Para favorecer a cristandade: os jesuítas e a doutrina dos meninos nativos em Goa (séculos XVI-XVII)

Abstract

In 1498 the Portuguese arrived in the East, where they established a network of commerce, trading posts and fortresses. The expansion of the Catholic faith in the East was fundamental as one of the pillars of support for the Portuguese political power. The natives' conversion project aimed to homogenize local societies and establish loyalty to the King of Portugal. This thesis analyzes the initiatives of coercion to the conversion and indoctrination of native boys and girls (pueri) between seven and fourteen years old – in territories in India under Portuguese influence, especially in Goa between the 16th and 17th centuries. Our research shows that the Jesuits, the Father of Christians, and other colonial authorities used the native boys and girls for multiple tasks, including the expansion of Catholicism in the East. The recruitment of native boys at the Colégio de São Paulo was promoted for decades and aimed to expand the project of civilization through faith. In this way, we discuss how the boys were converted, indoctrinated, and disciplined to be incorporated into the missions and the colonial expansion project. To achieve these objectives, several sources are analyzed, such as letters and permits from the King of Portugal and the Viceroy of the "Estado da India," decrees of the Goa Provincial Councils, a compilation of laws on the Christianization linked to the Father of Christians, as well as manumission records written by him and letters from the Jesuits who missioned in the East.