CENTRO E AUTORIDADES LOCAIS: NOVAS LEITURAS PARA O PERÍODO COLONIAL

Abstract

The aim of this article is a brief discuss of a recent Portuguese and Brazilian historiography about the Ancient
Regime and its new possibilities to understand the interdependence between a center (the metropolis and its
king) and the peripheries (the colony). To be a loyal vassal of His Majesty did not mean to be a submission
person in a rigid social hierarchy. After all, meant to belong in a chain of duties and favors surrounded by the
power of the real grace. These real graces provided the interests of social networks to maintain a policy of
privileges supported by the own metropolitan government. The social dynamic provided by the colony‟s
“moral economy of endowment”, involving the daily life of conquest and colonial trade, deserve more
attention for a reinterpretation of colonial pact‟s concept.