ON BEHALF OF THE SUCCESS OF THE KING OF PORTUGAL´S MISSIONS: missionary policy and defense of the Portuguese royal patronage, 1640-1715.

• Grant number: 16/14663-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: December 04, 2016
• End date: April 08, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - Modern and Contemporary History
• Principal Investigator: Pedro Luis Puntoni
• Grantee: Ágatha Francesconi Gatti
• Supervisor: Tiago Costa Pinto dos Reis Miranda
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Universidade de Évora, Portugal
• Associated to the scholarship: 14/05248-3 - On behalf of the success of the king of Portugal's missions: missionary policy and defense of the Portuguese royal patronage, 1640-1715, BP.DR

Abstract

This project refers to the doctoral research in course, supported by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP), and aims to obtain funds, on the modality Bolsa de Estágio de Pesquisa no Exterior (BEPE), for the second research travel in order to access Portuguese archives and libraries and two archives settled in Rome, as planned on the schedule of activities included in the initial project (Project fapesp 2014/05248-3). The central issue of the present doctoral research is to comprehend the Portuguese missionary policies between 1640 and 1715, operating in a more global perspective, to emphasize the movements and strategies that composed the expansion of Christianity and the missionary efforts in that period. From this perspective, two main fields of analysis - profoundly intertwined - have remained as priorities in the current research: the study of the Juntas de Missões, institutions established with the purpose to endow the Portuguese crown with more efficient ways to manage the missionary works (a metropolitan Mission Board was founded in 1655 and overseas Mission Boards were founded in 1681); and the comprehension of the impacts and disputes provoked by the gradual strengthening of a Roman Missionary Church which was progressively solidified by the creation of the Sagrada Congregação de Propagação da Fé in 1622. The opportunity to access the archives listed in this research project will allow a larger comprehension and reconstitution of the real challenges faced by Portugal in the negotiation with the Santa Sé, specially with regard to the actions in defense of their spiritual role determined by the Padroado Régio. In addition, it will permit the development of a broader analysis that will lead us to an accurate understading of particularities of the Portuguese missionary policies during that period, with special emphasis on the strategies and ways that have been designed by Portugal to mantain its command of the missionary works in the overseas possessions. In this field, the comprehension of the functioning, competencies and range of the Juntas de Missões holds fundamental importance.