Historian recollects lives of elite family housewifes during the Brazilian Colonial period in the state of Minas Gerais
Author researches activities, family relationships and illnesses among other aspects of their lives
Being a woman in Brazil was never easy, especially in the Colonial period. Looking backwards, it could be inferred that being part of an elevated social stratum was a safe conduct for a wonderful life. This idea couldn’t be further away from reality. Maria Beatriz Nizza da Silva observes that in Mineiras housewives of the Colonial Period [Donas mineiras do período colonial].
Published by Editora Unesp, this book ends her tetralogy about the Brazilian Colonial period. “Their situation takes into consideration where they were born, the social position of their husbands or fathers, and how long they stayed in Minas Gerais State. All these factors are important to distinguish them in the same social group”, the authors write.
To understand the lives of these Brazilian women in the Colonial period, the research was based on documents from the Ultramarine Historical Archive of Lisbon, National Archive of Rio de Janeiro and, especially, on Minas Gerais State Archives. In these places, the possibilities to provide accurate information about this woman was much bigger. “My study is mainly based on the documentation resulting from petitions to the Crown sent by women of the elite for a variety of reasons: entry into convents, gatherings of Portugal and Atlantic islands, confirmation of governorial salaries, tutorials, emancipations, legitimations, donations, various conflicts, requests for property or services, etc.”, she says.
The book, segmented in 19 chapters, contemplates a great number of cases: from widows pleading their rights, abductions of maidens, divorces, and infirmities. The density of the book is compensated by a fluid reading, heavily underlined in official documents of the Crown, taking readers closer to this documental wealth. The tying of facts provides an immersion in the complexity of the stories hidden by time. “The number of women in Minas Gerais, in the second half of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth century, was more than enough to analyze their way of life, their activities, family relationships, illnesses, religiosity, literacy, and sociability”, Maria Beatriz says.
About the author – Maria Beatriz Nizza da Silva, born in Lisbon, is a retired professor of Theory and Methodology of History at the University of São Paulo (USP). She published, with Editora Unesp, Being Noble in the colony (2005), History of Colonial São Paulo (organization, 2009), and Literate Culture and Oral Culture in Rio de Janeiro of the vice-kings (2013).
Title: Mineiras Housewives of the colonial period [Donas mineiras do período colonial]
Author: Maria Beatriz Nizza da Silva
Number of pages: 197
Format: 14 x 21 cm
ISBN: 978-85-393-0695-4
Rights: worldwide free