The serviço de armas and the wars against Palmares: military expeditions, soldiers and mercês (Pernambuco, seventeenth-century)

Author(s)

Laura Peraza Mendes

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas
• Defense date: 2013-12-08

Examining board members

Silvia Hunold Lara; Ronald José Raminelli; Leila Mezan Algranti

• Advisor: Silvia Hunold Lara

Abstract

There was a long web that connected the Portuguese Crown to the settlers of its vast empire. The Ultramar inhabitants could become vassals through their services, when they proved their loyalty to the Portuguese monarch and were rewarded for this. Some of the main ways found to serve the Crown was the armas (a kind of military service), the combat of foreign enemies or revolted Blacks and Indians, and the financing of military expeditions or battles. In seventeenth-century Pernambuco the fight against the mocambos of Palmares was seen as a great opportunity for those who desired to serve the Crown and thus require mercês (gifts) such as habits of Military Orders, tenças (regular payments), and military or civilian positions. This research was thought to bring contributions to the knowledge in colonial Brazil's military history, making use of the military expeditions sent to destroy the mocambos of Palmares between 1676 and 1679 as background. Through the analysis of some aspects of these expeditions, this research aims to reach a better understanding of the "serviço de armas" (a kind of military service) in Pernambuco and its finances and wages. It also desires to comprehend the effect of this kind of service in the relationship between the American vassals and the Portuguese Crown (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 11/04252-9 - Incursions against Palmares and the dilemmas of the colonial rule in Pernambuco (1654-1695)
• Grantee: Laura Peraza Mendes
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master