Born and guaranteed in the Kingdom of God; Curitiba, 18th and 19th centuries

Abstract

Historiographers have noted the absence, in parish ledgers in Portuguese America, of the age of children at their time of baptism. This absence was characteristic at least until the early decades of the 19th century, a fact that has led Brazilian researchers in historical demography to consider the date of baptism as equivalent to that of birth. However, some of the pastors at the Parish of Nossa Senhora da Luz de Pinhais de Curitiba did register age at baptism in the parish logs from 1729 to 1763, and after 1836. The inclusion of this information seems to have been general practice in Catholic parishes during the 19th century, at least as of about 1837. A comparative database could thus be set up and critical analyses could be carried out regarding the period between birth and baptism, based on procedures provided in the Constitutions of the Bishopric of Bahia, of 1707. Inferences can also be made on the basis of the importance given to the sacrament of baptism in colonial thinking and practice in general.