The marriage of Mariana Vitoria and Gregorio, or the “defect of mulatism”

Abstract

The story to be told is based mainly on judicial sources and refers to the context immediately following the publication of the last phase of the Pombaline legislation. Dating from 1781/1783, it constitutes one of the cases in which unmarried children under 25 years of age intended to marry against the will of their parents or guardians which gave rise to proceedings before the Mesa Desembargo do Paço and resulted in a consultation. The case under analysis stands out due to the singularity of the arguments invoked and debated, particularly about the "defect of mulatism". The final consultation by the Mesa do Supremo Tribunal do Reino, which was favourable to the newlyweds and then signed by the monarch, suggests that in the Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarve (where the 1773 Alvará applied), not only was it prohibited to classify someone as a freedman, but this inhibition was explicitly equated with the legal suppression of the "mulatto" precept, assimilating the condition of freedman to that of mulatto.