Originally published in Brazil as O Diabo e a Terra de Santa Cruz,
this translation from the Portuguese analyzes the nature of popular
religion and the ways it was transferred to the New World in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Using richly detailed
transcripts from Inquisition trials, Mello e Souza reconstructs how
Iberian, indigenous, and African beliefs fused to create a
syncretic and magical religious culture in Brazil.
Focusing on sorcery, the author argues that European traditions
of witchcraft combined with practices of Indians and African slaves
to form a uniquely Brazilian set of beliefs that became central to
the lives of the people in the colony. Her work shows how the
Inquisition reinforced the view held in Europe (particularly
Portugal) that the colony was a purgatory where those who had
sinned were exiled, a place where the Devil had a wide range of
opportunities. Her focus on the three centuries of the colonial
period, the multiple regions in Brazil, and the Indian, African,
and Portuguese traditions of magic, witchcraft, and healing, make
the book comprehensive in scope.
Stuart Schwartz of Yale University says, "It is arguably the
best book of this genre about Latin America...all in all, a
wonderful book." Alida Metcalf of Trinity University, San Antonio,
says, "This book is a major contribution to the field of Brazilian
history...the first serious study of popular religion in colonial
Brazil...Mello e Souza is a wonderful writer."
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