Da mercê de hábito à sua efetivação: tramitações, intervenientes e custos (1759-1773), em torno de acionistas da Companhia de Pernambuco e Paraíba

Abstract

This chapter seeks to answer a question that has left little trace in the historical sources: how much would it cost to receive the habit of the Order of Christ? This means how much would be spent after the concession, in the process that would allow someone to wear the symbol of the Order on his lapel. To this end, we studied some shareholders of the Companhia Geral de Pernambuco e Paraíba: the Leques family and a partner of one of them. As they used a proxy to buy the concession of habits and make them effective, but did not always pay, they had to resolve the issue through the courts. It was through the unfolding of the conflict that we observed these costs. Since this study requires great attention to detail, we often used micro-scales.