[Recensão a] Abreu-Ferreira, Darlene, Women, Crime and Forgiveness in Early Modern Portugal, Farnham, Ashgate, 250 pp, 2015. ISBN: 9781472442314

Abstract

Darlene Abreu-Ferreira adopts a gender perspective (writing from the point of view of women) in order to analyze conflicts in the everyday life of individuals in Early Modern Portugal. She draws upon a wide range of sources, ranging from several different areas in mainland Portugal to the Azores and Madeira. It can be said that most Portuguese territories are covered by her study: Faro, Évora, Porto, Guimarães, Viana do Castelo, Bragança, Ponta Delgada, Angra do Heroísmo, and Funchal. These historical sources include documents issued by the Crown, such as royal pardons and legitimizations, council minutes, the occasional parish register, and judicial records. Notarial records, which Portuguese historiography has underexplored so far (albeit with some exceptions), figure prominently among the documentation. Every historian knows that the survival of many such sources, especially the judicial ones, has led to their being widely dispersed at the local level. One of the most important sources, the autos de querela—written records where plaintiffs would explain their grievances, which the judicial authorities would then have to assess—were found only for Ponta Delgada in the Azores, a circumstance that gives a clear idea of their rarity.