The Church and the State in the eighteenth-century Minas Gerais: royal feasts and power affirmation

Abstract

This article aims to discuss the political use of parties in the eighteenth century Minas Gerais especially related to celebrations of birth, weddings, royal funerals and the Eucharistic Triumph as a way of affirming the monarchical power in the captaincy of Minas of gold. It does not mean that the parties could not be "read" by the population in other ways but as multiple ambience spaces, they could be reinterpreted by the inhabitants especially by African slaves who "read" according to their culture. However, we could notice the Crown’s desire to affirm the ties of dependence and submission of the vassals to the king and the monarch’s image construction as a father, head of the kingdom, the essential aspect of the political culture of the Old Regime through ritualization, the use of political symbols, of the power enactments and maintenance of the social hierarchy in the parades. It is believed that the Portuguese monarchy used politics of affection in the captaincy of Minas Gerais as a way to produce what Ansart defined as "political feelings` line" i.e., a dependency relationship, approaching the king to the population making them accept his power. The celebrations of royal feasts demonstrate the construction of this symbolic relationship and politics between the Crown and the population living in the eighteenth century Minas Gerais plateau. Keywords: Church, State, power, parties.