Recidivism and Resistance in Portugal: The Case of Clara Maria da Costa and the Inquisition of Coimbra (18th Century)

• Grant number: 25/01844-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2025
• End date: December 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - Modern and Contemporary History
• Principal Investigator: Pablo Oller Mont Serrath
• Grantee: Thais Helena Barbosa Esperança
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Letras (FCL-ASSIS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Assis. Assis , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The present work aims to address the practice of recidivism in witchcraft as a form of resistance to the persecution mechanisms of the Inquisition in Portugal during the 18th century. Based on this premise, the research project focuses on a case from the Inquisition of Coimbra, available in digitized copy at the Torre do Tombo, which contains a case of recidivism in the practice of witchcraft that occurred in the second half of the 1700s. This is the case of Clara Maria da Costa, an "Old Christian," who was arrested three times between 1742 and 1752, charged with superstition, witchcraft, sorcery, and a pact with the devil. Through a paleographic transcription of the defendant's testimony and letters related to her case, the study will specifically address recidivism as an act of contestation, whereby, despite being aware of the crime committed, the accused continued with the practices for which she was judged and punished. In a broader context, the research project fits within the framework of the relationships between the king and subjects, between central power and peripheral powers in Portugal during the Early Modern period. Through reading, transcribing, and analyzing a case of recidivism in the practice of witchcraft, the study will also seek to unravel the mechanisms of repeated punishment and social control used by the Portuguese monarchy through the Holy Office Tribunal.