A sátira e o engenho: Gregório de Matos e a Bahia do século XVII

A study of a genealogical fraud intended to hide the Converso origins of Filipe Pais Barreto, member of an important local family in Pernambuco, Brazil, at the beginning of the 18th century, in order to enable him to join the prestigious Ordem de Cristo. At a time when personal honor was equated with one's public reputation, the least "blood flaw" or "mechanical flaw" (i.e. engaging in manual trade) in one's genealogy represented instant ruin and shame. Analyzes the "limpieza de sangre" statutes which discriminated against bearers of Jewish, Moorish, and Indian blood: the king could give dispensation for most honor "flaws", but only the pope could forgive one's Jewish ancestry. The situation was aggravated by economic competition; merchants suspected of "mechanical" origins were denouncing members of the aristocracy for Converso origins, which resulted in civil war (1710-11). In spite of forged evidence at two genealogical inquiries, Barreto could not hide his "blood flaw".