ABSTRACT
Studies on the episcopate in the 17th century Portuguese Amazon are rare. In 1697, Fr. Timóteo do Sacramento was the second bishop to assume the diocese of Maranhão, a wide territory that encompassed the captaincies of Maranhão and Grão-Pará. The purpose of the article is to analyze the diocesan administration and the conflicts that marked the government of this prelate. To correct the deviations, he determined arrests and excommunicated several people in the cities of São Luís and Belém. By crossing different documents, some of them unpublished, it is possible to follow how this bishop acted in the government of his territory. To demonstrate the complexity of the introduction of episcopal jurisdiction, we will analyze the conflicts he has had with ecclesiastical authorities, with members of the regular clergy and with officials of the kingdom.
Keywords:
ecclesiastical administration; bishopric; Maranhão