The Carta Chilenas and the parties of 1786 in Vila Rica: the laidden history under Gonzaga's poem

Abstract

this work talks about the Royal Parties happened in May 1786 in Vila Rica, to celebrate the double marriage of the Portugal's Princes. Such parties were pictured in Cartas Chilenas (Chile Letters) by Tomás Antônio Gonzaga. Ther, the poet criticizes the arbitrariness with the Governor Cunha Menezes executed the public festivities, in the age of poverty in the profits of the Senate. Based on the documents partially inedit, researched on Arquivo Público Mineiro, we could reconstitute much of it were those parties, having always as opposition the Gonzaga's poem. The documents made possible to us to make clear also much of the intentions and ironical manning of the Gonzaga's verses and his position while listener and judge of the county of Vila Rica.