“OR SCHISMS, OR PRISONS, OR APOSTASY, OR JAIL”:
Parish administration in the context of the clash between regalism and ultramontanism in Alagoas (1830-1889)
Ecclesiastical Documentation; Power relations; History of Alagoas
This dissertation aims to analyze the ecclesiastical administration of the Catholic Church in the province of Alagoas between the years 1830-1889. This will be aided by the documentary contribution of the Public Archive of Alagoas (APA), “The correspondence and reports of the clergy of the Province of Alagoas”, specifically from the years 1830-1889; the Parish Reports, in ecclesiastical documentation, accessible at the Archive of the Metropolitan Curia of Maceió (ACMM) and by copies of periodicals made available online by the Hemeroteca Digital Brasileira of the National Library, in particular correspondence and declarations sent by clerics and public agents to the Diário de Pernambuco. The methodology used will focus on the analysis of the discourse of clerical agents – priests, vicars, bishops – and regular authorities contained in the Terms, Possessions, Circulars and Official Letters of the Bishopric and Vicars of the province, present in the proposed time frame. It is proposed to verify the issues raised from the thematic analysis of the institutions, specifically, adapting them to the study of power relations built between the Catholic Church and the State. It is based on the assumption that the analysis of ecclesiastical sources is indispensable for Brazilian historiography due to the institution's participation in the country's historical formation, as well as the scope of its content, where it is possible to investigate several subjects due to the long space of time they cover.