O juízo de órfãos e a instituição da tutela feminina em Pernambuco colonial (1726-1750)

Abstract

We propose in this investigation to analyze the actions involving the orphans’ judgment of the Pernambuco, regarding the legal, administrative and social roles for which they were responsible. Our approach to the orphans' justice proposes a reflection on the functionality of the institution of the Orphans Court from a relational perspective with the institution of the feminine guardianship. The exercise of guardianship by a woman had to go through a bureaucratic path through the orphans' judgment and could reach the kingdom. We understand that, from the correspondence with the institution of the feminine guardianship, the Court of Orphans gained greater coverage in the social gear of the colony. Showing to be a pertinent means of verticalization for the study of the Judgment of Orphans. Our object of analysis is the application of widows requesting the protection of their orphaned children or referring to the court a varied range of problems related to family matters. We intend to analyze the custody of the office of judge of orphans of Pernambuco, thus understanding the dynamics in the service of the office and the occurrence of quarrels involving the home court and the judge outside the orphans. To this end, Antonio Manoel Hespanha's theoretical contributions to the social history of institutions allow us to link social and legal and overcome the static knowledge of these different social groups.