Mercy and cartography in the government of the Portuguese Maritime Empire

the case of João Teixeira

Abstract

In the context of the Ancien Régime, the Teixeiras produced several maps representing the Portuguese dominions in the America. These maps were narratives of possessions and allowed the Crown could obtain knowledge and develop a management of its more distant territories. We need to reflect the extent to which these narratives were not designed to serve the interests of the Portuguese Catholic monarchy, or some of their groups, thus mitigating information impertinent. For example, the information presented by João Teixeira far removed from those recorded in the official documentation. Similarly, in João Teixeira’s representations of 1630, 1637, 1640 and 1642, he enter the River Plate, a region at least since the 1580s established trade with the Portuguese Empire, in the demarcation of Portugal, explaining thus the claim Portuguese law on the areas belonging to the empire of Castile. In this sense, João Teixeira, as a cartographer interested in providing services to the Crown, sought to build representations that were of benefit and utility of the actual service. Do not forget that the monarchy used to reward those who provide services. In a political culture of the Ancien Régime, in which services of vassals were exchanged for royal favors, cartographic representations most likely had to tack to the interests of the Crown. No wonder, then, that the mapping of JoãoTeixeira overestimated the defense of the city of Rio de Janeiro, as well as several graphics devices used to position the region of the River Plate in the Portuguese demarcation of Tordesillas. Then, this paper aims, from the information presented in the maps of João Teixeira Albernaz, discuss some of the modes of legitimation and management of the Portuguese Crown, demonstrating how his “government” depended on a range of information from the local spaces of the monarchy, generated often by men who were waiting to be recognized for their services.