O Conselho Ultramarino Português e a comunicação da Capitania de Pernambuco com a Corte em tempos de guerra: 1644 - 1654

Abstract

The present work aims to analyze the correspondence sent from the captaincy of Pernambuco to Portugal, between the years 1644 and 1654, as contained in the Overseas Historical Archive (OHA), accessed through the Baron of Rio Branco Rescue Project, coinciding with the final moments of what is known as “Dutch Brazil”. Although these documents were addressed to the Portuguese monarch, they entered the court through the desks of the Overseas Council: an organ created in 1642 that received the majority of demands from various places within the Portuguese overseas empire. By observing the global and local historical context of the production of these documents, namely the Iberian Union (1580-1640), the Eighty Years' War (1568-1648), and Dutch Brazil (1630-1654), as well as the formation and early years of the Portuguese Overseas Council, it is possible to better understand the correspondence in question, with its senders and subjects, within the context of war.