Educação franciscana e iluminismo católico: a atuação da Ordem dos Frades Menores no processo formativo colonial fluminense (1750-1850)

Abstract

The thesis was developed within the research line Teacher Education, History, Memory, and Educational Practices of the Graduate Program in Education – Formative Processes and Social Inequalities. The aim of the study is to analyze the impacts of the Pombaline reforms and their relationship with Catholic Enlightenment in the context of the education promoted by the Franciscan Order in colonial Rio de Janeiro. We sought to explore how the Franciscans incorporated Enlightenment elements, emphasizing the valorization of reason and the critical study of original sources, while remaining cautious regarding state proposals for secularization. From a theoretical and methodological perspective, the research adopts a historical and critical approach, grounded in documentary analysis and the history of education. It draws on Walter Benjamin’s reflections on progress and barbarism, Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of field, and Michel de Certeau’s notion of social place, articulating political, cultural, and religious dimensions. This perspective makes it possible to understand Franciscan pedagogy as a practice situated within a field of symbolic disputes and historical tensions. The friars adopted a hybrid pedagogy that integrated humanistic and practical content without abandoning the spiritual and religious identity of the Order. This capacity to reconcile tradition and modernity enabled them to act as mediators in the intellectual and moral formation of colonial society in Rio de Janeiro, particularly through educational spaces such as the Convents of Santo Antônio and São Boaventura. The research also identifies limitations in the Pombaline reforms, whose effects were restricted by regional inequalities, local cultural resistance, and the administrative fragilities of the colonial period. In this context, the friars played a key role, with figures such as Frei Francisco do Monte Alverne, Frei José Mariano da Conceição Veloso, Frei Sampaio, and Frei Antônio de Santa Úrsula Rodovalho standing out for their efforts to mediate between Enlightenment political demands and Franciscan values. Finally, the study highlights the historical and cultural significance of Franciscan pedagogy, recognizing the friars’ contribution to the social and intellectual transformation of colonial Brazil in the eighteenth century.