History of Brazil
• Principal Investigator: Heloísa Liberalli Bellotto
• Grantee: Raphael Lisboa de Azevedo
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The current research project, entitled The trajectory of Dom Tomás José de Melo: administration, governance and Enlightenment politics in Pernambuco in the second half of the eighteenth century, in developing at the graduate program in Social History of FFLCH-USP, under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Heloisa Liberalli Bellotto, investigates the government Dom Tomas José de Melo, Governor Captain-General of the captaincy of Pernambuco between 1787 and 1798 under a political administrative perspective. In Portugal, during the mid-eighteenth century, from the Pombal reforms, a change in political culture, seeking greater rationalization and removal of the culture of Ancien Régime, through the adoption of Enlightenment ideals. We work in developing of a biography of the governor, fitting in a common profile of royal officials for the period, bringing evidence of a new direction in the administration of overseas colonies of the Portuguese Empire. Through analysis of the biographical profile of the Governor and his work in front of the captaincy, seek to locate in Pernambuco, the implementation of measures typical of Portuguese Enlightenment. (AU)