Quando a aldeia se torna vila: o processo de secularização da Missão de Trocano no baixo rio Madeira (1730-1790)

Abstract

This dissertation aims to analyze the process of secularization of the missionary village of Trocano, located on the lower Madeira River, elevated to the category of Vila (township) under the name of Borba, the new, on January 1, 1756, by the enlightened and anti-Jesuit policy of the then Secretary for Inner Affairs of the Kingdom, Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, the future Marquis of Pombal. Considered the first missionary village in the backlands of the State of Grão-Pará and Maranhão to be elevated to the category of civil village by the Pombaline policy, Trocano was located in a strategic region. First, because it is on an internal frontier route between the State of Grão-Pará and Maranhão and the Captaincy of Mato Grosso, and external one, between the Spanish and Portuguese domains in South America. And second, because it is on a hydrographic route to a hinterland promising in minerals, spices and indigenous labor. It is believed that the pioneer secularization of the village of Trocano, which was visites in person by the then Governor of the State of Grão-Pará and Maranhão, Francisco Xavier de Mendonça Furtado, brother of Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, confirms the hypothesis here defended, that the missionary villages located in border regions were priorities in the implementation of the Pombal policy for the Amazon valley.