The hunter of freemasons: José Anastácio Lopes Cardoso and his action against the Luso-Brasilic freemasonry (1799-1804)

Abstract

This paper explores how the conspiracy ideas of the Jesuit Augustin Barruel influenced crime inspector José Anastácio Lopes Cardoso's report to his immediate superior Diogo Inácio de Pina Manique, superintend of Lisbon Police. The evidence suggests that Barruel's conspiracy theories influenced both Lopes' thoughts and police operations against the masonic associations and freemasons in Portugal and Brazil.