A Alfândega de Pernambuco : história, conflitos e tributação no Porto do Recife (1711-1738)

Abstract

This study aims to present the unknown history of the Customs in Pernambuco. Unknown because, when we think of Customs in the past, the only point that comes to mind is a reference to the Customs that was located in the building we now know as the Paço Alfândega Mall. The memories of the nineteenth century erased the traces of the ancient Customs of the eighteenth century, which once stood on the other side of Recife Antigo, specifically in the heart of Recife, near what we know nowadays as Marco Zero. It was the best situated townhouse in the village. It belonged to the Viceroy of India Earl of Sadomil and it was rented to the Fazenda Real. This research demonstrates how the Customs from the colonial period in Pernambuco became the cause of a conflict between local and metropolitan authorities to control the trade and consequently the taxation of the captaincy. We intend to explain how the tax apparatus was set up in the institution since the reimplementation of the tithe in the Customs in Pernambuco in 1711. This would be a 10% tax on the imported products that in 1724 was put together in a unique contract with the tithe in Paraíba. The first contract was purchased by a great trader from Praça de Lisboa, Jerome Lobo Guimarães. He never came to Pernambuco, but it was demonstrated through this research what his client networks were and how the taxes were collected. There were many conflicts involving the collection, which raised many suspicions and accusations of embezzlement and tax evasion during the processing of goods at Customs. Finally, we present the squabbles between local and metropolitan royal authorities; the religious of the Congregation of the Oratorians of St. Philip Neri and disputes regarding the location of the Customs in the town of Recife. This debate dragged on for a long time because some wanted the Customs to remain in the building of the Earl of Sadomil while others wanted it to be transferred to Forte do Matos, a place that would be today next to the Paço Alfândega Mall. However, this change came only a century later.