O The unfortunate Portuguese general

Antônio Carlos Furtado de Mendonça and the Castilian invasion of Santa Catarina Island in the 18th century

Abstract

In February 1777 it appeared in the proximities of the Santa Catarina island an imposing Spanish fleet which, not finding any resistance, took the territory. Therefore, dialoguing with the history of written culture, the proposition of this article is to analyze the written representations that the general and military governor of the island, Antônio Carlos Furtado de Mendonça, produced to defend himself of the faultregarding the invasion. In this sense, we will study the involvement of the viceroy marquis of Lavradio in the military preparation of the island and the unfolding that brought the general to trial – accused as one of the main responsible for the lost of the territory. Without the intention of raising guilty and/or innocents, we are interested in the writing practice of these ultramarine governors, elaborated and articulated before the necessity of standing back from the shameful lost of a territory of the king.