Inquisição e poder: um comissário do Santo Ofício na “Amazônia” portuguesa (1745-1763)

Abstract

This study aims to approach the trajectory of priest Caetano Eleuterio de Bastos who, coming from Portugal, came to Grão-Pará in the early 1720s and, in 1745, became Commissioner of the Inquisition. Our intention through this case study is to identify the social mobility strategies and the context that led to the formation of a network Inquisition officials in the Grão-Pará during the eighteenth century. Therefore, we expose the context of creation of Pará bishop, the delicate social networks involving the Holy Office of the Commissioners and the conflicts arising from their actions. We use the micro history to reveal the intricacies of social relations, above all, the process of social mobility that the Inquisition employees lived in the colony.