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“A formidável espada da igreja”. Christianity, clergy, and portuguese rule in eighteenth-century Angola
Publication . Hofmann, Philipp; Almeida, Carlos José Duarte
Historiography on West-Central Africa has over the last decades produced a significant amount of research on the role of Christianity within the region, showcasing a very pronounced interest in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Kongo. Scholars have paid particular attention to the appropriation of Christian religious practices by West-Central Africans. Especially how West-Central African elites used and transformed Christianity to consolidate their power and maintain their independence has been studied extensively. Meanwhile, post-seventeenth-century developments in the areas south of Kongo – particularly, the Portuguese colony of Angola – have attracted far less scholarly interest.
The eighteenth century has frequently been described as a time of ‘decline’ or ‘crisis’ for ecclesiastical structures in Portuguese Angola. Rather than analyzing the nature of the ecclesiastical presence in the colony during this period, researchers have mostly limited themselves to referring to the lack of religious personnel and colonial officials’ complaints about a supposed ‘decay’ of the Catholic Church’s presence in the colony. Otherwise, there has been a general disinterest in the role of the Catholic Church and its representatives in eighteenth-century Angola. In striking contrast to studies on earlier periods, scholars often have treated clerics as historical actors of only marginal relevance in the context of Angola during the seventeen hundreds. By highlighting the social composition of the clergy, its relationship to the secular colonial administration, the disciplining function of the Catholic Church within the colony as well as the clergy’s economic endeavors, this study challenges existing conceptions about the role of the Catholic Church in pre-nineteenth-century West-Central Africa. This study argues that ecclesiastical structures were an important pillar of Portuguese colonial rule in Angola during the seventeen hundreds. The clergy in eighteenth-century Angola – directly and indirectly – supported and perpetuated Portuguese colonization in the social, political, religious, and economic realm.
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SFRH/BD/144573/2019