From the Indian Ocean to Portugal: Marriage and Social Networks among Enslaved and Freed People in Lisbon
This presentation focuses on enslaved and freed individuals from societies bordering the Indian Ocean who were brought to Lisbon during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
The analysis centers on the reconstruction of fragments of their life trajectories through a critical reading of records produced by the Lisbon Inquisition and the Lisbon Ecclesiastical Chamber. The aim is to uncover information about these enslaved and freed individuals such as their origins, the circumstances of their arrival in Portugal, their marriage arrangements, and the social networks they built as a minority population in the city. The presentation also reflects on the possibilities and limitations of these sources for accessing the lived experiences of enslaved and freed people, drawing attention to the fragmentary nature of the documentation and to the institutional and normative frameworks that shaped how this information was produced and recorded.
Practical information
Date 12 May 2026
Time 13:00-14:30
Place IISG, Cruquiusweg 31, Amsterdam
Admission Free, but please send email to Sanne Muurling (sanne.muurling@ru.nl) due to the organisation.
Language English
More information You can find more information on upcoming seminars at the events page on voices.iisg.nl.
Patricia Souza de Faria is Associate Professor in the Department of History and the Graduate Program in History at the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro. She held postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Évora and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. She is a Research Productivity Fellow of the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and of the Scientist Program of the State of Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ). Her main research interests include religious orders, the Inquisition, and enslaved populations in Goa (16th–17th centuries). Selected publications: "From Asia to Lisbon: Fragments of Lives and Subjectivities of the Enslaved (16th–17th Centuries)," in Silva, Xavier, and Cahen (eds.), Slave Subjectivities in the Iberian Worlds (Brill, 2023); "Enslaved Children in Portuguese India (1550–1760)," Ler História, vol. 84, 2024.
