Curas de almas for new times: Priestly ordinations in Portugal (1800-1848)

Sources, hypotheses and perplexities

Abstract

During the transition from the Ancient Regime to liberal constitutionalism in Portugal, the clergy underwent a process of reconfiguration of its characteristics, its socioeconomic background, its administrative tasks, and the definition of its institutional guardianship. The contours of this process are still poorly defined, and it is necessary, first and foremost, to know the individuals who, in the first half of the 19th century, attained the status of priest, an essential status for the care of faithful (cura de almas), then considered the socially useful part of religion. The register books of ordinands contribute to this, and the relevance of the characteristics and limitations of this source is presented here. Information on the number of new priests ordained between 1800 and 1848, and their status as either secular or regular clergy, is drawn from these books. The change rates in the number of new priests in the ten dioceses where the phenomenon was most significant are analysed to identify potential explanations for these variations.