Online | Mecila Working Paper 58 2023

Nº 58 | Jessica O’Leary : The Trial of Íria Álvares: Conviviality and Inequality in the Portuguese Inquisition Records.

Abstract :

In this paper, I analyse the Inquisition trial record of Íria Álvares (fl. 1580-1600), an Indigenous woman from the sertão of Bahia. Íria was the only Indigenous woman born to Indigenous parents who was tried by the First Visit of the Inquisition to Brazil in the sixteenth century. For this reason, her trial record represents a unique opportunity to explore the experiences of a freed Indigenous woman who spent her childhood in the sertão and adolescence and adulthood in colonial society. An analysis of her trial suggests that Íria was cognisant of the dynamics of colonial society and used her understanding of idealised convivialities to her advantage when negotiating the legal apparatus of the Portuguese Inquisition.

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