O Livro de Compromisso entre os manuscritos de Confrarias: potencialidades para o trabalho filológico

Abstract

This paper aims to present some of  the  Livros de Compromisso
 and other books generated by lay catholic brotherhoods in the 18th Century in the cities of  Ouro Preto and Mariana, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, nowada ys belonging to the Arquivo Eclesiástico da Paróquia de N.S. do Pilar de Ouro Preto, the Museu da Inconfidência, the Arquivo Casa dos Contos and the Arquivo Eclesiástico da Arquidiocese de Mariana. The
Compromisso is a written commitment that allows the brotherhood to exist. These brotherhoods, known in Portuguese
as irmandades, were officially recognized institutions by the religious and royal instances by means of  these books. Their activities were registered in a variety of  different books with
specific purpose that provide us with an important heritage of  manuscript documentation still little studied in the philologic domain. A brief historical view on the institution brotherhood
is presented and extracts from different Compromissos
 are analysed in order to emphasize the singularity of  this document. A proposal to understand the role and the structure of  this book is produced. Some recurrent aspects on the
Compromissos are singled out, examined and exemplified: the spelling variation, the ownership and the occasions when these books ought to be read, the existence of  different kinds of  written reproduction of  the same book, the ordinary thematic prescriptions and the provisions made by ecclesiastical and/or royal power.This paper aims to present some of  the  Livros de Compromisso  and other books generated by lay catholic brotherhoods in the 18th Century in the cities of  Ouro Preto and Mariana, State of  Minas Gerais, Brazil, nowadays belonging to the Arquivo Eclesiástico da Paróquia de N.S. do Pilar de Ouro Preto, the Museu da Inconfidência, the Arquivo Casa dos Contos and the Arquivo Eclesiástico da Arquidiocese de Mariana. The  Compromisso is a written commitement that allows the brotherhood to exist. These brotherhoods, known in Portuguese as irmandades, were officially recognized institutions by the religious and royal instances by means of  these books. Their activities were registered in a variety of  different books with specific purpose that bequeathed us with an important heritage of  manuscript documentation still little studied in the philologic domain. A brief historical view on the institution brotherhood is presented and extracts from different Compromissos are analysed in order to emphasize the singularity of this document. A proposal to understand the role and the structure of  this book is produced. Some recurrent aspects on the Compromissos are singled out, examined and exemplified: the spelling variation, the ownership and the occasions when these books ought to be read, the existence of  different kinds of  written reproduction of  the same book, the ordinary thematical
prescriptions and the provisions made by ecclesiastical and/or royal power.