O matrimônio ameaçado : inquisição e bigamia no Brasil colonial

Abstract

The main objective of this research is to analyze the formation of Brazilian sexuality during the colonial period from the bigamy point of view. Bigamy was considered a moral offence that should be investigated and punished by the Portuguese Inquisition. During its three centuries of operation, the institution sought to moralize behaviors and extirpate heresies from the Kingdom of Portugal and its overseas possessions. Thus, bigamy, by its character of disrespect for the sacrament of matrimony, was one of the crimes under the Inquisition jurisdiction. We analyze here some confessions, denunciations and cases of visitations that the Holy Office held in Bahia, Pernambuco and the Grão-Pará between the 16th and the 19th century. These Inquisition documents are under the custody of the National Archive of the Torre do Tombo (ANTT – Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo), Lisbon, Portugal, but they have been scanned and are available on institution’s website. In addition, this research sought to understand how the bigamy became a crime in the context of the Catholic Church and the Portuguese State, as well as the inconsistencies contained in the inquisitorial justifications to arrest the violators of a sacred matrimony: the “bígamos”