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Military Orders in Nineteenth-Century Brazil: Portuguese Tradition, the Holy See, and the Independent Nation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Camila Borges Da Silva
Camila Borges Da Silva*
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal Fluminense Niterói, Rio de Janeiro
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Extract

This article is a study of the controversial role of Portuguese military orders in Brazil, starting from that nation’s independence in 1822 and continuing through the nineteenth century, under both the first Emperor of Brazil, Dom Pedro I, and his son, Dom Pedro II. The debates around the presence of the orders, whose mission was rooted in both Portuguese colonial power and the authority of the Holy See, on Brazilian soil are important because they shed light on the process and nature of the growth of that nation’s independence. The government’s struggle to maintain the orders in Brazil, in spite of ongoing criticism, and only with the exertion of great diplomatic effort, demonstrates how necessary they were to the functioning of the state. The orders constituted an important source of income, yes, but they were valuable even more as ways of granting honor and prestige. Their presence allowed Dom Pedro I to unite the empire of Brazil by decorating local elites, thus securing their services and loyalty.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 71 , Issue 1 , July 2014 , pp. 71 - 99
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014

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References

This article is the result of the author’s doctoral research on honorary orders, conducted in the postgraduate program in the Social History of Culture at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-RJ). The research is funded by the Foundation to Support Research in the State of Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) as a part of its Grade 10 Scholarship program. My thanks to the anonymous reviewers for The Americas, who provided valuable criticism and commentary, and to the translator, William W. Pickett.

1. Although the Holy See is commonly referred to as the Vatican, the latter came into existence only in 1929 with the signing of the Lateran Treaty, in which Italy granted the Holy See sovereignty over its own designated territory, the city-state of the Vatican. Therefore, while the Vatican refers to that territory, the Holy See refers to the Catholic Church’s highest authority.

2. Alain Demurger notes that “one needs to understand exclusively the text that set out the religious charters, conventual uses and duties of a new brother at the moment he made his profession in the order. Later came additional statutes, laws, uses, and customs, which were no less important.” The order was recognized by the Church only after the rule was ratified by the pope. Alain Demurger, Os cavaleiros de Cristo: as ordens militares na Idade Média (sees. XI-XIV), (Rio de Janeiro: Jorge Zahar, 2002), p. 73.

3. For more on the rules of service, see Demurger, Os cavaleiros de Cristo, p. 77; and Barbara Frale, Os templarios. (São Paulo: Madras, 2005), p. 48.

4. Demurger, Os cavaleiros de Cristo, p. 44.

5. For more on the dissolution of this order, see Frale, Os templarios, pp. 129–161; and Demurger, Os cavaleiros de Cristo, pp. 190–194.

6. For more on the Templars’ assets following the extinction of the order, see Demurger, Os cavaleiros de Cristo, pp. 196, 238, 239. The comendadorias, sometimes called commanderies, were lands granted by civil or Church authority and held in trust that were given to a commander of an order. For a definition of commandery, see Nizza da Silva, Maria Beatriz, Ser nobre na colónia (São Paulo: Editora UNESP, 2005), p. 99 Google Scholar; and Olival, Fernanda, As ordens militares e o estado moderno. Honra, mercé e venalidade em Portugal (1641—1789), (Lisbon: Estar Editora, 2001), pp. 44–17.Google Scholar

7. One of the Order of Christ’s prerogatives was the right to tithe, a “tax corresponding to a tenth of what the land could produce.” Luiz Marques Poliano, Ordens honoríficas do Brasil: história, organização, padrões, legislação (Rio de Janeiro: Imprensa Nacional, 1943), pp. 62–64.

8. Twenty-nine of the 32 viceroys of the Indies belonged to the orders between 1525 and 1600. Demurger, Os cavaleiros de Cristo, pp. 247, 248. However, Francis A. Dutra suggests that a large number of habits were granted to noblemen who had never been in any of these regions, and that several knights had to be persuaded—even forcefully encouraged—to provide military services after receiving a habit. Francis A. Dutra, “Membership in the Order of Christ in the Seventeenth Century: Its Rights and Obligations,” The Americas 27:1 (July 1970), pp. 3–25.

9. Dutra, “Membership,” p. 4. This privilege also extended to land that had not yet been discovered, providing great encouragement for expeditions. The privilege was granted by Pope Eugene IV and confirmed by Nicholas V, Callixtus III, and Sixtus IV. Poliano, Ordens honorificas do Brasil, p. 58.

10. When the award was granted, the person receiving it would be invested with the habit, which meant, according to Raphael Bluteau and Antônio de Morais e Silva, being granted permission to use the insignia of military orders. Raphael Bluteau, Vocabulario Portuguez e Latino, vol. 2 (Coimbra: Collègio das Artes da Companhia de Jesus, vol. 2, 1712), p. 5; Antônio de Morais e Silva. Diciondrio da lingua portuguesa, vol. 1 (Lisboa: Simão Tadeu Ferreira, 1813), p. 678.

11. Olival, As ordens militares e o estado moderno. Two congresses and two Portuguese periodicals dedicated to the subject have appeared since the 1990s. The international congresses are the International Meeting on Military Orders, now in its sixth year, whose proceedings are published in book format after each encounter, and the International Seminar on Military Orders, which has produced the periodical Militarium Ordinum Analecta since 1997 at the University of Porto. Another international periodical is Filermo, also from Porto, published since 1992.

12. Olival, As ordens militares e o estado moderno, p. 3.

13. Artidoro Augusto Xavier Pinheiro, Organização das ordens honoríficas do Império do Brasil (São Paulo: Typographia de Jorge Seckler & Cia, 1884); Laurencio Lago, Medalhas e condecorações brasileiras. Coletânea de atos oficiais (1808–1934), (Rio de Janeiro: Imprensa Nacional, 1935); Francisco de Assis Carvalho Franco, Nobiliário colonial: fidalgos da Casa Real e cavaleiros do Hábito das Ordens Militares com serviços prestados no Brasil, principalmente na guerra holandesa-século XVII (São Paulo: Instituto Genealògico Brasileiro, 1942); Poliano, Ordens honoríficas do Brasil; João de Souza Ribeiro Filho, Ordens honoríficas nacionais e estrangeiras (Rio de Janeiro: Ed. O Cruzeiro, 1955).

14. See Dutra, Francis A, “A Hard-fought Struggle for Recognition: Manuel Gonçalves Dória, First Afro-Brazilian to Become a Knight of Santiago, The Americas 56:1 (July 1999), pp. 91–113 Google Scholar, among other works of the same author. See also de Mello, Evaldo Cabral, O nome e o sangue: uma fraude genealògica no Pernambuco colonial (São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 1989)Google Scholar; Silva, M. B. N., Ser nobre na colônia; Stumpf, Roberta Giannubilo, Cavaleiros do ouro e outras trajetórias nobilitantes: as solicitações de hábitos das ordens militares nas Minas setecentistas (Brasília: University of Brasília, 2009)Google Scholar; Krause, Thiago Nascimento, Em busca da honra: a remuneração dos serviços da guerra holandesa e os hábitos das ordens militares (Bahia e Pernambuco, 1641–1683), (São Paulo: Annablume, 2012)Google Scholar.

15. The bylaws of the Order of Pedro I were not officially recognized until a decree was issued on October 19, 1842, and the decree similarly did not authorize pensions or commanderies. For the decree to create the Order of the Tower and Sword, see the act dated November 29, 1808, transcribed in Poliano, Ordens honoríficas do Brasil, pp. 195–197. For the Order of the Cross, see the decree dated December 1, 1822, National Archives, Graças Honoríficas, Codex 15, vol. 9. For the 1824 constitution see Brasil, Coleção das Leis do Império do Brasil, 1824 (Rio de Janeiro: Imprensa Nacional, 1886). The decree to create the Order of Pedro I is dated April 16, 1826 and is found in the National Archives, Graças Honoríficas, Codex 15, vol. 11. For the Order of the Rose, see the decree dated October 17, 1829, National Archives, Codex 14, vol. 8.

16. For the history of the process of independence in Brazil, see Bastos Pereira das Neves, Lúcia Maria, Corcundas e constitucionais: a cultura politica da independência (1820–1822), (Rio de Janeiro: Editora Revan/FAPERJ, 2003)Google Scholar.

17. For the process of accepting independence in Grão-Pará, see André Roberto de Arruda Machado, A quebra da mola real das sociedades. A crise política do Antigo Regime Português na província do Grão Pará (1821–1825), (São Paulo: University of São Paulo, 2006). For the situation in Bahia, see Graham, Richard, “‘Ao mesmo tempo sitiantes e sitiados.’ A luta pela subsistencia em Salvador (1822–1823),” in Independência: história e historiografia, Jancsó, István, ed. (São Paulo: Editora Hucitec: Fapesp, 2005), pp. 411–445 Google Scholar; and Wisiak, Thomas, “Itinerário da Bahia na independencia do Brasil (1822–1823),” in Independência, Jancsó, pp. 447–474 Google Scholar. On the provincial chambers’ acceptance of independence and the uprisings, see Carvalho Souza, Iara Lis, Pátria coroada: o Brasil como corpo político autônomo (1780–1831), (São Paulo: Editora da UNESP, 1999)Google Scholar.

18. Poliano, Ordens honoríficas do Brasil, p. 220.

19. For the decree nominating the regent in Brazil, see Hipólito José da Costa, Sergio Goes de Paula, ed. (São Paulo: Editora 34, 2001), p. 298.

20. Registro de consultas e resoluções, National Archives, Codex 26, vol. 18; Guilherme Pereira das Neves, E Receberá Mercê: a Mesa da Consciência e Ordens e o clero secular no Brasil 1808–1828 (Rio de Janeiro: National Archives, 1997), p. 110.

21. Portugal. Coleção dos Decretos, Resoluções e Ordens das Cortes Gerais, Extraordinárias e Constitucionais da Nação portuguesa, desde a sua instalação em 26 de janeiro de 1821 (Coimbra: Imprensa da Universidade, 1822), p. 323.

22. Brazil. Coleção das leis do Império do Brazil. Atos do Poder Executivo (Brasília: Câmara dos Deputados, 1822), p. 64. Available at http://www2.camara.leg.br/atividade-legislativa/legislacao, accessed December 11, 2011.

23. Registro de Consultas e Resoluções, National Archives, Codex 26, vol. 9.

24. Ibid.

25. Ibid.

26. Registro das cartas e alvarás expedidos pela secretaria do Tribunal da Mesa de Consciência e Ordens, National Archives, Codex 27, vol. 11.

27. For more detailed information on the imperial elites, particularly during the first decade of independence, see de Carvalho, José Murilo, A construção ia ordem: a elite política imperial. Teatro de sombras: a política imperial (Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira, 2003)Google Scholar.

28. On the development of the idea of a Luso-Brazilian empire, see de Lourdes Viana Lyra, Maria, A utopia do poderoso impèrio. Portugal e Brasil: bastidores da política, 1798–1822 (Rio de Janeiro: Sette Letras, 1994)Google Scholar; and Neves, Corcundas e constitucionais, pp. 200–203.

29. An analysis of the construction of “Brazilian” and “Portuguese” identities can be found in Gladys Sabina Ribeiro, A liberdade em construção: identidade nacional e conflitos antilusitanos no Primeiro Reinado (Rio de Janeiro: Relume Dumará/FAPERJ, 2002).

30. Coleção das leis do Império do Brazil (Brasília: Câmara dos Deputados, 1823), p. 8. Available at http://www2.camara.leg.br/atividade-legislativa/legislacao, accessed December 11, 2011. Evidently the October 20, 1823, act adopted Portuguese legislation pending the creation of corresponding laws in Brazil. However, it excluded the Portuguese Cortes’ decree of January 11, 1822, as the constituent assembly in Brazil could not accept that all measures taken in the new country would have to be submitted to the king or to the Portuguese Cortes.

31. O Popular: jornal político, literário e comercial (London: L. Thompson at Oficina Portuguesa, 1825), pp. 107–110.

32. Diàrio Fluminense, December 7, 1825, No.133.

33. Diário Fluminense, December 9, 1825, No.134.

34. Harvard College Library. Brazil, Apontamentos para o Direito Internacional ou coleção completa ios tratados celebrados pelo Brasil com diferentes nações estrangeiras acompanhada de uma notícia histórica, e documentada sobre as Convenções mais importantes por Antônio Pereira Pinto (Rio de Janeiro: F. L. Pinto & Cia., 1864), p. 336.

35. Poliano, Ordens honoríficas do Brasil, p. 69.

36. Almanaque da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro para o ano de 1824, Revista do Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro [hereafter RIHGB] 278 (1968), pp. 197–364; and Almanaque da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro para o ano de 1825. RIHGB 291 (1971), pp. 177–284.

37. João Pandiá Calógeras, A política exterior io Impèrio, vol. 2 (Brasília: Federal Senate, 1998), p. 369; Guilherme Pereira das Neves, “A religião do Império e a Igreja,” in O Brasil Imperial, Volume I: 1808–1831, Keila Grinberg and Ricardo Salles, eds. (Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira, 2009), pp. 379–428.

38. Poliano, Ordens honoríficas do Brasil, p. 72.

39. Ibid., pp. 271–274. The author transcribed the bull made by the first officer of the Imperial Secretariat of Legal Affairs, Inocêncio da Rocha Galvão, and it was later transcribed again by Cândido Mendes de Almeida in Direito Eclesiástico Brasileiro published in 1866.

40. Poliano, Ordens honoríficas do Brasil, pp. 271–274.

41. Ibid., p. 75.

42. The other bulls were discussed in the legislative assembly during sessions on July 12 and 13, 1827. For these debates, see Françoise Jean de Oliveira Souza, Do altar à tribuna. Os padres políticos na formação do Estado Nacional Brasileiro (1823–1841) (Rio de Janeiro: Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, 2010), pp. 326–333.

43. Brazil. Anais da Câmara dos Deputados, October 10, 1827, p. 120. Available at http://www2.camara.leg.br/atividade-legislativa/legislacao, accessed December 13, 2011. However, the ruling was not transcribed on that date but in the session of October 16.

44. Neves, Corcundas e constitucionais, pp. 120, 159, 160.

45. Françoise Jean de Oliveira Souza. Do altar à tribuna, p. 326.

46. Anais da Câmara dos Deputados [Brazil], session of October 16, 1827. Available at http://www2.camara.leg.br/atividade-legislativa/legislacao, accessed on December 13, 2011.

47. Ibid, session of October 16, 1827.

48. Ibid.

49. See the sessions of the legislative assembly on July 12 and 13, 1827. Available at www2.camara.leg.br/atividade-legislativa/legislacao, accessed December 13, 2011.

50. The deputies’ speeches against the bull were marked by a strong anticlerical bias, a legacy of the institutional model implemented by the Marquis of Pombal. For more on this bias, see Neves, “A religião do Império e a Igreja,” pp. 383, 386, 388.

51. Brazil. Anais da Câmara dos Deputados, session of October 29, 1827 (Brasília: Câmara dos Deputados), p. 153. Available at http://www2.camara.leg.br/atividade-legislativa/legislacao, accessed December 13, 2011.

52. Ibid., session of November 6, 1827.

53. Ibid., session of June 20, 1828.

54. Neves, “A religião do Império e a Igreja,” p. 400.

55. Registro de Consultas e Resoluções, National Archives, Codex 26, vol. 13.

56. Ibid., vol. 12.

57. Poliano, Ordens honoríficas do Brasil, p. 75.

58. Ibid., p. 220.

59. Registro de cartas e alvarás expedidos pela secretaria do Tribunal da Mesa de Consciência e Ordens, National Archives, Codex 27, vol. 12.

60. Olival, As ordens militares e o estado moderno, p. 3.

61. For example, a law dated December 25, 1850, aimed to complement a law of December 16, 1790, regarding the granting of the Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz to army officials. From the content of the 1850 law, it is evident that the 1790 law was still in effect and, furthermore, that it still regulated practices related to the Order of Aviz during the independent empire in Brazil. Keila Grinberg shows that shortly before 1843 the president of the Institute of Brazilian Lawyers, Francisco Ignacio Carvalho Moreira, admitted that “until today we have lived under the influence of a partly foreign and partly national legislation, elements of which are alien to the institutions sworn upon by the nation.” He made this statement when discussing attempts to construct a civil code, recognizing that Brazil was living a “social anachronism,” because “the country, despite its independence, continued to be regulated by laws that had already been revoked, even in Portugal.” Keila Grinberg, O fiador dos brasileiros. Cidadania, escravidão e direito civil no tempo de Antônio Pereira Rebouças (Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira, 2002), p. 298.