More soldiers and less priests: Remedies for the preservation of the State of India (1629-1636)
Abstract
The aim of this article is to analyze the debate about the quantity of soldiers and priests present in the State of India that was conducted above all by the Viceroy, D. Miguel de Noronha, during his government (1629-1635), and on the occasion of the committee formed to deal with the matter in 1636. At the heart of this debate was a discussion about what the real needs of the State of India were in that period, which was characterized by challenges presented by the actions of rival European empires and by political changes in the Asian kingdoms. In the first half of the 17th century there was a “literature of remedies” that addressed the military and economic problems of the State of India. In the 1630s D. Miguel de Noronha considered that the number of clergy and the revenue concentrated by the religious orders threatened the stability of Portuguese India. The article highlights the opinions issued by the Viceroy and the committee assembled in 1636 which dealt with this issue, that is, they analyzed what would be essential: to guarantee the spiritual conquest or to ensure the means to carry out the military conquest of the Orient.
Key words: Portuguese Empire, State of India, soldiers, religious orders, Goa.
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