The ruins of the Tradition: The Casa da Torre de Garcia d Ávila - Family and property in the colonial northeast / "As ruínas da tradição: A Casa da Torre de Garcia D Ávila - família e propriedade no nordeste colonial"

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2003

RESUMO

This thesis has as the main object the study of an important family from Bahia between the XVI and XIX centuries, who were directly involved in the process of land conquest, and accumulated a vast estate during this time. Besides that, this family had a great capacity in influencing colonial administration’s political power. Initially we reflect on how the Dias d`Avila`s family became the subject of historiographic investigations and how this historiography has contributed to establishing the method of interpreting tradition on this subject, which documented one direct relation connecting its trajectory and the formation of a certain national historic definition. We intend to provide a more detailed way of ascertaining certain aspects of the relationship between the colonists and the autochthonous populations. The process of territorial conquest raises questions about races mixture - cross breeding - mestisos and their acceptance, to the violent conflicts that were related to that process. We will also demonstrate some particularities concerning the relations between one important land owner family and the different colonial administration levels, as well as the strategies developed by the family in order to acquire, increase and maintain power. Among those strategies were public jobs obtaining in the colonial government and the receiving of graces (merces) through marriage connections and the controlling of the inheritance process, in which the Morgado (process of the eldest receiving the whole inheritance) stands out as a way of perpetuating the real estate property through out different generations without dividing it – excluding, in some cases, some family members from the inheritance. In this particular case we discuss the meaning of Casa as a form of association between the family and the family estate which had the objective of ensuring the obtaining and keeping of political and economic power. Finally, we demonstrate that a tradition was built around the family which served, even today, as a means of retaining political power even tough when a family has lost its capacity of keeping the basis of its economic power.

ASSUNTO(S)

colonization - bahia indians - colonial catlle - raising economy casa - tradição família - poder - administração colonial Índios - pecuária colonial - conquista territorial - sertão - conflito colonização - bahia household - tradition avila`s family family – power - colonial administration Ávila - família territorial conquest – interior - conflicts

ACESSO AO ARTIGO

Documentos Relacionados