A missão dos Franciscanos da Província de Santo António do Brasil no Maranhão e Grão-Pará em meados do século XVII

Abstract

This research discusses pedagogical performance aspects of Franciscan Friars of Santo Antonio do Brasil province in Maranhao and Grao-Para region in the mid-seventeenth century, highlighting the role of these religious men in catechization and cultural qualification of inhabitants in the perspective of History of Education in Brazil. Usually, the researches show that there is an emphasis in the discussion of the role of religious men in northern Brazil during the colonial period, in the field of History. There are few studies properly addressing this theme of education and the Franciscan religious performance and their relationship with general development and colonization context of that region. The academic papers that discuss the role of the Franciscans in the education area do it generally; moreover, there is frequently confusion among the different Franciscan religious congregations, regarding them as if they were only one. The Franciscan religious can be characterized, in the period that they worked in colonial Brazil, as an important religious group in the Portuguese colonization project. Their performance, carried out in small schools and training seminars to religious missionaries, is a great reference for the History of Education.