Syndicate the Lordly Justice: The «Autos da Residência» of the «Ouvidor» from Machico Captaincy (1740)

Abstract

In 1740, the «ouvidor» from Machico’s captaincy in Madeira Island, named Lourenço Biard, was the purpose of a «residência», that is, an inquiry managed by the regal magistrate who, on behalf of the Portuguese king and under the terms of the royal law, investigated the fulfilment of the «ouvidor», who was the local official responsible for the 2^nd instance justice. The result of this diligence proved to be a peculiar historical source with great interest in studding the role of the Machico lord grantee’s ouvidor. Simultaneously, this source allows to comprehend the social panorama from the villages of Santa Cruz and Machico, with their various agents, and to understand how they would have interacted with the official targeted by this regal inquiry.
This study is divided into three parts. In the first one, we summarise the Machico captaincy lord grantee’s prerogatives, including the right to appointing the «ouvidor» who, on his behalf, exercised 2^nd instance justice. Next, our attention is focused on the Lourenço Biard's appointment as «ouvidor» and lieutenant, approved by Machico captaincy lord grantee between 1730 and 1753; and also, in the «ouvidor» tenuous presence within Machico’s and Santa Cruz's municipal documentation. The «residência» records of 1740 are the main subject of the third, and last, part. Having established the legislative framework for the «residências», it is interesting to understand how this inquiry was carried out. Thus, the analysis of the 94 interviewed witness’s social profile, of the content of their answers and, finally, of the regal magistrate assessment, will allow us to perceive this «residência» as an instrument serving the power balance in the municipalities of Santa Cruz e Machico.

Keywords

«Ouvidor»; Captaincy; Machico; Inquiry.