Maranhão Pombalino: conflitos, jurisdição e autoridade no governo de Joaquim de Melo e Póvoas (1761-1779)

Abstract

Joaquim de Melo e Povoas governed Maranhao between 1761 and 1779, being the most notorious and longest-serving colonial administrator of the 18th century. Widely celebrated in Maranhao's memoir literature, his government is traditionally seen as marking the beginning of the captaincy's opulence and wealth, made possible not only by his actions but also by the operations of the Grao-Para and Maranhao General Trading Company. Our proposal, however, is to focus on a little-known issue: the conflicts of jurisdiction and authority that marked not only his actions but also triggered a significant political crisis in the final years of his government. Methodologically, we used paleography to undertake a critical analysis of the handwritten documentation produced in the sphere of political communication throughout his government. This approach allows us to offer a counterpoint to previous studies, demonstrating that Melo e Povoas was highly privileged by the position and influence of his uncle, the Marquis of Pombal, resulting in a scenario where his actions were not challenged. The dismissal of Pombal in Lisbon (1777), however, drastically changed political relations in Maranhao. As an educational product, we chose to develop a handbook entitled "Researching Colonial Maranhao: a handbook of Manuscript Sources and Paleography," aimed at undergraduate students of History and related fields, with the aim of exploring and encouraging historical research on colonial Maranhao involving the use of manuscript sources. To this end, we address historical aspects of Latin Paleography; technical aspects of Archivology and document classification; practical and normative aspects of paleographic transcription; and auxiliary tools.