The Bishopric of Maranhão and the Indian Directory: Diocesan Government and the Assimilation of Indigenous Peoples in Amazonia (1677–1798)

Abstract

The second half of the eighteenth century is crucial to understanding the significant role of the Catholic Church in the many transformations experienced by indigenous peoples due to the policies of the Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo (Marquis of Pombal) administration in Portuguese America. No study has yet to examine in depth the collaboration of the episcopate and its agents in this indigenist policy. Here, therefore, I analyse the case of the diocese of Maranhão, in the Portuguese Amazon, from its creation in 1677 until the end of the eighteenth century, demonstrating the jurisdictional dispute between the bishops and the regular clergy over the guardianship of indigenous peoples. I also examine how the appointment of clergy in former indigenous villages took place and how the diocesan structure was expanded to ensure the consolidation of Pombal’s policy amid disputes between diverse actors and interests, including those of the Portuguese state, the bishops and the indigenous population. By analysing a variety of documents using research methodologies that involve varying the scale of observation and pursuing a connected history perspective, I show how the episcopate behaved, despite its limitations and vacancies, in the process of assimilating indigenous peoples.