russell wood. fidalgos and philanthropists. the santa casa de misericordia of bahia, 1550-1755.pdf

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Fidalgos and Philanthropists. The Santa Casa de Misericórdia of Bahia, 1550-1755 by A. J. R.Russell-WoodReview by: Leslie BethellThe English Historical Review, Vol. 86, No. 339 (Apr., 1971), pp. 402-403Published by: Oxford University Press

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402 SHORT NOTICES April

recapture he event in every microscopic detail in order to examine someaspects of society and as a means of savouring the age. Almost inevitably

one asks, was it worth while then, and is it worth studying now? Theanswer is yes, for those who believe that anything superlativeof its kindneeds no justification.But surely such a book ought to be lavishly illus-trated? This colossal charade was dazzlingin the prodigious folly of itsexquisite,fruitlessextravagance, ndnauseating n its elevationof paranoiainto the realms of art. But violent winds collapsed the glorious tents,thunder and rain disrupted chivalrous pastimes and dust obscured thebrilliant scene. Doubtless it served to divert the nobility who weredangerous when rich and rebellious when poor, but bishop Fisher wasamong those who reflectedsadlythat the joys of these meetings brought

weariness so that some would 'moche leuer bene at home'. Diplomaticallyalsothis mostundeceptiveof deceits fooled nobody. It was agiganticshamin which two lifelong enemies protested the most perfect friendshipinthe most complicated possible ways, so that both their 'willys and

couraiges'were declared one mannerof thynge'; whereuponHenrywent

to meet the emperorCharlesV to strengthenthe old Burgundianalliance,while FrancisI proceededto fortify Ardres with materials rom the dis-mantledpavilions.

Bedford ollege,London N. M. S UT H ERL AND

Historians have sadly neglected the important role played in Portuguese

colonial society by lay brotherhoods. Like the Church and the religious

orders in the Spanish colonial empire they assumed a large measure of

responsibility for remedying the shortcomings in the social welfare services

provided by the Crown and the local authorities. The most prestigious

and privileged, the Brotherhood of our Lady, Mother of God, Virgin

Mary of Mercy, commonly known as the Miseric6rdia,was founded in

Lisbon in 1498 and in the course of the sixteenth century branches were

established throughout the Portuguese empire. FidalgosandPhilanthropist.

The Santa Casa de Misericdrdiaof Bahia, I;;o-17;; (London: Macmillan,

I968, f 5.z5) by A. J. R. Russell-Wood is, in the first place, a detailed,

scholarly study of the Miseric6rdiaof Bahia, the capital of colonial Brazil,

from its foundation c. 1550 to 1755 when a full-scale royal enquiry

revealed that its finances were in a critical condition due to maladministra-

tion, almost total lack of official support and overextension of its charitable

activities. (Relying for funds primarily on the bequests of sugar planters,

cattle barons and, in the eighteenth century, city merchants and specu-lators, the Misericdrdia,besides distributing alms to the poor and caring for

foundlings, provided an extraordinarily comprehensive range of social ser-

vices - medical and burial services, in particular - not only for its wealthy,

white, Old Christian members, but for the community at large.) The

book, however, does much more than trace the history of a charitable

institution. It illuminates the darkest corners of a colonial urban society

obsessively preoccupied with questions of class, creed and, above all,

colour. And through its analysis of the changing composition of the

brotherhood's governingbody and membership and of the origins and








I97I SHORT NOTICES 403

natureof benefactions t provides some indicationof economic and socialchange in Bahia,especiallyduring the first half of the eighteenthcentury.The outcome of painstakingresearch n the archives of the Misericdrdiaand in the state and municipal archives of Bahia this is a valuable con-tribution to Braziliancolonial history and to the comparativehistory ofPortuguese and Spanish colonial societies in Africa, Asia and America.

University ollegeLondon LESLIE BETHELL

Those specialists in social history who allow themselves to be persuadedthat the computer affords an assured and trouble-free solution to all their

problems should read Marcel Couturier's Recherchessur les structuressociales eChcteauduny2y-1789 (Paris:S.E.V.P.E.N., I969. 39 F). One ofthe chief merits of this study is the careful, step-by-step account of the

preparatory work which analysis by computer requires, an account which

makes no attempt to minimize the pitfalls, limitations and expense in-

volved. It is true that improvements both in technique and approach have

been introduced since M. Couturier completed his research in I965, but

his book nonetheless remains a valuable, because practical and realistic,guide to the problems and shortcomings as well as the advantages of

applying computer analysis to historical material. Marriage records wereM. Couturier's main source, supplemented with tax-rolls and a samplingof notarial records; demographic movements, marriage patterns and the

distribution of wealth his objectives. His demographic findings are in

keeping with and usefully supplement those of earlier research in this

field, what he has to tell us about endogamy confirms the promptings of

common-sense, while the inadequacies of the records made it impossible to

study systematically the distribution of wealth. However, such information

as M. Couturier has been able to glean on this subject, and it is quite con-siderable if random, is incorporated in his description of the environment

and way of life of the various socio-professional groups examined, whichforms the last and most substantial part of the book. From this emergesincidentally a compelling account of the economic decline of Chateaudunfrom the sixteenth century, when it could boast flourishing manufactures -

notably woollen textiles, barrel-making and tanneries - and a prosperoustrade in grain and wine, to the end of the seventeenth century, when thetown's population had been halved, the tanneries had virtually dis-appeared, the woollen industry was sinking fast and the agriculturalpopulation of the suburbs formed two fifths of the inhabitants. The decline

of manufactures made the vigneronshe most important socio-professionalgroup in Chateaudun, and the section on them is the most solid, fresh andinteresting in the book. There was some slight demographic recovery inthe later eighteenth century, as a result of the drop in infant and adolescentmortality rates and the temporary sojourn of immigrants from the country-side, who used Chateaudun as a staging-post, staying usually one, at themost two generations, before moving on to Chartres, Orleans, or mostoften Paris. There was no economic revival however, and consequently nosignificant modification of the social structure in the eighteenth century.This means that the great depression and demographic crisis of Louis






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