To be a "mulato" in early modern Portugal

Abstract

Studies the cases of twenty-seven men awarded knighthoods in the Portuguese Military Orders of Christ, Santiago and Avis from the early seventeenth century to 1731, where witnesses in the background investigation had testified that the parents or grandparents of these men had been described as "mulatos" and/or descended from African slaves. Almost all the cases involved people who were living in Portugal. With one exception, the needed dispensation was for "falta de qualidade" and not for "pureza de sangue." More than 80% received dispensations for being "mulato" and became members of the Order of Christ (the majority) or the Order of Santiago.